Winter in Sequim WA…
Why we came…
The area usually has a moderate winter and there’s plenty to do!
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 less than 20 inches! Plus, the relatively warm Strait 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 the lowest temperature we had all winter was only 18F on February 10th. We had quite a few nights in the mid-twenties.
The town of Sequim offers quite a few restaurants, stores, and services. The Oak Table is our favorite restaurant. Sequim has a large and active retirement community and there are plenty of things 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. Togas Soup House was our favorite place for lunch whenever we had to go to Port Angeles for doctor and dental appointments. 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!
The campground…
We stayed at the John Wayne Waterfront Resort for our second winter and enjoyed it again. The resort and marina sit on Sequim Bay just a couple of miles from town. We were in the front row and had a nice view of the bay from our windows. The gravel sites in the front row are decent sized with a cement pad and a patch of grass with a picnic table. The other rows feel crowded as most campers have two vehicles. RV parking can be tight in the middle though the back-in sites in the last row are larger and have 50amp power. We were very comfortable in the front row. We had full hook-ups, decent wi-fi, and a reliable 2-3 bar LTE Verizon phone signal. Most of the sites sit in the open so satellite TV is no problem.
Tracy, Linda, Lorrain, Cindy, Rhonda and Troy are very welcoming. They do a good job of keeping everything neat and running smoothly. We were also thankful that they accepted our mail. 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. During winter there are quite a few long-term residents in the campground.
After a relapse of my Graves’ disease in October, John Wayne Waterfront Resort was a peaceful place to relax. Fortunately, I had an endocrinologist in the area and she had me start medications immediately. Unfortunately, once the hormones are so out of whack, it takes months for the body to get back in balance. So our winter was very low key to allow recovery time. Now I’m feeling much better and ready to hit the road!
John Wayne RV and Marina, Sequim Bay, the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca, and Mount Baker in the distance (Source: Google Earth)
Another fantastic sunrise at John Wayne RV Resort
-- Christmas Cookie Exchange
The Resort had plenty of activities to keep Arleen busy while I was out of commission. They had a Thanksgiving breakfast buffet and a Christmas Cookie Exchange. She helped decorate a ginger bread house and brought me a variety of cookies. They had other activities such as Bingo, Poker nights and an evening for everyone to watch the Oscar presentations together in the club house. At all of these events, the Resort provided beverages and snacks.
-- Painting & Wine (Jan 9, Feb 28)
The Resort also hosted two Painting and Wine nights with Natalie of Pour, Sip, and Paint. She has current updates on Facebook.
Arleen really enjoyed it: “I went with a few friends from the campground. The first night, we did a full moon picture with clouds and trees. I had not painted since I had been in grade school so I was definitely rusty!
The second night we did a fun retro camper in the woods. Of course, I had to make my camper an Arctic Fox RV (like ours). The second night, I met three fun ladies of the Strait Shooters team from the Port Scandalous Roller Derby. None of us were aware that there was even a Roller Derby in Port Angeles. We had a great time sipping wine, painting, sharing stories, and laughing.”
The first wine and painting night
The first wine and painting night
The second wine and painting night. Had fun with the roller derby ladies!
The second wine and painting night. Had fun with the roller derby ladies
-- Walking and biking and kayaking
We always enjoyed walking around the marina. We’d see something different every time whether it was a Bald Eagle, a Kingfisher diving for a fish, a Harbor seal nosing around the harbor, a Cormorant drying its wings or a Heron napping in a colorful Madrone tree. Arleen was able to launch her kayak right from the marina to go kayaking with a friend from the campground.
The Olympic Discovery Trail is also just up the road and we’d walk up the Whitefeather Way hill a few times a day to the Trail right from our little home! The Trail is a 130 mile converted rail trail with a rich history. We walked up there so often, we were on a friendly basis with the other frequent walkers.
Once the weather warmed up in March, we were able to get our bikes out on the trail.
We liked the location and were happy we had decided to spend another winter at John Wayne Waterfront Resort!
