Dungeness National Refuge

D is for the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge and the Dungeness Spit located on the North Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington.

A trail wanders through the trees and eventually drops down to the Dungeness Spit.

The Dungeness Spit has the Strait of Juan de Fuca on it’s outer shore and the Dungeness Bay on it’s inner shore. Canada is directly across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the North of Washington State.

It’s a 6 mile trek to walk out to the Dungeness Light Station, first lighted in 1857. We didn’t have enough time on the day we visited to do the round trip to the light house and back.

It wasn’t an easy walk because of all the rocks washed up on the spit.

The trail begins at the top of those trees in the distance. We walked out for about an hour and then headed back to the trail head.

There were lots of nice camping spots above the Spit and Wildlife refuge.

These last two photos that show the Dungeness Light house were taken in 2011 during the same time of year. On that trip to Sequim for the lavender festival we saw these eagles nesting, too.

Dungeness CrabSource

      The Dungeness Crab gets its common name from the town of Dungeness, Washington, now called Old Town Dungeness, where the first commercial harvesting of the crab was done. The Dungeness Crab is the only commercially important crab in the state of Washington’s territorial waters and was the first shellfish harvested commercially on the North Pacific Coast.

Linking up to ABC Wednesday started by Mrs. Nesbitt and carried on with the expertise of Roger and team!

Garden Fences…

Who doesn’t love a white picket garden fence? I’m joining TexWisGirl at Run*A*Round Ranch Report for Good Fences #71. This is my new header photo for now and I learned from my good ole Bloggy friends that this plant is Bee Balm. When Dear and I took an overnight road-trip in the middle of July to the North Olympic Peninsula in Washington State we stopped at a couple lavender farms. In a few days I’ll post my lavender shots but for today I’m sharing this sweet garden on the edge of the lavender fields at Purple Haze Lavender Farm. Our July has been very full and interesting to say the least. We had extended family stay with us after attending our son’s wedding at the end of June till July 8th. We are still in semi-retirement mode as Dear waits to hear about where his next job might be. During this mode we have said a few times that everyday is Saturday. We aren’t experts at this retirement preview. We took our little road-trip so we could get out of the “everyday is a project day” at this old house. Now at the end of July our youngest and her hubby have moved into our basement as their monthly apartment rent went up over $400. Yikes. Now we are trying to blend all our stuff, including furniture. We are very happy and thankful we can offer them this space. If Dear and I get re-located with a new job they will stay on and take care of our property. It’s a win-win situation for all of us. In the meantime we have lots of eggs, milk, spices, oatmeal and bookcases! You get the picture! How’s your July winding down?

Cape Flattery

C is for Cape Flattery and just in time for ABC Wednesday. Thank you to Mrs. Nesbitt and to the ABC Team!

This is a photo heavy post but you don’t get out to the North Western most point in the contiguous United States every day!

You need to buy a $10.00 parking pass at any of several spots on the Makah Indian Reservation before you drive out to the Cape Flattery trail head.

Strollers and wheelchairs will not be able to manage this trail. It is an easy trail otherwise except for managing a lot of exposed tree roots.

There were a few nice viewing stations. The final one had a rope ladder 3-4 step climb to get to.

We enjoyed the walk/hike to these beach views.

We had a few days of some rainfall which our lawn and plants enjoyed. We are back in a sunnier pattern again.

The Road to Cape Flattery…

On our road trip to reach Cape Flattery we took the Strait of Juan de Fuca Highway (112).

We saw our destination in the distance.

We could see Vancouver Island across the strait and I thought of our blogging friends Pondside and Lorrie who live there. After leaving this scenic spot we entered the Makah Indian Reservation where we bought our parking pass for the Cape Flattery trail. I will share the photos from the trail and Cape Flattery tomorrow!

Olympic Peninsula Barns

For the Barn Collective with Tom the Backroads Traveller I’m showing barns from the back roads of the Northern Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.

On Dear and my road trip to the westernmost tip of the contiguous United States on July 15th & 16th we drove by these barns.

How about a barn converted into a winery?

On a personal kind of farming note of the orchard variety…on Saturday I had to pick apples off our apple tree because they had started falling off the tree on their own in huge numbers. Since I had given my pricey fruit picker to our son for a Christmas stocking gift, no it didn’t fit into his stocking technically but it did fit in the back of his pick-up, I was without an implement that would make reaching the apples on the upper branches easily. I stepped into our newly cleaned out and re-organized garage, the product of my husband’s extra time on his hands since being without a job right now. I looked around and spotted the two 4 paks of bamboo tiki torches that have been waiting for an occasion for many years now. I thought to myself…that could work for picking apples off my tree. I took the lighter out of the top and proceeded to the tree. This new farm implement worked like a charm! I could even snatch two apples with one going down into the reservoir before having to empty them into my apple basket! I was quite proud of myself and my easy apple picking venture!

Have a great last week of July!