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Hood Canal
Saturday, January 29, 2000 Jack had arranged to pick me up this morning, on his way down to Olympia to get his daughter H-----. When we were on the road, he suggested that we should drive back to Bellingham the long way, along the Hood Canal. It was such a nice day that this sounded like a good idea to me, too! After picking up H----, we stopped for lunch at Happy Teriyaki in Olympia. This is a local chain that doesn't exist north of Tacoma. Jack misses it! Their food is the platonic ideal of chicken teriyaki for him -- there's something very tasty about the sauce! I thought it was just fine, but it didn't have the years of memories packed in for me. Jack lived in Olympia for a long time.
I've seen much more of the state of Washington since taking up with Jack than I saw in the ten years previous. We've been up the Columbia Gorge and the Klickitat Valley, and through Ellensburg and Yakima; we've driven the Cascades loop, and explored around Bellingham, of course. I've been to the Olympic Penninsula before, but I've never made the drive up the Hood Canal. The Hood Canal is not a canal. ("When is a door not a door?") It's an estuary. I've even seen it described as a fjord! Apparently the water quality in the canal is at risk. There were informative signs about this at the state parks we stopped at during the afternoon. The weather was great! Sunny and mild. We got some good views of the Olympics, the tall, snow-capped mountains in the middle of the pennisula. The road we were on goes right next to the water most of the way. We stopped to stretch our legs periodically. Jack was remembering earlier camping trips with his daughters, and was shocked to find that H--- didn't remember them as clearly as he does. I'm sure one campground seemed much like another to a seven-year-old.
In the late afternoon, we arrived at Port Townsend, a Victorian town at the northeast point of the penninsula. I've been there before, on day trips from Seattle, and when I went to dance camp a year ago. It's got that old-fashioned charm going for it. Port Townsend was a bustling sea port during the 1800s, but when the railroads west were completed, and transport patterns changed, it got left behind. That's why so many Victorian buildings are still standing! Now tourists are the main industry, but it's not too cutesy. We found a place to park, then walked over to the Historical Museum. Unfortunately, they were going to close for the day in fifteen minutes! I gave them the full donation, anyway. It's a cool place; I'd like to have the chance to visit it again and take my time reading all the exhibit notes. The sun was setting directly in line with the street, as we set off to do some window shopping. I pointed us towards a store specializing in wood carvings, but Jack was drawn to the old car parked nearby. We discovered that this car was associated with a dealer in classic cars and auto parts and memorabilia. Jack was really interested in this! We admired the cars and old ads and posters. Jack asked about old motorcycle emblems, and the owner did have a few. He ended up with an early-sixties drag car and model car magazine. Remember the big slot-car boom then? We'd enquired about ferry schedules when we first arrived in town, so we were in good time for the six o'clock sailing of the Klickitat. We were aboard the ferry during sunset and twilight, and Port Townsend looked very romantic as we looked back towards it. The breeze was getting chilly, so after Jack smoked a cigar we huddled in the bow of the ship, behind the glass.
After a drive through the dark on the other side, we had dinner in a strange restaurant in Oak Harbor. This place seemed to be appealing to a family market, but the garish carpeting and lighting was ugly. The food wasn't bad, though. H---- and I had (tenderized?) prime rib, and Jack had a big steak. Finally we got back to Jack's place, at around nine o'clock. We were all pretty tired! So we sacked out early. I really enjoyed the trip, though!
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