Category: Day Trip

Point Wilson Lighthouse

Point Wilson juts like a thumb into the Admiralty Inlet. It’s in Fort Worden State Park, just northeast of Port Townsend. It is operated by the Coast Guard and not open to the public. I posted a picture of it here, taken south of the light station. The view above is from North Beach in Port Townsend, from the west looking east.

Here’s a pictorial view of “why lighthouses are important.” Coming from the Pacific through the Strait of Juan De Fuca, ships turn right here, pass through Admiralty Inlet, and head south into Puget Sound. There’s another lighthouse across the Inlet, fittingly named “Admiralty Head Lighthouse,” located at historic Fort Casey. The distance between them is less than four miles. The perspective here plays a part, but doesn’t the lighthouse look small compared to the ship?

The Rodeo, 2 of 2

The Clallam County Rodeo is offered twice during the County Fair. This year we went on Saturday night and the grandstands were packed. There were hometown favorites riding and a few of the cow boys and girls were truly talented youngsters. The bull rider in the bottom right shot was 14 years old and I don’t think the girl on the bottom left could have been much older. And, believe it or not, the bronc rider on the top left walked off the field on his own.

Fair food

A week or two ago the local newspaper sent out a reporter who asked people, “What’s your favorite thing at the county fair?” If I recollect right, every single one answered, “The food!”

You can smell a brass band of cooking aromas as soon as you enter the fairgrounds: grilled meats, sweet whatevers, popcorn, and fried anything. The fair guide listed a vendor called “Fried Everything” … and everything on the menu was, from twinkies to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I don’t know if this is the Fried Everything stand, but they definitely had a robust offering – and what they didn’t have you could find at other vendors just steps away.

There are lots of food choices at the fair. We kept our distance from the deep fryers, but that doesn’t mean we managed to stay entirely virtuous.

Time again for the County Fair

We went to the Clallam County Fair on Saturday night. It was time for our annual “fair fix”: the rodeo, antique farm machinery put-putting, a review of ribbon-winning entries, animals, carnival, junk food. And people watching. Above was one of my favorites, a fine example of the work of the face-painting booth. Her father consented to my taking her picture.

Her brother volunteered, too. I can’t decide which one is the cutest. They both make me smile.

The lighthouse?

The maps of Fort Flagler State Park showed a little icon of a lighthouse and I was pleased to discover that a beach road would take us fairly close. The New Dungeness Light Station in Sequim, after all, is a 5 mile beach walk each way.

The area around the light station is fenced, but a walk on the beach comes close to it. That’s it, on the larger building to the left. I think the smaller building, to the right, is where it used to be in a larger incarnation. I can’t say it fits that dreamy, somewhat romantic lighthouse image. But I guess it does the job.