Taking my camera out and about the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.
Sequim Irrigation Festival Float Unveiling and Kickoff Dinner
The Sequim Irrigation Festival is the longest running festival in the state of Washington. 2024 marks the event's 129th year! This year's festival theme is "Mountains to Shore, Whatever You're Looking For" and will run from May 3 - 12, but the build up to the festival starts months ahead of time.
Dawley House and Shoreline Restoration
Driving down Highway 101, just west of Blyn and the 7 Cedars Hotel & Casino, you can see the top of the roof and chimneys of a lovely old brick house. Especially before all the trees start leafing. It looks neglected at best, and I wondered, whose house? Can I find it? A little bit of sleuthing and the answer is tied to a Sequim pioneer, builder and lover of birds.
Panorama Vista County Park
Perched at the northwest corner of the Miller Peninsula, Panorama Vista County Park lives up to its name. The views of Sequim to the west, the Strait of Juan de Fuca in front of you, and Protection Island to the east are impressive.
Johnson Creek Train Trestle
Built by the Seattle, Port Angeles and Western Railway Company in 1914, the last train traveled across the Johnson Creek Train Trestle in 1983. In 2002, the trestle was converted to pedestrian use as part of the Olympic Discovery Trail.
The Sequim Elk
I'd lived here in Sequim for nearly a year before I had my first elk sighting. I'd read that the herd size varied from year-to-year, numbering about 90-ish. Of course, there is the Elk Crossing sign, which flashes when the radio collared elk are nearby. My husband and I joked that we figured the State Wildlife guys had collared some cows by mistake, as we'd never seen any elk. But finally, sucess!
Murdock Beach
A sunny Sunday filled my thoughts with beaches and got my camera fingers twitching. After checking tide charts, I hopped in the car and headed west toward Murdock Beach, aka “fossil beach”. It overlooks the Strait of Juan de Fuca and on a clear day you can see Vancouver Island.
Hood Canal Bridge
Mentally kicking myself for not checking the DOT website before I headed over to the "dark side" (hey, Sequim is definitely sunnier than Seattle), I managed to squeak across the Hood Canal Bridge ahead of its intermittant closures for safety inspections, as they do every spring. Why should I care? Well, the Hood Canal Bridge connects the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas.
Worthington Mansion
Heading westward and homeward after leaving my sister's house, I decided to take the scenic route home. What with a warm(ish) and sunny(ish) day, I had tossed my camera in the backseat and thought I'd stop at the Worthington Mansion and Park in Quilcene. Built in 1892, it's the only remaining house of its age and style in rural Jefferson County.
The Victorian Seaport of Port Townsend
What do you call a town with 10,000 people and more than 300 Victorian houses? Port Townsend!
Protection Island
Known as Cha-cha-ne-cuk or Cha-cha-nu-cah by the S'Kallam tribe, named Isla de Carrasco by Spanish in 1790, and finally Protection Island by George Vancouver in 1792, this 380-acre island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca is home to breeding, nesting, and migrating marine birds.
Trumpeter Swans
You might think that during the short and often damp, foggy days of the winter months here in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley there isn't all that much to see. Or that while the Dungeness Spit and its National Wildlife Refuge offer terrific birdwatching, there's not much bird activity in the farms and wetlands a bit inland. Maybe I can interest you in a burgeoning population of trumpeter swans?
