Hoodsport, WA

Wednesday, 7/8/09 Well we we arrived back in Elma, WA with our newly repaired RV and hopefully everything is fixed....of course you never know. But we got lucky, it was a Fleetwood dealer (that's our RV) and everything was covered under warranty so we had no cash out lay, which is always a good thing. We had ever intention of going back into Olympia and Tumwater today but it rained, I mean poured most of the day so we stayed home, watch TV & read. We never saw any tourist spots in this area because of the weather. Of course, the big highlight was spending time with our friends Ann & Al, which we enjoy so much. We will catch them again on our way home in September.

Thursday, 7/9/09 Another big driving day for Will, maybe 75 miles. We arrived in Hoodsport, WA which is located in the Olympic Peninsula. The town is approx. 3 blocks long and we are staying in a campground similar to Edison at Shaver Lake about 4 miles out of town. Lots of trees, large camp sites and mostly Washington people "going camping." As usual, no phone & no Internet.... FYI..you can't have AT&T here, just Verizon, so I am at the visitors center in town (on one of those 3 blocks) using my computer. The area is beautiful, Hoodsport is located on the Hood Canal, which is not like a canal you or I know....it's a lake, a big lake, with houses on both sides. www.sheltonmasonchamber.org The town is located on hwy 101 and when we leave here we continue North on 101 so will see lots more of this Peninsula. www.explorehoodcanal.com

Friday, 7/10/09 Finally, I get to see Seattle!! We are parking our car in Bremerton, boarding the ferry & then going over to Seattle for the day. We dial our GPS ferry address in & take off & arrive with only 15 minutes before the ferry leaves, so we get in line, pay our $14.00 & then ask where do we park. We are then informed we are in line to take our car ON THE FERRY to Seattle. Yikes, but we don't want to do that, too late, so we sit in line a little while & decide this is crazy, we want our money back & out of line..and now. So I walk back to the ferry window & say I want a refund. The guy has me tell Will to pull out of line & wait "over there" & then can't get his scanner to work so I can get my $14 refund. With that he gives me a form so I can mail in a request for my money back. Real customer service they had going on at this place.

Well we finally figure out how to get back on the street & now try to find a parking lot where we can leave the car and take the next ferry over to Seattle. We find a lot several blocks away, figure out how you shove money in a little slot that corresponds with your stall number....all this is NOT simple folks. We then walk back to the ferry building & find out you ride over free & pay when you come back. Seniors cost $3.50 round trip...what a deal. The ferry ride is wonderful, of course, the sun was out & the weather was beautiful & we sat outside taking in the beautiful sights. Fortunately, we met a nice young navy man, Kelly who was able to point out Mt. Rainer & tell us so much about the area. Hey Kelly, thanks for everything & good luck to you next Dec, 2010 when you retire.

The ferry trip takes about 60 minutes from Bremerton to Seattle & it was a wonderful, scenic ride. We arrive at the ferry pier & immediately had a seafood lunch down on the wharf. Baked cod for Will & baked salmon for me...deeee licious. Ok, now our focus, once we were fed was to figure out Seattle as we are coming back on Sunday, 7/12 to see a Mariners baseball game with tickets compliments of Garrett Olson. As luck would have it Ken & Donna Olson are here in Seattle this week so we will get to sit with them at the game. And daughter Nancy has so graciously gifted us a room at the Westin Hotel (a night on a "heavenly mattress"..Will's first) that Sunday evening so we will return on the ferry Monday, 7/13/09.

We spent the day finding out about the Gray Line, hop on, hop off bus, where the hotel was, where the baseball park was. We also took a side trip to Pikes Market, because I have always wanted to see them "throw the fish" which they did. We walk around thru the farmers market, the gift shops and enjoyed the 84 degree weather. We caught the 4:20 pm ferry back to Bremerton and then checked out long term parking at the ferry building. I think we are all set for Sundays trip, thank God we did a dry run yesterday and hopefully all our new information will serve us well. Stay tuned, will keep you posted. I think I best sign off as I'm sure the visitors center is getting ready to start charging me space rent, people have come & gone but I'm still here typing. Hope all is well with everyone, signing off with much love to family and friends and THANK YOU Nancy for the room & the Olson's for the tickets.