Olympic Adventures

Well, we have come as far West as we could go. Olympic National Park is definitely a hidden gem in the NPS. They say it is actually three parks in one: the Olympic Mountains, the Pacific Coast, and the temperate rain forest. Well, after seeing two out of the three I would have to agree.

Our campsite was on the coast at Kalaloch, about 75 miles from anywhere. This is not a good thing, as I will explain later. We slept well with the sounds of the ocean helping us drift off and the next day we ventured up the hill to the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor center. This place was truly mystical. We included some photos here of our walk on the Hall of Mosses trail, but they really cannot do justice to the size of the trees and the incredible diversity that the climate brings to the plants in this area. The streams are amazing as well. Not much more than a ripple along the ground, but during September you can see full grown Salmon laying eggs and spawning.

After a full day in the Hoh, we headed back to camp and got ready to depart the next morning. But first we went to an evening program about the bald eagles in the park that the kids thought was pretty neat.

The next morning we found out how far off the beaten path we really were. Seems the RV was having some sort of problem with the throttle system and would not run. So after a few hours borrowing the Ranger Station phone (I had no signal, of course) I was able to find a heavy duty tow truck to come and tow the rig 75 miles to the nearest Ford dealer. The mechanic comes out and starts to take a look. Now here is the amazing part...he takes the air filter off and a MOUSE comes running out of the engine! A MOUSE!! Seems the little guys had made a nest in the intake of the engine, probably had been with us since Virginia! Now I am no mechanic, but I think that may have been the problem. Sure enough, they cleaned his nest out of there and put a new air filter on and we were good as new. Only lost about six hours on our timeline.

But here is is the silver lining. While were were waiting the three hours for the truck we went to the ranger led walk along the tide pools. It was amazing! Hermit crabs, mussels, sea stars, and brilliant green and pink anemones! And to top it off we saw one of the bald eagles! Not a bad day after all.

Here are some photos!

So now we are finally heading South and should be in California in a day or two. Stay tuned!