March 2010 Archives
A first bus ride!
The littlest Rebel-by-bus took his FIRST bus and train ride this past week. Max, my seven month old grand nephew, was visiting from Fairbanks. He, his Mom, Grandma, and I drove to the Lakewood Station to catch the 10:00 am bus. I used my ORCA card, Polly and Sarah paid $3.00 each. As soon as Max was settled on his Mom’s lap, he was wide-eyed and gazing out the big window. He was a very happy little one all the way, smiling and giggling at anyone who smiled at him. We arrived at approximately 11:15 at 4th and Seneca in heart of downtown Seattle. We were greeted at the Westlake Mall area by a woman handing out free daffodils… a gift from the Pike Place Market, to celebrate the first day of spring.
We met family and friends for a pleasant lunch at the Seattle Art Museum (1st and University) TASTE restaurant. Fun and inventive food (beet cake?!), at a reasonable price. We toured the Calder exhibit (mobile maker extraordinaire) at the SAM, then strolled the Pike Place Market, which is two blocks north of the SAM. The daffodils in window boxes along the roofline of the Market were in full bloom.
The Olympic Loop: The Journey As The Destination
“Encompassing the last forest wilderness of the United States, preserved for posterity in the recently formed Olympic National Park, the Olympic Peninsula is a wonderland of scenic attraction and vacation adventure supreme. A land of glaciers, ice fields, perpetually snow-capped mountains, giant trees, hundreds of species of wild flowers, twenty of which are found nowhere else in the world; mountain lakes, meandering streams and picturesque ocean beaches, the peninsula is encircled by the broad, smooth Olympic Loop Highway.”
- “The Olympic Peninsula, America’s Last Frontier” 1940
An easy bus ride took us to Aberdeen, the gateway to the Olympic Loop tucked away in the southwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula. Traveling north took us past Lake Quinault, Kalaloch, Forks, Lake Crescent and Port Angeles. We passed through Sequim as we turned east to Port Townsend, the northeast end of the Olympic Peninsula. From Port Townsend, we headed south through Quilcene, Brinnon, and Hoodsport with stunning views of the Hood Canal to Shelton and then back to Olympia.
With so many possible hikes, kayaking adventures, clamming, beach walking, and small towns to explore, the Olympic Loop attracts thousands of people every year. Travelers can spend weeks here but we opted to do the loop in three days, taking buses from 4 different transit authorities.
Day 1: Olympia to Aberdeen, Lake Quinault, Kalaloch and Forks
The Olympic Loop: The Journey As The Destination- continue reading
The Olympic Loop: Day 2 Forks to Port Townsend
Day 2: Forks, Port Angeles, Sequim, Port Townsend
We got up early to enjoy a lovely hot breakfast at the Inn before walking the few blocks to Main Street to catch the 9:30 a.m. Clallam bus to Port Angeles. We discovered that while buses stop for passengers in the rural areas wherever they are, buses only stop at bus stops (yellow and white curbs) in cities.
We walked down to the Transit Center and caught the Clallam bus # 14 at 11:00 a.m. to Port Angeles. We bought a day pass for $2. The fog was lifting around Lake Crescent and the driver stopped to picked up hikers near the Lodge. We arrived at the Gateway Transit center in Port Angeles (just a few blocks from the Victoria ferry dock—a future destination for another trip) in time to catch Clallam bus # 30 to Sequim.
Once we arrived in Sequim, we had a few hours to wait before catching the bus to Port Townsend. We walked two blocks from the transit station to downtown Sequim. We had a great lunch at the Sunshine café, browsed at the Pacific Mist bookstore, and visited the Museum and Arts Center before catching the Jefferson County # 30 bus to Port Townsend.
The Olympic Loop: Day 2 Forks to Port Townsend- continue reading
The Olympic Loop: Day Three-Back to Olympia
Getting up to watch the sunrise was rewarded. The Keystone Ferry made its dawn run and the rowers seemed small against the purple Cascades in the distance.
We had a wonderful breakfast at Salal’s Café and visited the Jefferson County Historical Museum at 540 Water Street. They had jail cells in the basement—a scary place. As we walked back to our hotel, we stopped in at Imprint Bookstore and Phoenix Rising (a metaphysical book shop).
The Olympic Loop: Day Three-Back to Olympia- continue reading
Tacoma: Triple Play
The trip to Tacoma is an easy one-bus ride that we’ve made several times. We headed out on February 18th to take advantage of Tacoma’s Arts Walk. On the third Thursday of every month, the Tacoma Art Museum is free from 10 am—8pm, the Washington History Museum is free from 2—8pm, and the Museum of Glass is free from 5–8pm.
We boarded Intercity Transit’s 603 at Martin Way park-and-ride at 9:20 a.m.–this was recently expanded so there are plenty of spaces. The bus makes only one stop at the Lakewood and then heads to Tacoma. We got off on Pacific Avenue in front of the History Museum a little after 10 a.m. The History and Art Museum are on Pacific Avenue. A bridge behind the History Museum leads to the Glass Museum.
