Mud-on-the-tires Full-time RV Adventure: WA -- Sequim, 1-28 February 2018

Third month in Sequim, Washington…

Why we came…

Moderate winter weather and plenty to do!

The campground…

We are staying at the John Wayne Waterfront Resort and like it! The resort and marina sit on Sequim Bay just a couple of miles from town. We are in the front row and have a nice view of the bay from our windows. The gravel sites are decent sized but a bit unlevel. Parking is tight in some of the sites, especially for folks with an RV and two vehicles. We have full hook-ups, cable tv, decent wi-fi, and a reliable 2 bar LTE Verizon phone signal. Most of the sites sit in the open so satellite TV is no problem. The laundry room has two washers and two dryers. The bathroom facilities are nice and include coin operated showers. Everything is well maintained and kept clean. Tracy, Josh and the rest of the crew do a good job. We’re also thankful that they accept our mail.

There are quite a few long-term residents in the campground. The other rows feel crowded with all of the extra vehicles. However, we were very comfortable in the front row.

We really enjoy walking around the marina a few times a day. The Olympic Discovery Trail is also just up the road. We like the location and are happy to spend our winter at John Wayne Waterfront Resort!

We are very comfortable in the front row of the John Wayne Waterfront Resort

We walk around the marina a few times each day. There is always something interesting to see.

Scenes around the marina

Nearby towns…

Sequim has a population near 7,000, but the surrounding area has about 28,000 people. Sequim, pronounced “skwim”, is on the northern side of the Olympic Peninsula and sits in the “rain shadow” of the nearly 8,000 foot high Olympic Mountains. While most of the Olympic Peninsula gets 100-200 inches of rain a year, Sequim get lets than 20 inches! Plus, the relatively warm Straight of Juan de Fuca and Pacific Ocean keep the temperatures fairly mild. The average winter low temperature is in the mid 30s and the average winter high temperature is in the mid 40s. However, it can get cold. Record low temperatures for November, December, and January are in the single digits! Thankfully that’s quite unusual but we should expect to see temps in the teens a few times.

The town of Sequim offers quite a few restaurants, stores, and services. It has a large and active retirement community and there are plenty of things of to do. People are friendly and laid back. We like Sequim!

Port Angeles has a population approaching 20,000 people. It’s an easy 20 mile drive west of the RV park. It has even more restaurants, stores, and services. It has an active deep water harbor, a Coast Guard Station, and the Port Angeles/Victoria Ferry. It can be congested and busy, but it’s a cool town.

We were surprised to learn that the Sequim/Port Angeles area has nearly 70,000 people!

Weather summary for February…

Overall the weather was fairly average. There were just a few sunny days.

Average high temp: 48.5F Average low temp: 31.5F

Average rain: 2.24 inches Average snow: 2.4 inches

Record high temp: 66F Record low temp: 7F

Record rain: 3.7 inches Record snowfall: 12.7 inches

Observed high temperature: 51F

Observed low temperature: 24F

Measured rainfall: 2.36 inches

Measured snowfall: 4 inches

Olympic Peninsula annual rainfall / Snowfall water equivalent on 28 Feb 2018. Olympic Mtns are at 121%

Two inches of snow on 17 Feb

Adventures…

It was a slow month for us!

Arleen’s trip to Colorado and Montana…

Arleen: My Mom was visiting my sisters in Kansas and Colorado. I wanted to fly to Colorado to drive her home to Montana. My sister, Kathy, decided to drive from Kansas for a quick reunion and to surprise our Mom.

My trip to Colorado was a Planes, Trains, Ferries and Automobiles adventure. Shawn drove me to the ferry early in the morning. We had a great view of Olympics bathed in Alpenglow.

The Bainbridge ferry left exactly as scheduled. I wanted to stand outside to enjoy the view of Puget Sound and Seattle but it was too chilly. I walked six blocks through downtown Seattle to catch the Sound Transit train to the airport.

