Day #33—Port Angeles, WA, to Sutherlin, WA, Microtel-- June 24th, 2011

Sand Verbena

Had a quick cup of coffee and I then drove to the Toyota place to divest ourselves of the tire with the hole in it and thus make space to pack the car. Returned to the KOA, packed the car, and swept out the cabin. Then we drove up the hill, past the Toyota place, and headed for Port Angeles. But, we decided that it was too stormy for us to be able to enjoy P.A. so turned around and drove to Sequim, again passing the Toyota place. In Sequim we stopped at the 101 Diner for breakfast. 

Though Sarah is a superb short-order cook, we are getting less and less enthusiastic about hauling out and cleaning the camp kitchen and preparing food. At the 101, we had good breakfasts and then shared six silver dollar blueberry pancakes, my three with blueberry syrup and Sarah’s with maple. 

Kicked about in Sequim for awhile in antique and next-to-new stores, but it was raining and grey so we decided to try Port Angeles as it seemed to be clearing up in that direction. So, we passed the Toyota place for the fourth time. 

Port Angeles was even a bit sunny. We went to a spacious and well-organized Goodwill store (Sarah puts together some great outfits at these next-to-new stores). She found a few items and I took a photo of a shelf full of Barbie dolls or their look-alikes (below). Then we found a very interesting stained glass & jewelry store where we each bought a pair of earrings, mine of green sea glass, Sarah’s enamel birds in blue. 

By this time it was close to 3 PM, so we returned to the Toyota garage (5th time today), where we unloaded the car so that the donut could be stored. This required removing bags of driftwood and rocks from the storage space above the tire, and removing most of our gear. We stacked it all under the overhang and out of the wet. 

The guys at the garage were great, hustling to get us back on the road and even washing the car. They put the new tires on the rear when we had thought front, but explained that this was the best place for them. Can’t remember why, now. Maybe something about this the best place to counteract skids. 

Just as we re-loaded the last item, the rain began in earnest, but we were on our way south by 4:13 PM even if in heavy rain. The rain didn’t quit until we hit Olympia and I-5 one-hundred miles later. We decided it was a good day to be driving and out of the area 

We played the Alphabet Game on boring I-5. I had just cautioned Sarah about shouting out the letter and startling me as I negotiated the curvy mountainous road when I saw a “J” in a Jefferson County sign. I shrieked, “J IN JEFFERSON!” scaring both of us and causing us to laugh until our sides ached. Siegfried Farnon to a tee. Or is that Margret Bloomer to a tee? 

We heard on Toyota’s radio that the price of gas in Victoria BC was $1.18! What the? Then we realized that the price was for a liter and that the price per gallon would have been about 3.79 x 1.18 or $4.47/gal. 

It was a long drive, particularly the mountainous northern leg, and we got to Sutherlin, OR, at about 11:30 PM. The Microtel Motel we’d booked was impeccably clean and nice. Tomorrow night we’ll be back in a KOA cabin. Our last for the trip. What a treat it will be when we’re finished camping and “cabining.” No more treks to a shared, steamy washhouse with our shower bags and change of clothes, and no more middle-of-the night-trips to the bucket bathroom.