A cormorant and great blue heron hanging out in Sequim Bay
A great blue heron perched in a colorful Pacific madrone tree
A belted kingfisher on a sailboat mast looking for a fish meal
 |
| We called this “the eagle tree” and were always happy when one was there |
Lots of geese, ducks, and sea gulls hang out near the marina
Biking the Olympic Discovery Trail between John Wayne RV Park and Blyn
Dragging the kayak across the street to paddle around Sequim Bay
Adventures…
- Dogs
Our friends, Tom and Deb founded Puppy Pilots’, the Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) puppy raisers chapter in Sequim. They are raising their 12th Guide Dog, Honda.
Deb let us borrow her copy of Pick of the Litter, a documentary that “follows a litter of GDB puppies from the moment they are born.” It was very informative and very touching. Just a small percentage of dogs make it all through the training. And lots of people, time, and resources are put into the program.
In the documentary, we were amazed at how quickly they speed walk during the formal training. One of the more challenging evaluations is vehicle avoidance. The blindfolded dog handler and dog walk rapidly down a sidewalk while an evaluator approaches in a vehicle. The car gets uncomfortably close and the dog stops. It’s amazing what these trainers and dogs do. We highly recommend the documentary!
We met yellow lab, Siesta, last year. She is now Fiesta and she graduated from formal training in June and was paired with a lady that takes a bus every day to work. Once, off the bus, they have to cross six lanes of traffic to get to her office building. Fiesta has made an incredible difference in the woman’s quality of life.
We met Julius, a black lab puppy, last year when he was just 8 weeks old. He has grown into a handsome dog and has probing eyes that pull you in. He is now 16 months old and left for GDB formal training a few weeks ago. We look forward to following his progression through the school. We got to see him again when Tom and Deb graciously invited us to their home for Thanksgiving.
-- Trips to Seattle with Deb & Julius (Dec 3, Jan 28, 1 Mar)
Then Arleen made three trips with Deb to Seattle where they took Julius through the rigors of riding on the ferry, climbing up and down stairs, walking through crowded Seattle streets, through stores, behaving in restaurants, and remaining aloof to other dogs and other distractions.
Deb and Julius in Seattle on 3 Dec
Deb and Julius in Seattle on 3 Dec
Deb and Julius in Seattle on 3 Dec
Deb and Julius in Seattle on 28 Jan
Deb and Julius in Seattle on 1 Mar
Deb and Julius in Seattle on 1 Mar
-- Puppy Party (Dec 13)
Like last year, Arleen attended the Puppy Pilot’s Holiday Party. There were about 8 dogs there. Three of them were puppies in training; black labs Julius and Hercules and yellow lab, Boots.
The other dogs, including our old friends, Dora and Bronte, are “career change” dogs. These are dogs that for one reason or another were unable to complete the rigorous program to become a certified guide dog. In these dogs’ cases, they were returned to the people who raised them. Now their days are filled with activities as therapy dogs, scent training, and long walks. Other career dogs are often transferred to other agencies for another service role; Diabetic Alert Dogs, Severe Allergy Alert dogs, Hearing Dogs for the Deaf, Wheelchair Assistance Dogs, Psychiatric Service Dogs, Brace/Mobility Support Dogs, Medical Alert Dogs, Seizure Assistance Dogs and more. Visual assistance is the most difficult.
Arleen enjoyed meeting the other puppy raisers, puppy sitters, the veterinarian, fundraisers, and promoters of this wonderful organization. She enjoyed their festive potluck and captured pictures for the chapter as members played a few fun games with the dogs. Arleen looked forward to spending more time with this great group of people.
The Puppy Pilot Holiday Party
The poopy contest is fun at the Puppy Pilot Holiday Party
Doing a distraction contest
Doing a distraction contest
-- Puppy Pilots Meeting - Puppy Gobi (Dec 29)
Arleen attended one of the Puppy Pilot meetings in December where they were introducing an 8 week old, yellow lab named Gobi. She was adorable and very easy to handle. In fact after playing “run from one lady to another”, she laid down next to Arleen and fell asleep on her foot. We’ll follow Miss Gobi’s progression, too.
