Earlier this summer Lucy and I decided to catch the ferry heading over to Kingston so that we could do a couple of hikes in the Olympic Peninsula. I wanted to stop in Port Gambol on the way so that I could take a few pictures. Port Gambol is this picturesque little town a short distance away from Kingston. I have often passed by here on my way to the peninsula and have always wanted to stop but never had. So as Lucy and I made our way through Port Gambol we noticed a rather large man walking around in a kilt...and no shirt. To say that our interest was piqued would be an understatement. After asking the "parking patrol" woman what was going on she informed us that the Renaissance fair was just beginning. Lucy and I could hardly believe our luck!
After taking some pictures of the town we wandered over to check out the unique individuals who dress and act the part. There were knights, blacksmith, and even Monty Python graced us with his presence. Lucy was called my lady, to which she responded, "who me"? We couldn't help but laugh at the scene that was laid out before us, it was literally like walking back in time.
We lingered at the fair for a while then decided to make our way to Hurricane ridge where we took in the beautiful view and went on a three mile hike. We came across a deer who was eating leaves right next to the path we were on. Yes, I jumped, I can't help myself! Lucy and I had heard that the flowers up on the ridge were really pretty so we were eager to find them and get some pictures. Yeah, the people who told us about the wild flowers were delusional, there were hardly any there and they weren't very bright. Oh well, it was a good hike anyway.
The next day Lucy and I set off for a nine mile hike at Lake Ozette. The hike was loooong! I know nine miles in theory isn't bad, but three of them were on the beach, so that slowed us down a lot! The main reason that I wanted to do this hike was because of the petroglyphs that were carved hundreds of years ago by the native Americans who once resided there. The ranger had given us a map (which was not to scale by the way) so that we would not miss these really cool rocks. I felt like a little kid on a treasure hunt and was probably more excited than anybody else who was there when I finally located them.
The hike on the beach was starting to make me a little nervous. The markers that let you know where the trail head is off of the beach are not obvious so any time I saw what looked like a marker I would climb up the path and check it out. By the third time I checked and found no trail I started getting worried. I asked Lucy if she thought that we should turn around, to which she responded with,"your call". No pressure! With no markers, we had no way to know how far we had gone so I said a little prayer and we kept walking. I had been here before, a long time ago, but all of the landmarks looked the same. I just kept saying, "lets go up to that bend and see what's there". Finally, after what seemed like FOREVER, we found the marker and were on our way back to the car. I cannot express the amount of relief I felt when Lucy pointed out the marker.
By the time we got back to the car we were starving and I think a little dehydrated. Neither of us was feeling well but by the time we got some food and water in us we were feeling a lot better. The drive home was long but we had a great time.
The following are pictures from our escapades:
