We caught the ferry in Victoria on Monday morning and had an easy crossing of the Straits of Juan de Fuca.  We arrived in Port Angeles just after noon and met up with friends Steven and Cindy Schlaffman for lunch.  After lunch they took us to the Olympic National Park and the Elwah Valley.  The Park Service has recently removed two dams from the Elwah River in a very controversial move to restore the Elwah River watershed.  It was an interesting drive.

After we returned from the park and said our goodbyes to the Schlaffmans,  we drove on to our friends Michael and Kendra Hoskins house  in Port Townsend.  We had a lovely evening chatting and catching up.

Tuesday we had a relaxing morning and then went to town for lunch at The Cup.

After lunch we went out to Fort Worden State Park for a nice little hike.  Lola, the Hoskins’ golden retriever came along for the walk.

Before we even got started, we saw some deer near the parking area.

There were beautiful views of Mt. Baker in the distance.

We saw this tanker being followed by a tug.  Not sure what was going on but it made for an interesting picture.

When we got to the top of the hill there was a view of the Point Wilson lighthouse below.

After going over the hill, we came to one of the gun emplacements at Fort Worden.  It was  pretty impressive.

There was also a peace park in the area and Michael found some rock cairns that he added to.

From the top of the hill we got some great views of the main part of the fort below.

We even saw these deer in the fort.

On the way down, we saw a whole tree with these berries which turned out to be crab apples.

We had a great time.

After the hike, we went to town for a coffee/hot chocolate and checked out the pretty little harbor before heading home.

Wednesday morning, after Lola brought in the paper,

we took our front porch picture.

Then we took the ferry over to Whidbey Island for the afternoon.

We had lunch in Coupeville on the waterfront, there was an idyllic view from the deck of Mt. Baker and a sailboat at anchor.

There was also this lovely holly plant in front of some of the shops.  ‘Tis the season.

Our next stop was Greenbank Farm where we went for a little walk and bought some wine and cheese.

Next we went to Langley and walked around the cute little town.  We saw this statue with his seasonal gourds and Bill decided to get in on the picture.

We took the ferry back to Port Townsend in time to meet more friends for dinner.  We had dinner at Doc’s on the waterfront with Merlin, Phyllis, Ken and Leslie.  We had met all these nice folks while visiting with Michael and Kendra in the spring on the boat trip.  We had a good meal, great conversation and  really enjoyed ourselves.

Tomorrow we’ll be heading towards Seattle with a stop for lunch in Port Orchard.  Only a few more days until we head home.