Meeting brand new guide dog in training, Gobi
Meeting brand new guide dog in training, Gobi
-- Dog Sit Bronte & Dora (Jan 4, Feb 1)
Deb and Tom’s dogs, Bronte and Dora, are special. On two occasions this winter Deb brought them over to spend weekends with us so she could focus on Julius’ training without their distraction. We had a wonderful time with Dora and Bronte, getting them out for walks and cuddling on the floor with them. We are going to miss them when we leave here. We look forward to the time when we have our own dogs again.
Dora and Bronte were comfortable in our little home
“Yes! I would like to go for a walk!”
Walking up Whitefeather Way
On the Olympic Discovery Trail
Arleen getting Bronte kisses
Me getting Dora kisses
- Weather Briefs
-- Experimental Aircraft Association Pilot Brief (Jan 26)
Deb was a helicopter and fixed-wing pilot for a number of years in Alaska. She has recently returned to flying and is a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association. She asked Arleen several months prior to give the group a Weather Brief. We attended their January meeting at the Sequim Valley Airport. Our friend Frank, who was also an Air Force weather forecaster, joined us with his wife Donna.
Arleen put together a presentation and talked about North Olympic Peninsula local weather affects, changes in weather observing and forecasting ability in the last 30 years, and tools such as weather apps that the pilots could use for flight planning. After Arleen’s presentation, we both fielded questions. We received a lot of very positive feedback. So much so that two of the pilots, Andrea and Ken who are also members of the North Olympic Sail & Power Squadron (NOSPS), invited her to speak at the NOSPS meeting in March.
Afterwards, Arleen, Deb, Frank, Donna, and I went and enjoyed a delicious lunch at our favorite restaurant, the Oak Table.
Arleen giving a weather presentation to about 50 pilots
Arleen giving a weather presentation to about 50 pilots
-- North Olympic Sail & Power Squadron (NOSPS on 11 Mar)
The NOSPS met for dinner at the Cedars at Dungeness. Arleen changed up her talk a bit to tailor it to sailors as opposed to pilots. The presentation consisted of local weather affects, changes in weather forecasting ability in last 30 years, and tools that sailors could use for planning, including Windy, an online and app service that includes sea states and temperatures. They did some entertaining and informative safety skits too. It was a fun evening!
The safety skits were quite entertaining
The safety skits were quite entertaining
Arleen did a weather presentation for about 50 boaters. The feedback was awesome!
Arleen did a great job educating the boating club
- Weather
-- Wind Storm (Dec 15)
The North Olympic Peninsula can get slammed as storms roar off the Pacific with strong winds and lots of rain and occasional snow. If the upper level flow is out the southwest the Sequim area gets little rain but gets blasted with winds.
On December 14th and overnight into the 15th we had one of those big wind events. For hours winds gusted 50 to 60 mph and rocked our little home enough to almost get sea-sick! Power went out for much of the northern Olympic Peninsula for six hours. We watched nervously as nearby 200 foot tall Douglas Firs bent and swayed in the strong winds. When we did a walk after the storm, we saw that a Western Red Cedar had snapped in half and landed on a boat parked at the cabins. The boat owner was upset but thought he could fix it himself and now has a story to tell.
-- Pre Snowpocalypse (Feb 3)
The Sequim area normally only sees a few inches of heavy, wet snow at a time, and it’s gone after a day or two. However, we had two snow events in February that shut the area down for over a week and made national news.
The first snow event, pre-snowpocalypse, occurred on February 3rd and dropped 5” of snow. After living many years in Alaska and other snowy locations, we were surprised to see so many shocked and overblown reactions. We warned them more was to come the next weekend.
