Friday, August 31, 2012

Olympic Peninsula RV Trip-Aug. 2012


August: 2012:

This was the month for my Captain license renewal and all the medical documentation to go along with it.  I was a bit concerned when after double checking all the documents that I needed and calling to check with the Coast Guard, I got there and they informed me I had used a medical form that was two years old and that I would have to go back to the doctor and have the information transferred to the “new” form.  They were nice about it, but I just couldn’t see the reasoning to transfer the same information to a newer form.  I didn’t need any more medical information from the doctor, just the newer form.  I guess that’s why “the government” gets a bad name!
 
Rafting the Deschutes River
Molly and sister JoAnn went to an all class reunion in Hood River this month and I joined later for a family reunion.  Then Molly & I were off to Maupin the next day to go whitewater rafting on the Deschutes River.  It was a Groupon thing and we didn’t expect much but was pleasantly surprised with the length of the trip, the whitewater we experienced, and the helpful “no problem” guide.  It turned out to be a wet trip with class 4 rapids.  Molly lost her hat on one dunking, but found it later in the raft.  We also found a snake in the raft when we stopped for a lunch break.  Who knows when it got in the raft, but we were glad we didn’t find it when we were going through some of the rapids.

The month ended with the annual Cruisers Rendezvous in Cathlamet, WA.  Just another party of cruisers reminiscing about past and present cruises around the world.  And, of course, a little drinking and a lot of food.

Lake Quinalt Lodge
This weekend was the kick-off for our next mini-vacation of circumnavigating the Olympic Peninsula with Pat & Susan and Tom & Sue in our RV’s.  We started with our first stop in Ocean Shores for two days exploring the coast.  Then we moved up to La Push, a small Indian village at the mouth of the Quiliute River with a stop at Lake Quinalt for lunch and a few more letterboxes.

As we approached La Push, our over-heating alarm went off.  I didn’t think too much about it until we left two days later when it occurred again and we weren’t adding any AMPs.  Long story short, we had to go back into Forks and get a new fan belt.  The place that worked on an RV, “didn’t work on RV’s”, but they were just great.  They ordered a new belt, it arrived at 8:00 am the next day, and we caught up with our group in Clallum Bay almost before they got up.  The situation did not stop or create a bump in our trip at all.
Boardwalk trail to Cape Alava
During our three days in Clallum Bay, we made a day trip to Neah Bay to go through one of the best, in our opinion, Indian museums in the Northwest, and took a hike out to Cape Fattery to view Tatoosh Island, the furthest Northwest point in the U.S.  The next day Tom & Sue had to return to Vancouver.  Pat & Susan took a drive to the Hoh Rain Forest, and Molly & I went on a 6.5 mile hike on the boardwalk path from Lake Ozette out to Cape Alava.  
 
The McGaffney's
The Malcomson's
We then headed off to Port Angeles for three days.  After exploring the area, Pat and Susan left for the Wooken Boat Festival in Port Townsend, and Molly & I stored the RV, took the car over to Vancouver Island, and visited some Apache Wells friends.  We drove to Port Alberi to spend a few days with Al and Linda Malcomson and then took another ferry over to the neighboring island, Denman Island, to visit Frank and Marion McGaffney for several days.  Needless to say, we had a great time with our friends showing us the exciting areas that they see every day.

 

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