Saturday, August 4, 2018

I can hardly believe it is August. This is always a tough month for us, but we have so much to do that I hope we will celebrate Thomas’s life and smile from all the happy memories. If you want to see where we are, go on Google maps and type in Olalla. We are on the Kitsap Peninsula, surrounded by Puget Sound. We have been exploring in all different directions. Wednesday we stopped at the Visitor’s Center in Gig Harbor. We had planned to take the ferry from Bremerton to Seattle. She was very concerned for our safety and almost begged us not to go. Casey, the homeowner, was also concerned about us going. Apparently there is a large homeless population (even some here on the peninsula) who are very bold about demanding money from people. We have encountered several people here on the peninsula. We drive around here – it is mostly rural, with rainforest all around and glimpses of Puget Sound around every bend. There is a county park very close to the house that has a nice walking trail down to the Sound. We started walking it one afternoon with not the right kind of shoes and didn’t go very far. We tried again Thursday afternoon. The trail went down, down, down, down, and down. I know we went at least a mile and we still had not reached the water. My legs were feeling shaky, so we decided to head back up, up, up, up, up. Up was tougher than down. I don’t think I can make it all the way down there. We went to Poulsbo, north of Bremerton, on Friday. What a cute little Scandinavian town. We parked and had the best time walking downtown, visiting the shops. There are several other communities we want to visit and I think we may drive back into Tacoma one day next week. The weather has cooled off nicely to normal conditions – it is down right chilly at night. I love this peninsula. Port Orchard, just north of us, is the home of Debbie Macomber, the novelist. Port Orchard is Cedar Cove – which is a series on the Hallmark channel. Thought that was pretty cool.