First snow of the winter happened on 3 & 4 Feb: 5 inches
-- Snowpocalypse (Feb 8-9)
Snowpocalypse began the afternoon of Friday, Feb 8th. A convergent zone set up and the snow quickly became heavy with huge flakes that accumulated fast. By the next day at noon, there was 18” of new fluffy snow on top of some of old snow for a total snow depth of 20”. The nearby hill areas were buried under THREE FEET of snow! Because the area rarely gets snow, most folks did not even have snow shovels. We hoped to buy a snow shovel shortly before the storms hit, and could only find a garden spade. A Walmart employee told us they were expecting more snow shovels in the next week (it would be too late).
It started snowing again on 8 Feb. View from our front window.
There was about 12 inches by bedtime
By morning we got 18 inches of new snow and had 20 inches total on the ground
By morning we got 18 inches of new snow and had 20 inches total on the ground
That’s our little home. This is VERY unusual for Sequim!
See us behind the 20” of snow?
-- Post Snowpocalypse
What we jokingly called the Post Snowpocalypse lasted about a week in which the area was shut down. Schools were closed for the whole week and they didn’t even bother clearing the parking lots. Plows worked around the clock to first clear the main roads and then the side roads. We heard one public utility employee worked 120 hours that first week driving one of the plows. He was worn out but appreciated the extra pay. Private individuals with blades on their pickups or ATVs were seen around town helping clear businesses out and we were also happy to earn some extra cash. Initially, just a few of the main stores opened for short hours. We heard one story about a delivery truck getting stuck in a grocery store parking lot for FIVE hours. We also saw that a hardware store posted a Facebook picture of a few hundred snow shovels that they received on Monday morning at 08:00. By the time a friend got there 45 minutes later, they were sold out!
On Wednesday, four days later, there was still a foot of snow. When Arleen ventured into town that day, she saw tall snow berms in front of all downtown businesses, of which about 75% were still closed. The Wind Rose Cellars opened after five days. They were afraid to open earlier over concern of employees getting to work. The Sunshine Café Owners were snowed in on their property under more than 3 feet of snow and could not escape! They finally escaped and opened the restaurant after six days.
They ran out of snow shovels before the storm hit!
Arleen made first tracks when she snowshoed on the Olympic Discovery Trail
View from the Olympic Discovery Trail
Downtown Sequim 3 days after the big snow.
Downtown Sequim 3 days after the big snow.
Most businesses were closed 3-5 days.
Grocery stores were running out of produce, bread, bottled water, and other things
- Fort Worden State Park on 13 March 2019
We parked at the Fort Worden Historical State Park main campus Commons. “It is a 433-acre multi-use park with more than 2 miles of saltwater shoreline and a wide variety of services and facilities, including a conference center that can be booked for multi-day events.”
There are miles of hiking and biking trails, ample water activities, campgrounds, and sports fields.
“More than 70 historic buildings span the property, with a glimpse of Fort Worden’s past with a wide range of beautifully restored accommodations,” including Alexander’s Castle and Officer’s Row.
Fort Worden was an active US Army base from 1902 to 1953, then a juvenile detention facility, before it was turned over to the Parks Department in 1971. We’ve never seen a better restored and maintained former military facility.
Walk route around Fort Worden State Park
Enjoying a nice day on the beach with the Point Wilson Light in the background
- Hurricane Ridge…
Olympic National Park is one of the main reasons we chose Sequim as a winter location. The Park encompasses nearly a million acres of wilderness and glacier-capped mountains, old-growth temperate rain forests, and over 70 miles of wild coastline. Hurricane Ridge, on the north side of the Park and 35 miles from Sequim, is a winter play-land.
“At an elevation of 5,242 feet, Hurricane Ridge is Olympics’ alpine destination in winter. Typically snow-covered, Hurricane Ridge provides opportunities for snowshoeing, cross-country and downhill skiing, snowboarding, tubing and more.
During the winter season, Hurricane Ridge Road is open to uphill traffic from 9:00am to 4:00pm, Friday through Sunday and holiday Mondays, weather and road conditions permitting.” Many people look forward to April when it will open 7 days a week “as weather, road conditions, and staffing allow.”
We headed up the twisty ridge road on a bright Sunday morning. As soon as we hit the entry gate, there were snow banks along the road and a few feet of snow in the trees.
