Sequim

After the Tour de Lavender, we stayed overnight near the Dungeness Bay in Sequim and took a little stroll by the water that night. Here we discovered that the old adage about “the best camera is the one you have with you” doesn’t really apply when you have a DSLR and good lens back in the room, and just a smartphone and a point-and-shoot with you.

We just hadn’t expected to see eagles when we set out that night. But there they were, our official Sequim Welcoming Committee. Fortunately the Lumix DMC-TS5 has a little zoom lens, which was better than nothing. But oh for that longer lens!

Our VRBO host later told us the neighborhood hosts two pair — the East Eagles and the West Eagles. These are the West Eagles. They don’t have any kids this year, but some years they do.

Last weekend took us for the first time to the Olympic Peninsula for a two-day ridefest: The inaugural Tour de Lavender on Saturday, and the Ride the Hurricane up Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park on Sunday.

We’d initially planned to do the longer version of the Lavender ride, starting in Kingston after taking the ferry over from Edmonds (leaving the car in Edmonds), then riding the bikes to Sequim and then to the lavender farms in the area. But since we were staying over for two nights and wanted to explore a wide swath of the area, the logistical challenges of going car-free or even renting a car were massive. So, we chose to drive to Sequim, then do a 40-mile lavender ride. Short, sweet, scenic — and very nicely scented!

We saw a lot of animals admiring us along the roads, and of course had to take their pictures. They included four kittens at some old traincars that a guy was converting into a restaurant; he’d acquired and hired them to be mousers. Very friendly. Very cute. And we very nearly took them home with us …