Olympic National Park - Day 1: Seattle to Port Angeles, Hurricane Ridge

Was really excited for the trip to begin!  We decided to leave on Thursday afternoon to avoid busy holiday traffic.  Made it in line for the 3:15pm ferry, and saw that had we been even five minutes later, we might not have made the cut off for the queues!  So, was glad we secured a spot.

It was a quick 30 minutes to cross -- barely had time to snack on tater tots before we had to head back to the car.  From Kingston, it took a little extra time to get out of the ferry terminal area.  Slow moving traffic through the city, probably until we got on 104 towards Port Gamble.

We were staying in Port Angeles for the night (and next), and it was around 5:30pm when we got to the city.  It was a beautiful, sunny, cloudless late afternoon, so it made sense for us to check out Hurricane Ridge while we had time before the crowds came the next day.

What a great decision!  While it was a windy drive that took some time, we felt safe and not rushed the whole time.  We encountered only one other car going up, and maybe six coming down.  Got to the closed visitor center a little before 6pm, and here were a handful of other cars there enjoying the views as well.

It was so beautiful.  Expansive stretch of snow-capped mountains.  So pristine and wonderful.  I had only been here one other time years ago in the summer, so it was great to come back with a different kind of view.  There was still too much snow for any hikes; the road was closed off right after the visitor center.  It would be great to come again in the summer and hike.

We spent a good 45 minutes enjoying the view, and finally started the trek down to Port Angeles only because we started thinking about dinner and checking in to the Airbnb,

Allowing ourselves one night to buy dinner, we chose this first night.  Coyote BBQ pub looked good, and they had a nice indoor/outdoor seating area, so we gave this a try.  The food I got was okay, meat was a little dry...and the initial experience was not so great.  We waited what seemed like 15 minutes for someone to acknowledge us.  And, a rowdy, drunk group of patrons got seated next to us, who ended up saying racist remarks loudly and ignorantly.  We had to move outside to get away from this.

It was around 9pm when we got to the Airbnb.  Pretty much just threw food in the frig, showered, and fell asleep immediately afterward.  A tiring, long day of driving, but minus the restaurant experience, off to a great start.  Tomorrow we hike and explore the Lake Crescent area.