As we climbed the winding route, melting snow sent rivulets across the road. Fortunately the temperature the night before had only been in the mid 30s and none of it was ice. As we rounded the final switchback, we were blown away by a 270 degree view of the rugged snow-covered Olympic Mountains.
Hurricane Ridge is one of those places that each time you return it feels like the first time… the view is spectacular!
The temperature was in the low 40s with only 5-10mph winds. The sky was clear and visibility was great. It was a perfect day for snowshoeing!
We donned our snowshoes and headed past the Visitor’s Center to the closed Hurricane Ridge Road. The sign that welcomed us told us we could go 10 miles. Our goal was just a few miles up the road and a short section of the Nature Trail.
The 74” of snow varied considerably depending on the terrain’s aspect and whether it was exposed to the area’s namesake brutal winds. The snow was packed but with the 40o temperature it was soft and we were glad we had the snowshoes as we saw deep post-holes from folks that ventured out in just boots. We also spotted tops of road signs and picnic tables just peeking out of the deep snow.
All along the rolling road and through gaps in the trees, we had a bird’s eye view to the south and to the north. To the north, we could see the Juan De Fuca Strait. To the south we could see the line of jagged peaks, crowned by Mount Olympus. It is one of our most favorite views.
There aren’t too many places prettier than the Puget Sound area on a bright sunny clear blue day!!!
We climbed a steep knob on the trail and took a few pictures. It was a good place for a snack and to take in the view. Several brave Gray Jays came and joined us, perching boldly on Arleen’s boots. Clearly they were happy for the return of spring and warm weather!
It is so amazing to be at sea level on the beach in the morning and within an hour be up at 5200 feet in a spectacular winter wonderland!
Snowshoe route at Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park
Snowshoe dance along Hurricane Ridge
Awesome weather allowed us to clearly see across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Victoria and Vancouver Island
That’s an impressive cornice along the trail
The birds were bold
Good advice!
Another stamp in Arleen’s National Park Passport book
- A great bike ride…
After several chilly weeks with high temperatures in the low 40s, we were looking forward to the first 60 degree day! We headed to Port Angeles for a bike adventure on the Olympic Discovery Trail. The 130 mile route has incredible scenery and a rich history.
We parked out on the three mile long Ediz Hook just before the US Coast Guard Station. From here, we had an incredible view of Mount Baker. The sparkling ocean was close on either side as we pedaled down the narrow spit.
The spit widens and becomes industrial as it joins the mainland. We made some awkward turns as the trail wound through the congestion so we were glad to hook onto the Discovery Trail just west of the marina. Next we worked our way around the wharf area and took in more views of the busy port.
After 20 minutes of riding, we almost felt too warm in the rejuvenating sun. However, as we headed east under the shadow of the steep bluff, the temperature dropped and we were glad we wore long sleeves.
We stopped at the 8 mile point. Here the bike trail turns south, away from the water. However, there was a lovely memorial bench in the warm sun. It was a perfect place for a break and to take in the view before we retraced our way back to the truck.
This was a perfect day for our first bike adventure of the year.
Bike route along the coast in Port Angeles
We started out on the Ediz Hook. See Mount Baker?
Riding across a covered bridge
Enjoying a fantastic ride on a fantastic day
Mount Baker, 10,781 feet high, is 80 miles away. It’s very impressive.
- Visits with friends…
Tom with Dora and Deb with Bronte
Thanks to Georgia & Rod for hosting a delicious & fun dinner (Tom and Rod standing, Deb and Georgia sitting)
We met Gary and Karen twice for fun meals. This pic was taken in Newport OR, Oct 2017
Donna and Frank are wonderful people that we’re fortunate to be friends with.
We visited Whistler-Blackcomb Ski Resort in British Columbia, Canada together 17 years ago with several friends. It was a sendoff as I headed to the Portuguese Azores Islands for a 15 month assignment and Arleen headed to Korea a yearlong assignment.
“By many measures Whistler Blackcomb is the largest ski resort in North America and has the greatest uphill lift capacity. With all of this capacity, Whistler Blackcomb is also often the busiest ski resort, often besting 2 million visitors a year.
