Great Big U-Turn

To get to the dump station at Salt Creek, you have to drive through two of these WWII bunkers. Why? Is mystery.

Over the past week we have basically executed a very large, slow u-turn round the Olympic peninsula and have pointed ourselves south once again. After hitching up and dumping our tanks in a World War II bunker, because, you know, that’s pretty routine… We took one short detour north to Port Townsend, which is an attractive little town with old victorian storefronts by the water.



We arrived in Port Townsend right at lunch time and parked outside of town at their little bus station. The shuttle to the middle of town runs every 20 minutes, costs $1.25 per person (good all day), and takes no time at all. In fact, we had just enough time on the bus to look through the booklet of menus for the various restaurants nearby.

Based on menu and character (on paper), we chose The Belmont. It’s in an old 1880s building and seemed to have an interesting variety of soups and sandwiches. When we walked, in three ladies were waiting for the hostess to return. We waited too. Soon another group of four came in and called for assistance. The hostess returned, but didn’t know who was first. We indicated the three ladies and she showed them in. After some time she returned — unhurried — and immediately showed the party of four to a table. I was irked, but figured she still didn’t realize who came in first. We debated about leaving since this didn’t give us confidence that the service would be any faster. We waited. She came back. “Can you wait five minutes?” she said. I think we’d already waited ten! We said, “No,” and left.



The upside is we ended up at the Nifty Fifties Soda Fountain. It’s downtown too, and is done up in chrome and pink with the little table top juke boxes — everything you’d expect. They serve lots of old-timey drinks: phosphates, egg creams, malts, floats, and shakes. Danine and I had pretty good burgers and Elise had an excellent, just-like-mom’s grilled cheese. I had a hot fudge milk shake, Elise had a creamy butterscotch shake, and Danine a “black cow” or root beer float. All were delicious.

We wandered about town, saw the smallest state park in Washington, popped into a toy store, and two — yes two — bookstores. We bought more books. The trick is to store them low and evenly in the trailer so it doesn’t list to either side and so the tires wear evenly.


This is a complete view of Washington’s smallest state park. Its name is too short to mention.

As we continued our drive, finally turning south for good, the temperature rose to a balmy 51 Fahrenheit. That’s the warmest we’ve had on the peninsula! We soon found ourselves — for the first time since LA — back on I-5. It has two lanes in each direction, exit ramps, rest stops, and lots of ugly big box stores dotting the way. Route 101, wooded and winding and pleasantly slow, as well as the Pacific Ocean are behind us.

To further shock our systems, we are overnighting at a Wal-Mart. There’s a semi tractor next to us with its engine rumbling. I can hear the high school kids peel out as they leave the parking lot. The glow of Quiznos and Starbucks reflects on our rainy Airstream. Back to Civilization. Now that I think of it, the Hoh Rain Forest really wasn’t all that cold…

Our drive tomorrow should be only two hours or so. We’ll continue south on I-5, stopping at the Mount Saint Helen’s visitor center to check it out, and then cross the Columbia River back into Oregon. We plan to stay at Ainsworth SP, just a little west up the gorge from Portland. From there we’ll tour the gorge and the city, and visit my brother Ed and his family until we’ve worn out our welcome.