30 June 2019

Port Angeles with the skyline of Olympic National Park

On our trek across Washington State we stopped for the night in Olympia. Today we planned to briefly visit downtown, drive up the Olympic Peninsula coastline, explore Olympic National Park, and take the ferry to Canada.

The day started as planned with a quick visit to the State Capitol Building and downtown. Olympia is a nice small town that served us well as a spot to rest and retool for a night. The State Capitol Building and surrounding grounds are worth a visit.

We had enough time to drive up US 101 to Port Angeles and visit Mount Olympic National Park before the 5:20 PM ferry to Victoria. The problem arose when I did not make a reservation far enough in advance and our only option was to wait in the first-come first-serve line. Fearing we’d miss the ferry if we didn’t get in line early, we skipped the national park and instead killed three hours in the Town of Port Angeles. Port Angeles is nice enough but after an hour and a half we got bored and went back to the ferry terminal. Ultimately all the drive ups appeared to make the ferry but we didn’t want to risk having to wait for the 9 PM departure.We arrived in Victoria for a late dinner just in time for Canada Day celebrations tomorrow.

Washington State Capitol Buildings