[a/s] Sequim, Washington - August 7, 2000

[HHamp5246@xxxxxxx]

Hi Gang,

My last chapter had me leaving Bainbridge headed for Sequim.  In some ways I 
hated to leave, I *really* love Bainbridge... a definite  place I could live. 
 The drive was short and sweet.  Went over the Hood Canal bridge.  Instead of 
being up over the water, it's a floating bridge.  Just sitting there on the 
top of the water.  Has some openings where it goes up to land on either side 
for small boats to go under.  When big boats come along the bridge just 
swings open in the middle.

My destination in Sequim was a friend's farm.  My friend Karla and I met at a 
Border Collie show after subscribing to the same Border Collie Internet list. 
 She and her husband and children were living on Maui at the time, now they 
are here.  She has some sheep for her Border Collies to play with.... 
expensive toys, but lots of my Border Collie friends have them. (c:

I settled in, my satellite works fine here, it didn't work at the state park 
which was traumatic for me.  I have water, electric and a phone line to the 
trailer. 

Have been going on lots of adventures.  Karla took me to Port Townsend for an 
afternoon of lunch and shopping.  The lunch was great, especially the 
dessert.  A glass of something that tasted like a melted creamsicle.  Not 
sure what was in it... Orange?
Cream? Vodka.... Hello......  Port Townsend is right on the water of 
course... everything around here is.

The dogs and I found the Dungeness Nature Center right down the road from the 
farm.... parked and walked the trail that goes along the beach only up on a 
cliff.  Magnificent views...the beach down below, the Cascade Mountains 
behind.  Vancouver across the water.  We have gone there almost every day and 
done the walk. The only wildlife I've seen there are many deer and a 
bazillion seagulls.

All of us went to the local Game Preserve one day.  It's one of those pay 
money and drive around looking at the wild animals places.  Unlike the one at 
Rapid City this one keeps the wolves in pens and the bears behind electric 
fencing.  Lots of deer, buffalo, llamas, elk, reindeer, yaks all who stick 
their heads in the car for bread.  The reindeer all had soft velvet 
antlers..... I felt like I was stuck in a Jules Verne story... the buffalo 
had prehensile tongues that they whipped around in Karla's Rodeo like giant
Octopus tentacles.  You haven't heard squealing until we had a buffalo in 
both front widows with their tongues almost meeting in the middle.... 
ewwww........... Finally Karla just nailed it and we got away from them... 
they were practically stampeding us for the bread. The bears wave and sit up 
holding their feet..... a bird landed on the car's radio antenna, these 
critters will do anything for a piece of bread.

I wandered down to Port Angeles one day.... that's where you catch the ferry 
to Victoria.  I'm not sure that I'm going to go there though.....  when push 
come to shove I really do like seeing the national parks more than the cites. 

The weather has been glorious.  The fog does roll in sometimes, one night it 
looked like smoke from a fire.  Then in a few hours the stars looked close 
enough to touch.
Sequim has very little rain, especially for Washington.  It's in the Banana 
Belt.  The days have been sunny and in the high 60s and low 70s.  The first 
place I've been all summer that wasn't sweltering. 

My dog Tucker, who has no herding training at all, got to work Karla's flock 
of sheep one evening.  He was awesome, I was so proud.... I was a little 
verklempt.  He took off after them and circled until they got in a tight 
bunch... then he brought them right to Karla, still in the tight bunch.  She 
would move and he would just keep bringing them to where she was.  When they 
were where he wanted he instinctively knew to lie down so they wouldn't be 
intimidated and move.  It's so cool to watch a dog work entirely on instinct, 
to see all the generations of breeding at work without human intervention.  
The only hard part was catching him to get him back out of the pasture (c: He 
was so intense, he didn't want to quit.

Saturday morning Don, my ex traveling buddy, drove up from the Airstream Park 
in Lacey, Washington.  We spent the day at the Olympic National Park.... as 
we were driving along the Crescent Lake I saw it..... my first ever Bald 
Eagle!!!  He was the most majestic bird I've ever seen... surely the largest 
Bad Eagle on the planet.  When I saw him he was coming in for a landing so I 
got to see his wing spread and watch him land and stand up....  I said to 
Don, "That's it, now I've seen it all and done it all."  Seeing that eagle 
was the last goal I had on this trip. 

We had lunch at Sol Duc in the park. It has those hot springs that smell like 
sulfur... lots of people were swimming, not sure if the pool was a hot 
spring. I guess I should have asked.  We ate at a picnic bench near the 
little cabins...away from the stream... that rotten egg smell isn't very 
appetizing.  Tucker played a little Frisbee and we were off.  Went into the 
forest, it's a real rain forest.  The huge straight trees were covered with 
mossy stuff, not unlike Spanish Moss....only green.  The ground cover is 
mostly ferns.... the trees are so thick it's almost dark in the forest. 

We left that part of the park and headed over to Hurricane Ridge.  It's a 12 
mile drive up, actually lots more to see there as the road isn't lined with 
forest.  One side is meadow and wildflowers and the other side drops off so 
you have mountain and valley views all the way up to the top.   From the top 
you see glaciers and snow capped mountain tops. 

This is the only place in the continental US where you have mountains so near 
the sea. The views are spectacular.  

We went to Port Angeles for dinner... sushi.

Sunday we headed out for Bainbridge Island.  Don had never been there. Spent 
all day just hanging out there.  Drove around drooling at the houses and 
farms... it really has it all.... squished together beach houses with views 
of downtown Seattle and the mountains, farm houses with acreage, rustic barns 
and livestock...horses, cattle, llamas. 

Old houses, new houses.  The new houses are really nice.... they aren't from 
the "Sore Thumb" school of architecture...... they blend into the 
landscape... instead of looking like a testament to someone's huge bankbook.  
 Make no mistake though, you need a huge bankbook to live in one of those 
waterfront homes.  We did stop at one, it was an Open House.  Gorgeous...but 
too white inside for my taste.  My rustic primitives wouldn't have fit.... 
just as well. 

The deer are plentiful on the island.  They wander around the yards, the 
woods and on the roads.  Saw some does, and a baby fawn.  Came around a 
corner, slowly and was grill to nose with a velvety antlered buck.  He was 
sporting quite a rack.... it's amazing to watch hem disappear into dense 
woods.... if I tried that I would just get hung up, but they move 
effortlessly inspite of that impediment.

Before we left we went to Fay Bainbridge State Park..... walked out on the 
beach.  Great view from there of Mt. Rainier.  I took some photos of it, when 
I looked at them last night the mountain looked like I had superimposed it on 
to another photo..... weird.
See photo.

So, that's it so far.  Been here for a relaxing week.  Not going to do much 
today.... my dogs don't want to spend another day living in the truck....two 
long days was enough for them.  They do get out and walk around with us, and 
I do throw the Frisbee for them, but it's still too much time. Don left when 
we got back and drove back to Lacey.....

So, more as it happens.

Hunter