After dropping Karen off at the airport about 545 am today, I headed south to Tacoma, stopped for breakfast a little after 6, and then continued west on Hwy 16 up past Bremerton and crossed the Hood Canal bridge and on into Sequim. Traffic again was light and I just ambled along, no rush. Got to Dungeness Spit a little before 9am where it was partly cloudy with sun breaking through here and there. Temp was comfortable.
I put on my boots, sweater, windbreaker, and pack, made a bathroom stop by the trailhead, then headed down to the beach. There is now a $3 day use fee to go out on the beach there. Fortunately I had 3 single dollars in my wallet. It was a longer walk down than I remember, maybe 1/2 mile, but didn’t take long and soon I was walking on sand and stones.
Off to the west were thunder clouds booming over the ocean near Port Angeles, and it was hard to tell which way they were going, I figured north east. I got about a mile and a half down the beach and it started to sprinkle, then rain. Clearly heading my way. It was 930, so I turned around and headed back to the car. I figure it was about 4 miles RT. It was raining hard by the time I got to the car, about 1020, so I crawled in back and took off my boots and jacket and listened to the raindrops on the van. It was relaxing, so I laid down and stretched out and closed my eyes. Didn’t sleep, but enjoyed it.
Clearly, it wasn’t going to stop anytime soon, the Olympics were covered, the sun gone, rain everywhere. I looked at the map and headed back into Sequim, gassed up, then headed south on 101 with the intention of stopping at Potlatch State Park for lunch. The drive there along Hood Canal was great, 40-50mph, only 1 or 2 cars behind me and they kept their distance, no hurry. Karen had made me a PBJ along with hers, so I had my lunch between showers in the park.
Next was the decision which way to go home. Either up to Bremerton and on the hour long ferry ride, which would have been relaxing. Or down to Olympia and back up thru Tacoma and home. I chose the latter because traffic was so good [so far]. It was uneventful into Olympia, with some very heavy rain. Then a brief backup on I5 in Tacoma due to an accident, but that didn’t last long. The rain stopped, I made it all the way to Auburn in the dry, then light rain the rest of the way home. Got home about 345. A relaxing day.