Once at the airport, it was a good ten minute walk to the baggage drop, a twenty minute wait through security and I arrived at my gate an hour early. It was just enough time to snack on salmon candy Shawn had packed for me for lunch.

My flight to Denver left right on time. However, the thrill of flying that I had as a little girl has diminished into a distant memory. The plane smelled funny. I had little leg room and I'm six inches shorter than the average passenger. The worst is every time I heard a sneeze or cough; I imagined the germs of flu or Ebola drifting through the air and my way. Sigh.

The final leg was the best! My sister Mary picked me up at the Denver airport. The hour long drive to her house was not long enough to catch up on all the details of each other’s lives.

It was a fun, spontaneous family get-together on Valentine’s Day. We three sisters got up early to enjoy a sunrise and church service together. We spent the afternoon jibber-jabbering with our Mom. We took a few breaks to watch Kathy work with her Australian Shepherd, Lizzy. That afternoon my niece, Heather, and her husband Stephen, joined us, and brother-in-law Kendel, for a wonderful shared meal and good conversation.

My Mom and I took two days to drive to Montana. The winds through Wyoming were gusty as they always are on I-25 during the winter. Thankfully, the roads were only icy from Sheridan, Wyoming to Hardin, Montana. This drive this time of the year can be a hazardous and stressful. As we moved north, I noticed the snow on the hills and mountains getting deeper and deeper.

At my Mom’s house, I measured 20 inches of snow in her backyard! And it was cold! On the coldest day, I walked downtown to get a picture of the bank sign with a temperature of -20F! While I was there we had an additional 6 inches of snow. I shoveled the front walk for her. But we hired an energetic 12-year old to dig a path through the backyard for access to the garbage.

My Mom is considering moving to a warmer location. She had asked for help in getting things ready for auction. The amount of possessions that compiles in 50 years is amazing! It is especially astonishing to me since Shawn and I have only ever been in place for a few years and have embraced a minimalist lifestyle. But it was fun to tap my organizational skills again!

My dear friends, Anne and Ardie, came over the last night, so the four of us could enjoy a meal together at the famous Roundup Busy Bee. They were able to drive me back to Billings. My next round of Planes, Trains, Ferries and Automobiles was repeated again early the next morning for my return Washington.

I love seeing my family and friends, but it felt very good to be back in Sequim with my man!

Arriving at the ferry terminal in Seattle

Sound Transit Light Link Rail from ferry terminal to airport / Plane from Seattle to Denver (note the Olympic Mountains in the background)

Arleen with her mom and two sisters in Colorado

Kathy working with her pup

Arleen and her mom in Montana / Arleen attended first grade here

-20 in Roundup MT…brrrrr! / Arleen, Anne, and Ardie

Puppies, round 1…

Siesta, the Guide Dog for the Blind puppy we got to know over the past few months, has graduated to formal training. On the day that the Puppy Truck came to pick her up from Deb and Tom, they also dropped off an 8 week old black lab, Julius.

It is always hard to say goodbye to a dog they lived with for over a year. But, they were comforted by the fact that Siesta is going on to partner with someone whose quality of life and freedom will forever be changed. In addition, Deb and Tom have a puppy to bring them new joy!

Deb invited us over for a puppy handling session. It is important that as puppies, they are cooperative for grooming and veterinarian appointments.

Julius is adorable! He has huge paws that he will grow into quickly! It will be fun to see how big he gets while we are gone this summer.

First, we watched videos Deb provided us from her organization, Puppy Pilots. They showed us how to hold Julius at a “sit” in front of us and how to lay him on his side.

Arleen “handled” him first. He squirmed a lot at first but then settled down as she stroked him and reinforced his good behavior with a few bits of kibble.

Then it was my turn. He was so soft! I had a little more difficulty because he loved my beard and wanted to play with it!

Expect to see more pictures of Julius!

