Today’s weather forecast brought about another change of plans. We had planned on driving around Olympic Peninsula and camping at Kalaloch Campground. We have stayed at Kalaloch twice before, and it is one of our all time favorites. The forecast is chilly and rainy for the next few days – definitely not good conditions for camping or scenic views. Therefore, we changed directions and went south to Newport, OR where we will head east on Route 20.

Our drive today took us south on “the 5” to Olympia, WA. (God what a disaster. The northbound traffic from Ft. Lewis to Tacoma came to a virtual stop. The backup had to be at least 5 miles long. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a longer traffic back up. ) From there, we took WA 8 and US 12 to Aberdeen, WA and from there, it was US 101 all the way to Newport. It started off drizzling and later changed to light rain, but so long as we didn’t have to stop, we kept dry. The scenery along US 12 was beautiful in spite of the rain and low visibility. At the higher elevations, the clouds hid the hillsides making some truly ethereal scenes. Peggy isn’t sure who is crazier: me for driving with the top down with the chilly, rainy forecast or Peggy for agreeing. She’s bundled up like “Nanuck of the North”.

After crossing the Columbia River into Oregon on the Astoria-Megler Bridge, the sun broke through the clouds enough for us to reach for our sunglasses. We have traveled this section of 101 along the Pacific Ocean before, but the views are just as wonderful! The sun stayed with us the rest of the way to Newport.

After our rainy, overcast start this morning, the sunshine seemed extra special. We found a Best Western Plus overlooking the Pacific Ocean and treated ourselves to dinner on the outdoor patio looking out at the ocean.After dinner, we opened an excellent Zinfandel wine and settled in to watch the sunset. (Unfortunately, it was too cloudy to see the sunset, so we didn’t get any photos.) It was a perfect way to end our west coast travels. Tomorrow we will begin our eastern trek towards home.

Road sign of day Enchanted Parkway near Tacoma (It might have been enchanted at one time, but it ain’t no more.)