12/30 - Christmas Roundup

Then there were the two parties, the grownup's party and the cookie party. Thanks to our friends, our little (barely over six feet) cookie tree was adorned with gingerbread, sugar icing and lots of dragee. The candle lighting went smoothly with a new fire marshall and rapid response team. It was a cassoulet year, but in all the excitement, we didn't get a photo of the cassoulet. It moved too quickly.

Once again, a wonderful Christmas season and lots of 2018 to get ready for the next one.

12/14 - Why Is Olympic Hot Springs Road Still Closed?

We didn't get very far. Maybe a quarter mile past the temporary bridge there was a gap in the road and a branch of the Elwha river running through that gap. It wasn't just some little stream, but a full fledged torrent, maybe thirty feet wide. This wasn't something that could be easily stopped or bridged. The remainder of Olympic Hot Springs Road, including the ranger station, was cut off.

On our way back, we stopped to study one of the signs describing the temporary trail that the park service has blazed. It cuts inland near where the road gets its first view of the river. According to the sign, the trail runs inland and uphill and continues south past the east side of the campground. It appears to rejoin Olympic Hot Springs Road down near the ranger station and the junction with Whiskey Bend Road. In other words, it is possible to head further down the road on foot, but not otherwise, and this isn't likely to change very soon.

12/14 - Seen Around Port Angeles

12/09 - Cookie City Seattle

This year the theme was Seattle and Seattle history, so we recognized a lot of the landmarks. There were the Ballard Locks, the ferris wheel down at the waterfront and a Jetsons' vision that included the Space Needle and Rosie, the Jetsons' robot maid. There was also a bigfoot riding a girder. We'll have to check some of those construction cranes that have taken residence in town.