Port Townsend Area

Port Townsend campground.
Point Wilson Lighthouse
Sleeping sea otter

Port Townsend, WA

Tuesday, May 20

In the morning we were still the only people in the campground. While walking the dog, I watched two eagles fishing. By the time I went back for the camera, they were gone. Can’t remember how many times I’ve told myself to always put the camera in my pocket. Left for our next destination; Port Townsend. We’re staying at the Fort Townsend Marina & RV Park. It’s owned by the Port Authority. Our sight is directly on the Admiralty Inlet of the Puget Sound. On the far side of the inlet is Whidbey Island. I chose this park for its location. It’s right downtown near all the historical, shops & restaurants. The Port itself has two restaurants. In spite of the light rain we walked downtown and had a very nice lunch. Carol had a crab/shrimp casserole on an English muffin. I had a fish taco. A very good lunch. After lunch we walked Gopher then stayed inside & read. A cold, gray, misty rain day. For dinner, we had Chinese takeout from the Shanghai Chinese Restaurant which is located about 100’ from our campsite. Another below average meal. It’s hard picking a good restaurant when you’re visiting a town. So far we seem to be batting about 500 on picking restaurants.

I was speaking to a local earlier today. He said they get very little snow or heavy rain around here, but gray & misty is a very typical day. They recently sold their home and live fulltime in a motorhome. Spend the winters in AZ and the summers drifting around here & there. Carol & I agree we would not want to live along the Oregon or Washington coast. It’s beautiful but the weather isn’t very nice much of the time.

Wednesday: Woke up to a gray & drizzly day. Gopher & I walked uptown to an organic bread bakery. We got the worlds best sourdough multi-grain bread. Hot out of the oven. Bought Carol a chocolate croissant as a special treat. We’re both putting on a few pounds from too many “special treats”. Got to stop that. It’s 7pm right now and the bread is over half gone. Once again I left on a walk without the camera. Passed a house with a deer laying down on the grass in the side yard. When we drove into town yesterday we saw two deer walking down the main street. Very strange. Later in the morning, Carol bundled up and we took a nice walk downtown. As the day went on the sun came out on the occasion. Still chilly, but at least it’s sunny & chilly. Now and then Carol ventured outside for a bit. She simply doesn’t like cold weather. Never did but I think her intolerance for cold got worse with the stroke. Earlier in the trip I asked if she would prefer to tour Southern California, Nevada, etc. instead of heading north but she wanted to continue with the original plan.

Thursday Took the dog for an early morning walk downtown. Bought a coffee from a street vendor. Oregon & Washington have lots of drive- up and walk-up espresso & coffee vendors. Later we drove to the good bakery. Carol came with me this time. Bought another loaf of the great bread and Carol got two very large chocolate chip cookies. Our current campground is the Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend. As the crow flies it’s only a few miles from where we have been. This is a nice place for Carol. Lots of streets & paved walks. Walked to the Point Wilson lighthouse, along the beach path and out on the dock. There is a sea otter living around the dock. The camera wasn’t working well so I couldn’t get good pictures. The sun was out for a few hours today; the warmth felt good.

Friday: After the morning dog walk and breakfast, we walked all around the old fort. Fort Worden was first built because of the Civil War. It was expanded with WW-1 and again with WW-2. We visited the Centennial Rhododendron Garden, saw some of the gun batteries, barracks and officers quarters. The sun was out for the few hours we were walking. Later on the gray skies returned. I was talking to our neighbor in the campground. Mentioned the weather. He just shrugged and said that’s the way it is around here. Any day without heavy rain is a good day. The campground is full; Memorial Day weekend. Families & kids everywhere.
Watched the ship traffic heading out the Strait of Juan De Fuca . Saw three cruise ships heading for Alaska. Tomorrow we head over to Seattle then east to Montana to meet John & Marge on June 1^st.