Hoh, Hoh, Hoh...

I was up at my usual time, 6am...Friday was moving day and my mind was spinning like a top with the things I needed to do to get us on the road by 8:30am....an early start time to be sure, but we would be glad later on we got an early start! 

Elaine and I have really got our departure duties down pat.  She handles the securing of the interior of the coach for movement, and I take care of the outside.  Before we knew it we were on the road and the clock was one minute shy of 8:30am!  We cruised westward on HWY 101 taking our time.  Before we knew it we were passing along Crescent Lake.  We had passed by a few years ago, but didn't have time to stop, so we made time today.  It is a beautiful place.


Our destination for Friday was Forks, WA, about 63 miles west from Port Angeles.  The drive was very uneventful, and all of a sudden we saw the sign for Forks and it was only 10am.  We didn't make reservations, as usual, so we spied Forks 101 RV Park across the street from the local ACE Hardware store so we pulled into the ACE parking lot and got out to walk across the street to see if they had any pull spots long enough for us when I happened to glance down at the tires on the passenger side of the trailer and noticed the right rear appeared to have an unusual wear pattern.  Sure enough, upon closer inspection I determined the tread was beginning to separate.  The other 3 tires looked good, and were not displaying any unusual patterns like the right rear.  We continued on across the street and met Bob, the owner, and he advised that his longest pull through was just becoming available as the tenant was leaving, which was exactly true, as he was pulling out of the spot.....SCORE!


I asked Bob if there was  local tire store and he said we had passed the only tire dealer in the area on our way into town......West End Motors.  I called them, and gave them the tire size including load range, and he said they had them in stock.  After settling up with Bob I jacked up the trailer and removed the bad tire.  Elaine helped me load it in the trunk of the T-Bird and I was off......the guys at West End Motors had the new tire on and ready to go in 5 minutes.  Just in case you wondered, we do carry a spare tire for the trailer, but it is used, and is intended solely to get us to where we can have a flat fixed, or a tire replaced, so I'm glad we were where we could just replace the tire, and save the spare for an emergency.  The great thing about this was we had arrived in town at 10am due to our early start, and by Noon the tire was replaced, reinstalled on the trailer, and we were on our drive in the T-Bird out to the Hoh Rain Forest.  It was 12 miles going south out of town to the turn off to rain forest, and then another 18 to the National Parks Visitor Center.  Since this is a National Park, our admission was free with our senior pass.

Me in front of a 200+ foot tall, 550 year old Sitka Spruce.  I felt smaller than a Hobit!

The Lovely Elaine standing by the Hoh River.

A spring fed stream.....the water was sooo clear, 

and my picture does not do it justice.

Many of the trees in the area of the forest are draped in moss.

We spent a couple of hours hiking a couple of miles two trails (The Spruce Trail, and the Hall of Mosses Trail) around the visitor center, oohing and awing as we went.  There was GIANT Sitka Spruces, Hemlocks and Douglas Firs everywhere......many over 200'.  The visitor center parking lot was packed.....glad to see so many people out enjoying one of America's great resources!


We arrived back "home" around 5pm, and settled in to watch the opening ceremonies for the Summer Olympics in London.  Tomorrow we will move on another 60+ miles and see what adventures await us.


Thanks for stopping by!