Olympic Peninsula August 2019

 

Mount Hood (Southwest of Portland, Oregon)

 Yesterday started our two-week exploration of the Olympic Peninsula in northwest Washington, the vast majority of which consists of Olympic National Park, We've never visited here before and are looking forward to sharing with you what we come across. The first day was an uneventful day's drive from our home in Bend, Oregon to the Waterfront at Potlatch, just south of the Park. Our lodginin is a decidedly second-rate resort/60s motel that sits on a narrow slice of land squeezed between very busy highway 101 and the waterfront of a scenic section of the Hood Canal. We have a wide-angle view of two RVs out the back window with the Hood Canal in the background. Those amenities are good enough to garner an 8.8 rating on Booking.com, reflecting either the taste of its guests or its waterfront location. Whichever you choose to believe, it's not worth anywhere near the money we're paying for a three-night stay. 

Dinner at the restaurant of the Alderwood Resort, also situated on the waterfront of the Hood Canal and a true resort, was magnificent. Pat opted for raviolis with crab, expecting pasta stuffed with a light mixture containing a small amount of crab meat. Instead she received perfectly textured, silky raviolis filled with rich Parmesan and topped with a sauce that incorporated the meat of two whole crab claws. Pete's divers scallops served on a bed of green lentils were seared to perfection.

Here's some images from our first day.

The night before departure

The view from the rear window of our room

     

Our "resort" (I'm standing on Highway101

 Today we enter the Park proper.

On another note, for those of you who might be interested in Pete's ramblings on the a capella group, The Whiffenpoofs, click here.