Last Day Sunday July 19

We spent our last day on the Northwest peninsula just scouting around. We really didn't know where we were going, only that we needed to be back to SeaTac airport btween Tacoma and Seattle by 8:00 p.m for a 10:15 flight home.






After packing up from our headquarters for 3 days (seen in picture above, our room on the end with view of Olympic mountains) we went to church at the Sequim Community church. There are quite a number of churches in Sequim, I suppose because there are many retirees here. That is not the case in other towns we were in where there were 3 or less churches that we found. Our mtel here was not the fanciest we had stayed in but was the most expensive because of the demand from the Lavender Festival. It definitely was the most convenient place in all of Sequim because we could walk to the festival site each day and to many of the restaurants.

Our final lunch was on the waterside in Port Townsend, the larger port town 20 miles from Sequim at the entrance to the Puget Sound.
From there we ventured south toward Tacoma stopping at Bremerton and then to a beautiful resort island called Bainbridge Island. This quaint place is across the sound from Seattle and is served by a ferry. You will see the cars lined up for the Sunday afternoon ferry. This ferry trip of about 30 minutes saves driving time from here to Seattle of about 2 1/2 hours although the wait time is 1 to 2 hours to catch the next available ferry !
We walked the waterside trail until we found a dock with canoes,kayaks and other interesting vehicles that you see in the picture. After some discussion,we did not take the Swan boat out. Instead, we, fully clothed, took a Kayak out into the Eagle Harbour where sail boats and large motor boats were coming in and out for the afternoon. I did leave behind our camera so I did not get a picture of the Seattle skyline with the Spaceneedle and skyscrapers just across the sound from where we were kayaking. It was spectacular and seemed close enough to touch. We managed to stay out of the worst of the wind and the boats and ventured back up into the calmer harbour where homes were right on the water. It reminded me of New England rather than the west coast.
Despite our lack of Kayaking prowess we did manage to stay mostly dry and to get back to the dock in one package. We realized we are more suited to river kayaking where you float and guide rather than paddling and fighting the strong wind and current.
After some of the country's best ice cream, "Mora's", where once you have paid for whatever size you want, they encourage you to try as many of the flavors you want, we made our final approach to the airport.
The security and lines at the Seattle airport are NOTHING compared to the vigorous rush you experience at Atlanta. Our 10:15 red-eye flight that I thought would be quiet and partially filled was oversold and jammed ! Whatever effect the recession may be having on travel, it hasn't affected these coast to coast flights. There were probably 25 to 30 Army ROTC cadets flying standby from training in Seattle for 2 weeks back to connecting flights in Atlanta. From being quite chatty at the airport, they were quiet on the plane. The overnight flight was extraordinarily quiet with most being sleeping and very little activity. Leaving there was 1:30 a.m. Atlanta time.
With a tailwind at times of 87 MPH we were back to Atlanta in 41/2 hours and arrived more than 1/2hour early around 5:30. We grabbed our overstuffed carry ons and headed for the park and ride lot where we checked out within 2 minutes of being charged another full day. Sharon Andretti had us home to D'ville in 52 minutes. Upon our arrival, Jeff and Carrie Baker were heading out the door to a job she had at 8:00 a.m leaving Knox and Ann Tatum with us for the week.