Bainbridge Island Pt 1 & 2

I started my day by stopping at the Olympic National Park Visitors Center to empty my porta-potty, which wasn’t too much of a hassle, before driving Hurricane Ridge Road. I didn’t have any plans to hike or explore the area since there was lots of snow, but I did want to see it. As I gained elevation, I stopped at an overlook of Port Angeles and the Salish Sea. It was really cool to see the layout of the northeastern side of the park. As I kept driving the small pockets of snow turned into a thin cover and then into thick drifts and walls of it. The road was cleared and dry but the snow looked packy and thick along it. Right before reaching the visitors center, I stopped at an overlook with an insane view of the mountain range. Peak after peak all lined in a row, snow-covered tops and with a curtain of clouds. It was seriously breathtaking. I parked in the visitor center parking lot facing the gorgeous view. I made an early lunch and read for a little while. I took a little stroll to the visitors center to look around a bit before heading back to my van. I drove back down and the fog had started to settle into the valley. Once I reached Port Angeles it was clear again.

I left the area and headed for Bainbridge Island where I planned to spend the next few days visiting with my uncle, aunt, and cousin. The drive was very pleasant through the country and small towns before crossing the bridge into Bainbridge. Soon I was pulling into the driveway of my uncle's waterfront property. A beautifully landscaped yard and a charming house sat in front of a beautiful view of Puget Sound. My Uncle gave me a tour of his house and backyard. I was able to plug in my van so the external battery could charge up and I got some laundry done. We then left to go visit my aunt at her new place. On our way, my uncle drove me around downtown and told me about the island. My aunt gave me a tour of her place and we visited while I got to pet her dog for a long time. It was nice to chat with her and get my dog fix.

My uncle then showed me the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial. It was a really nice memorial commemorating the internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. We then stopped by the local library where he showed me around the beautiful Japanese garden they have out front with vibrant blooming trees and bushes. Around the other side of the building was a fern garden my uncle and aunt had donated to the library and that my uncle put in and continues to maintain. He showed me the various types of ferns in the garden and what makes them unique. There was a pretty gazebo with think log supports and a weathered roof that he had built when he installed the garden. Japanese Maple trees gave pops of red to the greenery. We went back to his house and he made cauliflower curry and salad for dinner. We ate and talked for a long time about our travels and his experience in the peace corps and with botanical gardens. It was interesting to learn so much about history and horticulture from him. Once it got late we called it a night and went to bed.

Bainbridge Island Pt 2

My first full day in the Bainbridge area started with a trip to the Suquamish Tribe Museum. My uncle and I walked around the small museum reading the exhibits and he was able to tell me a lot of what he knew of the tribe and the history of it. This tribe is known for their intricate and amazing basket weaving. They had a number of baskets on display and the patterns were really cool to see. After, we went to the cemetery where Chief Sealth, or Chief Seattle, was buried. The city of Seattle was named after this chief and his grave had tall wood carvings to signify his importance. Just down the road was the Old Man House which was a building the whole tribe would live in during the winter. The original building was burned down but it has since been rebuilt in the same location. There was a big dock we walked out on and saw some skyscrapers in Seattle, Jefferson Bay, and the bridge near where my uncle lives. There was a sailboat on the water and it was really calm.

We then went over to Heronswood Gardens, which is a botanical garden my uncle does a lot of volunteer work for. He showed me around to the different gardens they have planted and the projects he did, ones he's working on, and that they will do in the future. They had a really awesome fern garden that he’s done a lot of work in. He had just finished a rock wall recently that they will fill with plants in between the crevices so that it becomes a living wall. The small and dainty plants, they had a raised bed with many different kinds and it was interesting to see so many different plants just in one small spot. This garden had big logs and stumps, old stoves and tea kettles, and sawmill equipment to represent the tribal sawmill in the area. We moved through the other gardens that were filled with different trees and grasses and other leafy and flowering plants of all kinds. My uncle took the time to identify as many as he could and explain which species it belongs to and where they are originally from. They had a very well-manicured garden with tulips and daffodils, a beautiful flower-shaped fountain, and bamboo shooting up in places surrounding it. I met some of his coworkers/volunteers as well.

We left and were driving down the road when we figured out my uncle had lost his cell phone. We searched his truck with no luck. We went back to the gardens and retraced our steps but didn’t find it. We went back to the dock and the cemetery but it wasn’t there either. Finally, we went back to the museum and it was under the chair he sat in to watch the short film they played. Both of us were relieved to have found it since he had a concert to go to in Seattle that night and needed to get into contact with his friends he was meeting up with. We went back to his house and I ate some leftovers for lunch. We just hung out and read for a little bit before he dropped me off at my aunt's house and he went into the city for his night out. My aunt had been very busy with work and moving very recently so while she worked I took her dog for a walk downtown, which is very close by. There were tons of cute shops and restaurants, and it gets lots of tourists in the summer I was told. I went into a few shops that sold local artwork and gifts, an outdoor and camping store, and a bookstore. I didn’t really buy anything but it was fun to look at everything. There was a lot of cool stuff. The dog was really well behaved so it was nice to have a little companion on my walk into town. Once I got back I worked on blog posts since I was SO behind on them. I waited until being stopped in this area with family to work on them so it put me pretty far behind on that. My aunt and I had dinner, visited, watched some tv, and I helped her hang a couple of decorations before we went to bed.