Nun and son hit the road together!

I got to do something with the Wendling that I've wanted to do for years: drive to the Hoh Valley rainforest in Olympic National Park. M'boy said that was on his bucket list too.

It was a pretty easy trip there: he was impressively punctual with picking me up at 0900. We bopped up to Edmonds and waited not much more than 90 minutes for a ferry. Given that m_cobweb had warned us it could take upwards of two hours, which is unsurprising on a gorgeous weekend morning right before the start of summer, we lucked out.

Speaking of m_cobweb, she, her hubby, and my son & I had a lovely outdoor lunch outdoors in the middle of Port Townsend, WA, with all its buildings from the late 19th century lovingly preserved. It's a beautiful place, but m_cobweb told us in convincing detail that as a resident, it feels like a small town, for better or worse.

I could have stayed and shopped, but my son was right that we had a long trip ahead of us. (Foreshadowing!) And so we headed west into the Olympic Mountains, driving the twisty road by Lake Crescent. It's such a gorgeous drive that I wish I hadn't been, you know, driving. It reminded me of the Blue Ridge, where we used to go to visit my mother's family as a kid, only somehow grander and more colorful.

We made it to the park at about 1700. The astoundingly cute and personable park ranger at the gate had her credit card terminal on a stick. My son and I nommed jerky & dried fruit. I taught him how to drink out of my Camelbak.

We walked the little Hall of Mosses trail, and let me tell you, it was worth the trip:

• There's a stand of maples that are all far bigger than any maples I've seen in Seattle, all bedecked with moss. As the sun filtered through the leave it was like being in a cathedral.
• Innumerable tree trunks whose bases had voids big enough to fit people (or bears!) and fantastically gnarled... trunks? Rhizomes? Woody bits near the groud.
• Several trees fallen over the trail that the park service had helpfully sawed. I had to count the rings, natch: somewhere over 250. That's right, people: I saw a log that was older than the United States yesterday.
• A surprising number of visitors from Asia, both southern and eastern. Yes, they were speaking Korean, Chinese, and something that sounded Dravidian. Sure, I expected plenty of people there on such a beautiful day – m'boy & I really lucked out with the parking – but why those places of origin? If I were an environmental activist I would find this fact noteworthy.
• I got poked by a few skeeters, but they're still not as nasty as the spiders in my mom's back yard.

After I caught the cute park ranger's eye on the way out, we decided not to go back the way we came. My son, who as a very young child would freak all the way out if we didn't go the same way to school every day, wanted to go down the coast. And so we did! That was a long ass drive, but I loved seeing the Pacific, which you can absolutely do from US 101. M'boy doesn't like the ocean, he says, because he can't see the other side. Is he really my son?

We got to Aberdeen as the last of the twilight faded, then zipped eastward to Puget Sound and home just after midnight. One thing I need to do before the next road trip: make sure my Bluetooth receiver is charged. I got to expose the Wendling to Songs From the Big Chair, but that was it.

Disturbing things? The Wendling was glued to Google Maps and the internet in general whenever he had cell reception. I kept telling him about cool things I saw that he didn't. Between the backseat driving, his anxiety about bears & cougars, and his inability to just appreciate the amazing stuff that was right in front of him, I have to actively tell myself that he's not three neurological conditions in a trenchcoat.

But in all fairness, he was a wonderful traveling companion. His suggestion for the nex road trip? Portland, Oregon. Less driving, he says. I told him, hell yes!