Sequim

Looking out on the Pacific Ocean 

The Dungeness Spit

Low Tide in Port Townsend

:

Ocean view 

The tourists

Port Angeles

My good friends Bob and Gail Pinard

Port Townsend

  Last week Jan and I took a little trip, along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississipp- no just kidding, that's a line from a song from the sixties about the war of 1812 I believe. Anyway, we did take a small trip. However we're back now, so anyone who might have wanted to rob our house while we were gone, too bad, you missed your chance. We went down to check out the lovely town of Sequim Washington, where our long time friends, the Pinards have moved. The trip down was quite the unpleasant experience. We woke up at 3:00 AM to catch the 5:25 flight down to Seattle from Juneau. We boarded just fine, but that was the end of the good experience for the remainder of the day with the airline. We sat on the tarmac for several hours while the mechanics fixed what was described to us as the air conditioning by the pilot. We finally got underway for what was supposed to be a non-stop flight to Seattle, but about 45 minutes into the flight I noticed that we were slowing down and getting lower to the ground. We had an unscheduled stop in Ketchikan and for all I know, that jet is still sitting there on the tarmac. It sure as the world didn't leave while we were there. Meanwhile, our friends were waiting for us at the Sea-tac airport, expecting us to be pulling in at 8:45 in the morning. We finally did arrive some eight hours later. Their patience borders on saint hood. I, on the other hand, was ready to blow a gasket. The good part is, we arrived safe and sound, and unlike several other incidents involving airlines recently, no one was forcibly removed from the plane or hit with their baby stroller by a flight attendant. I would like to mention that I had my arm bumped on a number of occasions by a stewardess with an ample behind, but I can't really blame her. The airlines have put three seats in the place where two used to be, so they had to make concessions somewhere. Once we arrived at Sequim (pronounced Skwim) we had a delightful time. Our friends were the perfect hosts, feeding and housing us in a grand manner, and even directing us to various points of interest from the back of our rental car. Usually I would discourage back seat drivers, but I was so pleased that they agreed to ride along in this instance. I know that driving can be a nuisance to people who live where they have to drive all the time, but for us, it was such a pleasure to be able to hop in a car and travel more than three or four miles of pavement. We went down with the idea that we would look at the area and possibly check out some houses. It was quite a delightful place, with flowers and trees in full bloom. As you can see from the pictures there is access to forests and the sea, both of which I have become quite enamored with in our almost forty one years here. Washington does have a high sales tax, and there is also a property tax, neither of which we have to deal with here in Hoonah. The houses are quite nice for the most part, but I'm afraid they may be a little out of our price range, we'll have to see what our house will appraise at. We went to several delightful restaurants, and went shopping at both Wal-mart and Safeway, where the prices are much more to my liking than the prices here. I'm quite certain that there are plumbers, contractors, furnace repair men and auto mechanics in abundance there. It's not that we don't have any of those tradesmen here, but many of them are also fishermen or working at the cannery or for the city, so they aren't quite as easy to get hold of. In any event, the trip was quite pleasant overall. I don't know what the future holds for us, but I think I could easily find myself in Sequim if the price was right.