Nancy: Labor Day weekend., Olympic National Park in Washington. They say they are having record crowds here due to the warm sunny weather, but there are far fewer people here than the other 5-6 we've been in so far this summer.... which of course makes us think highly of this park.
The rain forests are amazing; moss on everything, even phone booths. It's wonderful here, and what a surprise to see that Washington has so many long, beautiful beaches. So for us it's been pick and eat blackberries, buy and eat salmon and halibut, and walk on beaches and in rain forests.
We went to the Hoh Rain Forest and marveled at the moss-covered trees... some of those old trees can have up to 30 different kinds of mosses and lichens growing on them. I learned a new word: mouldering is when a tree starts turning in to dusty powder, blending back in to the soil and becoming mulch for the new cute little spritely green babies that are sucking the moisture and nutrients out of you. Don't want to think about that too much, but you can't help but notice all these incredibly strong nubile healthy rock-climbing, surfing, backpacking kids (are they models?) around here.
Some of these beaches aren't sandy but are river-rock beaches for miles and miles, with gigantic driftwood trees that I wish could talk. How did they get here, when, from where? Some are over ten feet in diameter. Cedars? Redwoods? From Japan, California, or just 50 feet from where they are now? Did they wash up last week or 50 or 250 years ago?
Today we also went to an amazing museum and learned a lot about the Makah tribe who lived here for thousands of years. 500 years ago a mudslide buried part of their village, and 30 years ago a team of scientists started gently uncovering everything, revealing perfectly preserved pieces of every part of the way they lived here on the sea. So, they created the museum to house, display and learn from what they recovered. Beautiful large canoes carved from gigantic cedar logs which they used for whale and seal hunting. Clothing from softened cedar fibers, and from wool from the dogs they raised for their fur. Tools, games, cooking utensils, blankets, cedar boxes that were ingenious, fishing spears, nets and hooks, incredibly beautiful baskets; artwork on everything. the museum even has an entire long house that housed many families,

Since we've been here we've been very grateful to the native people descended from the Makah, because they happily support our love of salmon. Yum!!!! We bought a bunch of smoked salmon from a sweet 19-year old kid in a little fishing village here; he catches it on the river, smokes it and sells it in his driveway. Every restaurant no matter how small or large serves it in everything. I eat salmon all day every day, and plan to all the way through Washington, Oregon, and longer if possible. Heaven! This is enough salmon for even me. Espresso is almost as common here; hand-painted "espresso" or "mocha" signs everywhere. I do love the Pacific Northwest!
A great beach walk today, photos attached.