Week 3: Olympic Peninsula and Fidalgo Bay

Week 3: Olympic Peninsula and Fidalgo Bay

LOVED this area… Anacortes is absolutely fabulous!  The weather was perfect the whole time and we connected

with so many great people!!

Mileage to date: 1890

Soul Status:  HIGH. Very high.

Week three was AWE-some!

A random new experience we had this week was getting all 23,000lbs of the The Wave on a ferry from
Port Townsend, WA. to Coupeville, WA. This also required us to completely turn off the propane
tanks, which we had never done. We are such clowns right now, but by month 12, we will be EXPERTS!

Zoe met another soulmate (yes, she gets more than one – she makes her own rules).
Maximus is super cute and an extremely polite kid who’s family owns and operates an RV Park.
Max’s job is to lead guests to their spot. Zoe went to “work” with him one day showing people where
the sewer, electricity and water could be found. They also had to pick up trash. It’s good for her.
Keeps her humble (and they were paid in ice cream!). Reminded me of my childhood… playing all day
and only coming home when you were hungry.

Hannah learned what a laundromat is! I prepared her for a “hard” day of laundry, that may require us to
bleach the washer before using it and fighting for machines. That hard lesson backfired because what we
got was five sets of brand new washers and dryers along with an extremely clean and comfortable waiting
room where she could finally watch Cupcake Wars. She was in her own little Heaven. All five loads of
laundry were cleaned, dried and put away in 90 minutes.

HIGH and LOW LIGHTS:

Parking the Wave and then waking up in the middle of an actual lavender farm.

Exploring the Olympic National Park offered insane views and so many opportunities for Bigfoot to make
an appearance, but didn’t, yet.

Stayed most of the week at a place called Fidalgo Bay. We have a beach front site that has countless
seal sightings and spectacular sunsets! That’s where I did a lot of soul searching that I wrote about.
This is also where we welcomed our first “victim” while parking our 60-foot rig. LOL We took a turn too
sharp and clipped a truck. LUCKILY, Jim was super cool about us scratching his nice truck. His words
were “it’s a truck with 90,000 miles on it, things happen, don’t worry about it.” We know this is not
the last time this will happen and we are confident that it will also happen to us. I hope we can all
maintain perspective when mishaps take place.

Cracking and eating crab – Both girls tried crab, they didn’t like it, but loved cracking it. Thank you
neighbors that caught and cooked fresh crabs and chose to share! Said neighbors also shared their Kayaks!
The world needs more neighbors like you!

SIDE NOTE: One of Brian’s goals this trip was to take time to engage with people. He has surpassed any
expectation I had for accomplishing this goal and we are only beginning. He is my little social butterfly!
Ha! He will tell you it has been the best part of the trip for him. Our coolest experiences have stemmed
from the relationships that he has built. Including the crabs and kayaks from above. More on this later…

Whale watching – We saw two families of killer whales/orcas. We also got an intimate look at the San Juan
Islands. Nothing but sunny days so far, pretty sure it really doesn’t rain in Washington, they tell us this so
we dont all relocate here!

Seattle – My future self will be coming back here for a 3-6 month block of time. The energy of the city is
contagious and Brian had a quick moment with Bill Gates! More memorable for Brian than Bill because we were
driving, but they did gaze into one anothers eyes. While we were there we knocked out the Space Needle,
The Pop Culture Museum and Pikes Place Market to see them throw the fish.

Vancouver – Dutifully playing the role of the cheesy tourist, we did a Hop On Hop Off tour bus around the
city. Our favorite was Stanley Park and English Bay because of all the outdoor energy, vibes, food options
and perfect beach! Also visited Tim Hortons to try their famous doughnuts…UNDER WHELMING! Don’t waste the
calories.

We have met many new friends along the way here in Washington; a quick shout out to full-timers
Scott and Kimberly from SerendipRv.com, the Paynes, fellow cross country travelers Rachel and Phil from the
AdventuresofMelvin.com, Joe from Eugene, Hans, all the great advice/tips from the Harmanns, Steve,
Amy and Sherry of the previously mentioned group of crab/kayak/lemon drop giving neighbors and of course the
fun night of drinks along the waterfront, talking American politics with the Canadian Smiths!
We actually found more time than usual this week to rest and relax. We learned that we need to actually
schedule these just chill days for some R&R or they will not happen. I am learning to BE STILL and practicing is fun.

We found more time than usual this week to rest and relax. We learned that we need to actually schedule chill
days for the R&R or it will not happen. I am learning to BE STILL and practicing is fun.

XO
Tina
Boondocks and Bliss