We woke up in Forks the next day to this sleepy view:
...then made our way to a diner in town (ahem, the only diner in town.) We ended up having a great meal, at a table with this sign on top of it. Further investigation revealed a note hidden under the sign which read: "To Lyn and George - Thank you for the use of your booth. If there were any damages, don't blame Denise. We found her to be very efficient, helpful, and charming. [signed] Two old lovebirds - Frank (90) and Mary (87), married for 67 years."
After breakfast, we drove further south on 101, following the road's "S-shape" west to the coastal portion of Olympic National Park and Ruby Beach. We arrived to more orange cones and barricades, as well as a crew from Washington Department of Transportation, who apparently was there checking on the status of the barricades, but not actually enforcing them. We waited for the team to drive off, then re-parked the car, and went off to see what this majestic beach we'd heard so much about had to offer...
...but not before attempting a pit stop. (The bathrooms were closed due to the shutdown, but luckily we brought t.p. in foresight and there were plenty of trees...)
Eventually we made our way down to the beach, which we had entirely to ourselves, and spent the better portion of two hours poking around in all the tide-pools and climbing all of the rocks.
...then made our way to a diner in town (ahem, the only diner in town.) We ended up having a great meal, at a table with this sign on top of it. Further investigation revealed a note hidden under the sign which read: "To Lyn and George - Thank you for the use of your booth. If there were any damages, don't blame Denise. We found her to be very efficient, helpful, and charming. [signed] Two old lovebirds - Frank (90) and Mary (87), married for 67 years."
After breakfast, we drove further south on 101, following the road's "S-shape" west to the coastal portion of Olympic National Park and Ruby Beach. We arrived to more orange cones and barricades, as well as a crew from Washington Department of Transportation, who apparently was there checking on the status of the barricades, but not actually enforcing them. We waited for the team to drive off, then re-parked the car, and went off to see what this majestic beach we'd heard so much about had to offer...
...but not before attempting a pit stop. (The bathrooms were closed due to the shutdown, but luckily we brought t.p. in foresight and there were plenty of trees...)
Eventually we made our way down to the beach, which we had entirely to ourselves, and spent the better portion of two hours poking around in all the tide-pools and climbing all of the rocks.
From Ruby Beach, we headed south and eastward, to Quinault Rainforest, another part of Olympic National Park. We again found everything to be "closed" with "barricades", but again no one around to enforce them. I have no idea what the facility is below, but behind it were several trailheads so we took off on one.
We did some more exploring around the area after our hike, and ended up on the south shore of Lake Quinault, where this masterpiece of a lodge resides. I remembered seeing it come up as a "hotel" option while we were booking travel plans, but its location didn't quite fit our itinerary, so we passed it up. We spent a little time checking out the grounds (perfectly manicured lawns, quaint lake beach with chairs and canoes, clusters of picturesque bungalows) as well as the main lodge (an appropriate number of lit fireplaces, leather sofas, and mounted animal heads) and in retrospect, would have gladly added an extra day just to stay at this place.
We drove to Astoria, Oregon after Quinault, through some really gorgeous countryside...
...and arrived at our hotel just in time for a wine reception and sunset over the Columbia River.
(view to our left)
(view to our right)
That night, we had reservations at a local restaurant (called the Baked Alaska, highly recommended), and our hotel came with a complimentary chauffer in this AMAZING restored 1945 Cadillac Sixty Special.
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