Whistler was originally conceived as part of a bid to win the 1968 Winter Olympics. Although the bid failed, construction started anyway and the resort opened for the first time in January 1966.
Whistler Village, widely recognized for its livable design, formed the basis of similar Tyrolian-inspired developments at Intrawest’s expanding series of resorts.
Whistler Blackcomb was the centerpiece of a renewed bid on the part of nearby Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Whistler Blackcomb hosted the alpine skiing events, including the men's and women's Olympic and Paralympic alpine skiing disciplines of downhill, Super-G, slalom, giant slalom and super combined. Whistler Blackcomb had the second-highest snowfall on record with 563 inches by the end of the 2009/10 season.
On August 8, 2016, American company Vail Resorts bought Whistler Blackcomb Holdings for C$1.39 billion.”
Vail Resorts offers the EPIC pass and this year they offered a significantly discounted Military Pass. In addition, we had some very generous friends who offered their time share. We were right in the middle of the village and roughly 150 yards from the ski lifts. We scored an amazingly cheap ski vacation to one of North America’s best resorts!
The weather was outstanding. We only had one cloudy, rainy day (heavy wet snow on the top half of the mountain) which allowed us to give our tired bodies a break.
We spent a day exploring Whistler and another day exploring Blackcomb. Even though it was relatively late in the year, the snow at top runs was still soft with only occasional icy spots. By the time we headed down to the lower runs in the late afternoon, temperatures were in the 40s and the snow was slushy and fun!
We parked the truck in a twelve foot high underground parking garage and were able to walk everywhere in the well laid out Austrian style village. There are great restaurants, a few grocery stores, and of course, tons of shopping.
The return trip was a bit stressful. We gave ourselves an hour and a half of extra time and hoped to use it for a nice meal in Oak Harbor. Traffic was backed up and moving slowly at the US/Canada border crossing. It took us 45 minutes to reach the front and then we got tagged with a vehicle inspection! After another 45 minutes(!) we were finally allowed back into our own country! Our 90 minutes of spare time was GONE.
We raced back to the Coupeville/Port Townsend ferry where we had specific reservations. If the ferry was on time, we would have had about FIVE minutes to spare, but since the ferry was late, we ended up with about fifteen minutes. As we drove onto the ferry we took big sighs of relief. It was a long day and we were glad to be back in our own beds that night.
Trail map. It would take a busy and tiring week to explore it all!
We stayed in the Clock Tower (center right) just 150 yards from the lifts
At the top of Crystal Ridge Express
At the top of Crystal Ridge Express
Looks like a ton of people at the Roundhouse Lodge, but it was easy to get away from them.
View from the Roundhouse Lodge
We had the G.S. run mostly to ourselves. That’s 7th Heaven across the valley.
We had the G.S. run mostly to ourselves. That’s 7th Heaven across the valley.
Tackling the moguls! We usually avoid these runs.
The view half way down the Harmony Ridge trail
The Black Tusk from the top of Harmony Express
Misc…
Pagosa Weather…
About a year ago, we discovered Todd and his Facebook page: Pagosa Weather. I reached out to him and let him know about our weather background. In October we met for lunch in Pagosa Springs CO and hit it off. Shortly after, he started asking us to join him. Initially it sounded like too much responsibility and too much work! Each time Todd asked, we thought about it a little more. Finally in February, we committed!
The reception from the Pagosa area followers was awesome. Though we have always tracked the weather, our forecasting process was rusty. Now that we’ve been through a few impressive winter storms, our confidence has grown and we are having fun with it.
Next…
Our next stops are Alder Lake WA, Wenatchee WA, and Dry Falls WA. We’re making our way to the Canadian Rockies where we’ll play all summer long.
Parting shots…
Port Townsend from the ferry
This brief view along Hwy 101 just east of Port Angeles made us think we were in Colorado
Zilla always made us smile! Thanks for being a great neighbor Frannie!
(233,000)
Beau and Renea
