14-18 July -Olympic Penninsula Washington

The Olympic Peninsula has a legacy of names tied to the ancient culture of Greece. Mt. Olympus, the highest peak of the Olympic mountain range did not receive its name from a "name that mountain" contest. The name is the result of the inspiration of Captain John Meares, who in 1788 named it with the following exclamation. "If that not be the home where dwell the gods, it is certainly beautiful enough to be, and I therefore will call it Mt. Olympus."

Twenty-five mountain peaks on Mount Olympus are named for Greek, Roman and Norse gods. The local native Americans believed that the mountain was the home of their most important god, Thunderbird.

Enough of the history lesson.  After the night at Walmart, we snagged a camp spot at Olympic Nat'l Park and spent the day hiking on Hurricane Ridge.  Excellent  trail with even "excellenter" views.  Unlike our previous visit 40 some years ago, we could actually see our hands in front of our faces.

The next day we drove out to the farthest western point in the lower 48, Cape Flattery. The area is owned by the Makah Indian Tribe who charge $10 per car entry fee onto tribal land.  Probably fair given the history.

Another "tree hugger" shot.

Finally headed down the eastern side of the Olympics where we found a nice 100 ft water fall.

Then the Port Townsend Ferry back to the mainland.  A side story is that we camped at Deception Pass State park on Widby Island (which is also home to a Naval Air Station).  Posted on the entrance station to the park was a schedule of the "Aircraft Carrier Landings" which I thought might be fun to go watch if we had time the next day.

Well little did we know that the Navy Station was right next door to the campground and that Navy F-18 Hornet attack aircraft would be practicing night "carrier landings" at the air station and the down wind leg of the approach would be through the back window of the Funmobile.

Felt sorry for the other campers, but I thought it was kinda cool since I spent a large portion of my Navy career on a destroyer trailing about 1,000 yards behind carriers picking up pilots who ditched due to battle damage, or just missed.

Good night from Deception Pass Washington.