Sunny, breezy, clear, 50 degrees.
Miles 240
Travel time 6.5
hours (took side roads north, avoided I5)
Day 8 of our
road trip to Alaska.
Left our
nice hotel and the braying sea lions.
Each day brings different views with weather. There are multiple cargo ships anchored in
the distance. The ocean going cruise
ships anchor west of downtown. The
little town trolley in running tourists back and forth along the water
front. Meet Dory and Donn at Pig and
Pancake, a local franchise, for a delicious breakfast with a broad menu
including crab. Fond farewells and memories.
Heading
north across the Meglar Bridge to
Washington traveling 101 so we can follow the coast on our way to Kent, Wa.
Take a wrong turn and end up on a peninsula with tiny beach towns and center of
oyster farming. We find our way back to
101 and take another diversion to Tokeman, village in the Shoalwater Indian
Reservation. Huge sand dunes off shore
that require fencing for drift. Assume
they protect it so it protects the shoreline.
The feds built a tsunami tower for the community to also protect
them. We travel to lands end and find
Nelson’s crab. A small and very upscale
fresh and smoked seafood all kinds and a gift shop. We’re here the 99 cent
oyster shooters. We each have three and
it has ruined us for any future raw oysters, a new standard. On the way out we see the dunes again but
this time we see the actual shoals in the near distance, water hitting
underwater sand bar.
We pass
through Olympia the state capitol, we know the area well with past visits when
Bloomberg’s lived there. We’re on super
highway I5 around rush hour and the traffic is that especially around
Tacoma. We get our first glimpses of Mt.
Rainier and it is nearly fully visible.
Another in the chain of partially active volcanoes on the west coast.
Arrive in
Kent in full sun and 76 degrees. This
area also loves their azaleas and rhodies.
Betty and Al are waiting with open arms, lots of chat, a few cheers and
a delicious dinner. We head for hotel
since we had not gone there first. It is
worst Marriott we have ever been in.
It’s a town suites, full kitchen and breakfast, but not a good
standard. But it is located near lots of
industrial businesses and we think it serves working people more than travelers
like us. We are changing hotels, going
to a Best Western Plus for our second night here.
Chuck off to
golf tomorrow with Al. Betty and Pat in
for a day of visiting. Not straying far
since we have been frequent visitors in the past. And can’t believe I’m saying this, but Pat not
interested in shopping? On Friday we
board the Alaska Ferry to begin the last leg of our trip. Praise for our Chevy Equinox. It continues to serve us well as the little
workhorse that she is and still looks cute.
LOL
Nighty
night!
best $.99 shooters are found here
