A good friend and I did an overnight in Port Angeles, WA one late May weekend. My husband will forever give me a hard time about this weekend, because it is the weekend that I ditched his going-away party at a very cool speakeasy, which happened to be the place we were introduced, before he moved cross-country, while we were dating. While I felt a little bad about this, I had my reasons. One of which, was, of course, the opportunity to explore. We know by now that I am a freak about exploring. Last week I wrote about a couple of the lakes on the Olympic Peninsula. Here are a few other fun things my friend and I did, that you can do on your next trip to the very Upper Left USA.
We had a fun, er, interesting, time at the Sol Duc Hot Springs. I’m not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t to be one of the only two people in the fairly crowded, spring-fed, temperature regulated pools, under the age of 45, not covered in body hair, not speaking an Eastern European language. I don’t know how healing the thermal water actually may be, but if laughter is the best medicine we were cured of everything that day.
Hurricane Ridge overlook and see a bear in Olympic National Park. The Hurricane Ridge overlook is an easy drive from Port Angeles. On a clear day, the view is worth the trip up to the top of the park. Its an accessible mountain view for anyone and they try to keep the road clear year-round. We saw “bears” in the woods everywhere we drove that weekend. On the way down, there on the side of the road, grazing (do bears graze?), was a very real black bear. I’ve seen a few bears in the wild, from the comfort and safety of my vehicle. This one was the best sighting because it wasn’t concerned about us being nearby and continued to munch on whatever it was munching, allowing us to stop and watch and take some pictures.
Indulge your inner teenage girl and take yourself on a Twilight tour. Its ok, I won’t tell anyone. Drive out to Forks. There’s a Twilight exhibit at the visitor’s center. They weren’t exaggerating when they portrayed the town as sleepy and secluded. It seemed to have even less to offer than they let on in the movie. Eat at the restaurant in Port Angeles where Edward took Bella on their first date. Order mushroom ravioli, just like Bella!
And last but certainly not least, as it was a highlight of the weekend, relax on the water at the Lake Crescent lodge and take a waterfall hike. Read more about that here.
