The Journey....

To me the journey is an important part of reaching my destination so I have a habit of shooting photos while driving. Brian mused today if that's going to be the next law on the books: "No photography while operating a motor vehicle".

Since I shot 218 photos in less than 12 hours, and since I can't possibly post them all at the same time, I'm going to present them broken up into different posts.

I shot this pic of the Olympic Mtns., while doing about 60 mph on Interstate 5, just north of the Pierce-Thurston County border. It was about 7:45 a.m. As always, click on them for the detail.

This part of I-5 is so pretty. That's the Nisqually River Bridge, entering Thurston County.
There's our state capitol dome in Olympia. I have no idea if the cranes are building something or what. They seem to be too far inland to be part of the Port of Olympia.

I heard that this was the place to have a good ol' fashioned breakfast, so I stopped. It's on Highway 12 in Elma, west of Olympia, about halfway to Aberdeen.

This is the kind of place where the counter was full of locals, between the ages of 45 and 70, who all knew each other and all knew the waitstaff. Lots of laughing and local talk. One of them was rolling dice on the counter w/ another guy and talking animatedly. As each new patron came in, there was a lot of clapping friends on shoulders, enthusiastic greetings and hand shaking. I love those kinds of places. They are so quintessentially American.

These are metal molds.
Very cool Trompe-l'oeil on the side of the restaurant.
And inside, American kitsch at it's finest.
I had scrambled eggs, hash browns and wheat toast. It was really good.

Ever since we moved up here, I've been using a silly voice to pronounce the name of this town, Satsop. It drives Brian nuts. So when I got here, I called him and said, "Guess where I am?" and he goes, "Where?" and I go, "Ssshatshop" in the funny voice and he busts up , going "Oh you bitch! I SHOULD'VE KNOWN!" I was shrieking w/ laughter.

The now defunct nuclear reactors at the Satsop Development Park. The project was started in 1977 and abandoned in 1983 when money ran out. It was 76% complete. According to Wikipedia: "Because of the controversy surrounding the construction and cancellation of the power plant, the facility is known locally as "whoops", a play on its official acronym, WPPSS (Washington Public Power Supply System)."

Welcome to Aberdeen. Or as I like to call it, "Scab-berdeen" because it's just a horrid, depressed, ugly, run down, dying mill town. I think even in its heyday, when lumber was still a profitable enterprise, it was still fugly. These coastal towns have so much potential yet they are all extremely run down and creepy. Kurt Cobain is from Aberdeen. As I have always said: If I was from Aberdeen and married to Courtney Love, I'd kill myself too.

These are the only very large temperate rainforests in the lower 48 states.

I've been living here over 10 years and "Entering Humptulips" still cracks me up. I actually pulled over to get a good close up of the sign.

I decided to swing by Old Mill Lane in Neilton, to see if the people that bought the property from us ever tore down the trailer-inside-metal-garage building and built a real house, but they haven't. The place looks more run down than ever and the property is littered with old, rusting vehicles including a moldy retro travel trailer.

Highway 101 North near Lake Quinault, Olympic National Park
Stopped at a turnout on the road to shoot the Olys and Lake Quinault.
Craggy & snowy Olys. The Olympics taper from the rocky peaks to tree covered hills and ridges, all the way down to the cliffs above the ocean.
Lake Quinault

The signs on the Queets Trading Post were much cooler than the actual place. It was a lame little grocery store with very little selection and largely empty shelves. The Express Market at Chevron gas stations have more to offer than this place! If we had the money, I'd buy it and turn it into an incredible trading post.

Gas is quite pricey on the Peninsula. It was $3.33 at Kalaloch.

Click on this to make it bigger if you want to learn about the subduction zone which drives up the Olympics and Cascades, and tsunami danger from earthquakes.

Next time: Kalaloch Lodge and Beach