When I selected this location (Grayland, WA) the idea was to be centrally located for some client work and be in an area different from Portland or Seattle (cheaper too, although a rental car has been a must so that’s a wash).
One of the enjoyable things about being out west with my blue-eyed girl is letting her see things for the first time. When we first chatted about checking out Forks, it took me back to old road trips in the Olympic Peninsula. They were usually not day trips but destination trips to Kalaloch Beach, Lake Quinault, Lake Crescent, Hoh Rain Forest or Port Angeles.
peninsulas is it’s hard to get lost as you eventually hit water.
As we talked about taking a road trip to check some places out all was going well until we happened to go out for dinner and I noticed a small display of beer selections. One bottle stood out, from Propolis Brewing in Port Townsend. We shared it over dinner and it was nice so we asked our server if it was available in the area. Turns out the chef picked it up at a recent farmer’s market near Seattle where the brewer attended.
The beer was good enough that we wanted to try more so Port Townsend went on the road trip list. This gave me a little bit of a pause as our planned trip was mostly on the west side of the peninsula and Port Townsend is way north (think Canada if you go any farther north) and way east. But what the heck…why not? Time and space is why not. There are only so many hours in the day and the Olympic Peninsula takes up a lot of space.
You can follow our trip legs along on the map above. Our little place is actually off the map at the lower left corner, below Westport. We left home around 8 in the morning
Leg 1 – Home to Humptulips – 53 miles 1 hr 7 minutes – Tammy was excited about the potential of a place so named but I tried to warn her it was more like a corner in the road than a place. But it was on our way and a stop in the only store gave her the fix she needed.
Leg 2 – Humptulips to Lake Quinault – 19 miles 22 minutes – Beautiful spot and we got out and wandered around, checked out the local store/dinner/gift shop.
Leg 2 – Lake Quinault to Kalaloch – 33 miles 36 minutes. We got out and took a stroll down to the beach here. Very isolated and wild with a good view of Destruction Island.
Leg 3 – Kalaloch to Forks – 35 miles 41 minutes. Knowing Forks was our destination we started getting up to speed on Vampire need-to-know stuff. The weather went from foggy (spooky) to sunshiny. Apparently in Forks the vampire people glitter in the sun. Who knew? Either way I was not stopping for hitchhikers and cursing under my breath I forgot to bring garlic. We spent some time in Forks, taking it all in.
Leg 4 – Forks to La Push aka werewolf land – 16 miles 21 minutes. This was an add-on trip but necessary in order to keep our neutral position in the vampire werewolf world. Tammy spoke of the hike to beach 2 but neglected to tell you of the small child we passed on the hike. We smiled knowing in case of werewolf pursuit, we were golden with that little snack available.
Leg 5 – La Push to Lake Crescent – 50 miles 59 minutes. I’ve rented a lakefront cabin here before and based upon Tammy’s reaction, we may be coming back. I’m OK with that.
Leg 6 – Lake Crescent to Port Townsend – 68 miles 1 hour 28 minutes. We found our brewery and picked up a few more bottles to try. I think they were a little surprised where our day had started out and they were the destination. Had a great dinner in town before pointing our bow south for the trip home.
Leg 7 – Port Townsend to home – 149 miles 3 hours 3 minutes. Pulled into our driveway just after 9 pm. Epic road trip, beautiful scenery, good beer and awesome company. What have we learned all you young hockey players? Time and space are important.
DRINK!!!
I think we’re a bad influence on him, JZ