Julius is a Guide Dog for the Blind in training

Playing fetch with Dora and Bronte

Puppies, round 2…

Our dear friends, Heidi and Dan, flew into Seattle, rented a car and drove to Spokane to pick up the latest member of their menagerie, Xander. Xander is an 8 week-old Great Pyrenees puppy. He will join their other Pyraneese, Sasha, in keeping guard over their 300 acre homestead near Fairbanks, Alaska.

Heidi and Dan’s plans lined up perfectly with ours and we were able to meet them in Bainbridge the night before Arleen’s skin cancer surgery. We shared dinner, breakfast, and lunch together. But most importantly, we all played with Xander.

Xander did great! He had just left the kennel the day before. He experienced all sorts of firsts; car ride, ferry ride, walk, stair climbing, walking on grass, and meeting strange dogs. He could have met raccoons for the first time too. But we don’t think he saw the raccoons on the beach.

Xander was an incredibly cute, 16 pound ball of fluff. It was good fun to see him meandering up the trail. He has already latched onto Heidi and Dan and eagerly ran to them as they called his name.

We look forward to seeing him in June when we visit Heidi and Dan in Fairbanks!

Arleen’s skin surgery went well. They got all the cancer. We’ll take extra care in the future to do more than one round of sunscreen. With all the time we spend in the outdoors, we are high risk.

Arleen, Heidi, and Xander, a Great Pyrenees puppy / The Waterfront trail in Bainbridge

Xander with Dan and Heidi. The little pup experienced all kinds of firsts along the trail and did great!

Dinner with Frank and Donna…

We met Frank and Donna when they were walking their dogs, Buddy and Denny, at the Marina. When we found out Frank was also a retired weather forecaster we made plans to get together.

We’ve had both dinner and lunch together. We thoroughly enjoyed sharing military weather stories, plus travel and dog stories.

Sadly, their dog, Denny, died suddenly this month. We know all too well the pain of losing a four-legged friend. “Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really.” Agnes Sligh Turnbull

We really enjoy hanging out with Frank and Donna!

Pyramid Peak…

Our local Scout friend said Pyramid Peak was his favorite hike in the Olympic area. So when after a few weeks of rainy days, the clouds parted, we set out to climb the 3,000 foot Peak.

We got up early and headed west on Highway 101, through Port Angeles and to the west end of Lake Crescent. We took a left and followed Camp David Jr Road for 3 miles to a parking area at the Pyramid Peak Trailhead. The first thing we noticed was our Discovery Trail runs parallel with the dirt road through this area.

The three and a half mile trail starts out with a steady uphill grade through a lovely Cedar, Hemlock, and Douglas fir forest on a soft needle path for a few miles. After that the trail pitched up.

In addition to pitching up, there were a few tricky rocky sections across three different creeks. The worse part of the trail is where a whole section of the mountain fell away in a good sized landslide a few years ago. As we inched our way across the steep slope, we released bits of scree that skidded down a few hundred feet.

After a few steep switchbacks, we crested the top of the ridge to the north side. It was a different world! The temperature dropped 20 degrees on the dark side and patches of snow and frost clung to the flora. It was so pretty with the sun trying to reach the forest floor.

Finally, we reached the remnants of the U.S. Army World War II Aircraft Warning Service Lookout cabin. “It was built specifically to be used to spot enemy aircraft during World War II in 1942. Once the war was over, it was abandoned and decommissioned.”

We relished the 360 degree view. To the north, we could see tankers in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Vancouver Island in distance. To the south we could see the lake below us ringed by the scenic Olympic Mountains. We had a few snacks while we enjoyed the view and then hurried down to get out of the stiff breeze.

Amazingly, we had not seen anyone during the lengthy climb. On the way down we saw about 8 other hikers. Then we saw more folks riding bikes along the Discovery Trail that were enjoying the nice day like us. We were the only ones in the parking lot when we set out. But on our return there were about a dozen cars.

Though the view made it worthwhile, we will not return to Pyramid Peak due to the hazardous landslide traverse.