Road Trip April 28-29, 2001

A bunch of Lin's friends rented a vacation house right on the beach in Ocean City, WA for the clam digging season, which only lasts a few days, and then only during certain hours of those days. The house slept ten people easily and had a terrific garage for our bikes, too. It stormed most of the 2.5-hour ride to Ocean City, but Lin and I persevered, knowing we had a warm place to sleep that night. We arrived Saturday, April 28 around 8pm to a warm welcome. Bill, Deena, Emma, Jenny, Chris, Jeff and his wife and kids, Jason, Hope, and Tom had already started dinner. We had fresh oysters and beer, followed by a great curry and hand-made egg rolls and potstickers. I had a quick beer and then grabbed Bill's Honda 100 and hit the beach. What a fun little bike! I rode up and down chasing birds and had a great time. The rain had stopped but the skies were still swollen and in the moonlight, the waves glowed as they crashed on the beach and silently crept up to the front tire of the bike, trying to pull us both into the water. Behind the bike, you can see the cylinders used to dig up clams on the beach.

Lin slept on the laundry room floor and I took the sofabed. All night, the storm raged, blasting water at the windows and howling around the edges of the house. I'm sure glad I wasn't in my tent on the beach that night! I didn't get much sleep. The next morning, after making espresso in the basement with my camp stove, Lin and I decided that as soon as the storm let up a little bit, we were going to make a break for it. Around 11am, we got our chance. We hit the pavement and soon found ourselves in the hills on some wonderful forest service roads. The weather held, with just little showers all day to remind us not to get too comfortable. We saw some great views - and it wasn't as cold as these pictures look; it was just overcast.

I bought a new digital camera, a Canon Digital Elph, and so was able to get some pretty good long shots without losing too much resolution.
The bikes ran great the whole trip and the roads weren't too technical so we actually made good time. There were very few other people out so we had the park to ourselves.

The dam on Wynootchee Lake was a good indicator of the dry winter we have had here in the Pacific Northwest. There was very little water running through it and the lake level looked pretty low. Another reason not to complain about the weekend of rain!

We decided that the forecast of rain combined with the cold weather were sufficient to dissuade us from camping at Wynootchee Lake this weekend. Although I had quite a feast prepared for dinner, it seemed like a good idea to save our days off for more clement weather. We tried to ride around the lake to investigate the Falls on the other side, but the road was closed for a few more days as part of the wildlife restoration efforts. So we rode back to the pavement and on to Bremerton where we caught the ferry back to Seattle. We're sure looking forward to coming back to the southern Olympic Range and exploring this beautiful area!

site maintained by Cheryl

	A bunch of Lin's friends rented a vacation house right on the beach in Ocean City, WA for the clam digging season, which only lasts a few days, and then only during certain hours of those days. The house slept ten people easily and had a terrific garage for our bikes, too. It stormed most of the 2.5-hour ride to Ocean City, but Lin and I persevered, knowing we had a warm place to sleep that night. We arrived Saturday, April 28 around 8pm to a warm welcome. Bill, Deena, Emma, Jenny, Chris, Jeff and his wife and kids, Jason, Hope, and Tom had already started dinner. We had fresh oysters and beer, followed by a great curry and hand-made egg rolls and potstickers. I had a quick beer and then grabbed Bill's Honda 100 and hit the beach. What a fun little bike! I rode up and down chasing birds and had a great time. The rain had stopped but the skies were still swollen and in the moonlight, the waves glowed as they crashed on the beach and silently crept up to the front tire of the bike, trying to pull us both into the water. Behind the bike, you can see the cylinders used to dig up clams on the beach.
	Lin slept on the laundry room floor and I took the sofabed. All night, the storm raged, blasting water at the windows and howling around the edges of the house. I'm sure glad I wasn't in my tent on the beach that night! I didn't get much sleep. The next morning, after making espresso in the basement with my camp stove, Lin and I decided that as soon as the storm let up a little bit, we were going to make a break for it. Around 11am, we got our chance. We hit the pavement and soon found ourselves in the hills on some wonderful forest service roads. The weather held, with just little showers all day to remind us not to get too comfortable. We saw some great views - and it wasn't as cold as these pictures look; it was just overcast.
	I bought a new digital camera, a Canon Digital Elph, and so was able to get some pretty good long shots without losing too much resolution. The bikes ran great the whole trip and the roads weren't too technical so we actually made good time. There were very few other people out so we had the park to ourselves.
	The dam on Wynootchee Lake was a good indicator of the dry winter we have had here in the Pacific Northwest. There was very little water running through it and the lake level looked pretty low. Another reason not to complain about the weekend of rain!
	We decided that the forecast of rain combined with the cold weather were sufficient to dissuade us from camping at Wynootchee Lake this weekend. Although I had quite a feast prepared for dinner, it seemed like a good idea to save our days off for more clement weather. We tried to ride around the lake to investigate the Falls on the other side, but the road was closed for a few more days as part of the wildlife restoration efforts. So we rode back to the pavement and on to Bremerton where we caught the ferry back to Seattle. We're sure looking forward to coming back to the southern Olympic Range and exploring this beautiful area!