Another day, another ferry. This time a very breezy half-hour (across the Strait of Juan del Fuca) from Keystone on Whidbey Island to Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula. They urge you that reservations are highly recommended....we rocked up 20 mins before the 10.15am sailing and were about 6th in the queue! Anyway, spotted seals (though no orcas) from the chilly viewing deck and thawed out with home-roasted coffee in laid-back and charming Port Townsend. Apparently the town was in the running with Seattle and Walla Walla to be the state's preeminent city in the late 1800s and splashed a lot on building some cracking Victorian buildings in the speculation-fuelled 1880s boom (ending in an almighty crash in 1893); it's returned to its gracious, conservative coffee-shop-on-every-corner and ladies-who-lunch self these days.
From Port Townsend, onward westwards along the north edge of the peninsula, hoping that the shutdown hasn't paralysed the National Parks... Bad news. Petition Congress to give up and pass Obamacare now! In fact, it doesn't look too bad and we're regrouping on a route to see the most impressive sights and roads (we caught Mt Angeles earlier as the weather improved).
Overnight in Port Angeles which doesn't have a huge amount to commend it apart from the (presently shut) National Parks Info Centre and its town mascot, the Rocktopus (below, naturally!)
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