Olympic NP, First half of Week Three

First half of Week Three Highlights, abbreviated

Day 13: We prep the exchange house for departure, which doesn’t take a lot of effort: washing sheets and towels, and making sure we’ve got all our stuff in the car. On the way to the Olympic National Park, we stop in Olympia for lunch with an ex-Levi’s (THB) and ex-Wells (DB) friend, Ana. Lunch on the Sound; it’s low tide so we have excellent views of the mud flats. And, to remind us that we are still in the NW, it is grey and rainy (all day, no matter where we are today, all day). Salmon for DB, fish and chips for Ana and THB. And, because Ana is a locsal, we manage a stop at Wagners, a local German style bakery, for a Danish “crisp” and ultra sweet cinnamon bread (see pics)

Arrive at the Lake Quinalt Lodge (on Lake Quinalt, see pics from two days) for what is supposed to be three nights and most likely will turn into two as we are contemplating the lack of available hiking windows due to weather. In meantime, we take a short walk along the road (it starts raining on the way back, so the walk wasn’t quite short enough), then dinner at the lodge: soup and smoked salmon salad for DB, THB has pasta primavera, wine and beer, $55.

Day 14: Sweet potato pancakes (pancakes are good, not sure how sweet potato-y they are) and bacon, decaf, $22, in the lodge dining room. Then a longish drive into the NP to the Hoh River rain forest where, for the select few, THB is now able to buy a lifetime NP pass for…for…THB is embarrassed to say how much this lifetime (as long as THB is in the car, the car and everyone else in the car is free) pass is…it is $10. Yes, our government in all its wisdom has decided that the boomers with all their disposable income can visit any NP while they are still alive and get in for a total one-time fee of $10. TEN BUCKS! The fee to enter Olympic NP is $15, so we saved $5 on our very first usage of the lifetime pass. Oh, there is a catch: the pass is clearly labeled Senior Pass…so, ya gotta say you’re a senior from this point on.

And, for those of you wondering, since now THB (and DB) are the golden age of 62 (hey, why didn’t they call it a Golden Pass?), THB is collecting social security, direct deposit every month.

We take two pretty decent short nature hikes. The sun even comes out for a while (the only time today that happened). We see an elk (at a distance, see pic), a frog (nowadays a pretty rare occurrence), some sort of black mole (very unusual), and birds. Nature, and not just trees, is alive in the rain forest! Lunch is a picnic on Ruby Beach ($13 for DB, THB does top shelf from the cooler). The NP is huge and round, in the center of the peninsula, and then separately a ribbon running down the Pacific coastline, so we are actually dining in the NP. Dinner at the Lodge again, same same but different, $72.

Book Review: A Rope and a Prayer: A Kidnapping from Two Sides, David Rohde and Kristen Mulvihill, Audio book. Another book that is dramatically enhanced by being listened to rather than read, because the authors take turns narrating their own sections, and their different voices really come through. Rohde, a NYT journalist, is kidnapped by the Taliban warlord he went to interview in Afghanistan as part of a book he is writing. His bride of two months, Kristen, and his brother, Lee, take on the effort of coordinating his release, from NY. David intersperses historical pieces on Afghanistan and Pakistan and Islam among the sections describing his captivity (7 months, 2009-10), along with his local guide and driver. Kristen gives a very evenhanded view of what it is like to negotiate the halls of US government involvement while trying to figure out what she and Lee can do to both protect David and his fellow captives while trying to effect their release (not easy to do!), and represent David’s family interests. Highly recommended, even though David makes a futile pitch in the epilogue for how to best solve the issues besetting this part of the world. (amazing, considered he just spent his half of the book explaining how complex the area is, even without US involvement). And, if you are one of those people that try to figure out if it is luck or skill when you see a compatible couple, this is a great book for realizing that sometimes it pays to be both lucky and skillful: true on David’s part, Kristen stood up big time for her hubby of two months…Kristen, not so lucky!

Book Review: Next, James Hynes, Kindle Edition. Believe or not, finished same day we wrap up A Rope and a Prayer. UH OH!! Unfortunately for Kevin Quinn, the narrator of Next, neither prayer nor a rope saves him. The entire book takes place in less than 7 hours actual time, in Austin, with Quinn in town for a job interview and, through memory associations in Ann Arbor, where Quinn has lived and worked his entire life, reviewing his adult relationships with four women. all while meandering around Austin prior to the interview. Fast paced, especially the last 20% which flies by, and much the male-oriented view of life (i.e., through his dick more than his mind or emotions). Highly recommended, save some free hours cuz you are gonna wanna finish without interruptions when you get past the halfway point.

Book Review: The Hard Way Around: The Passages of Joshua Slocum, Geoff Wolff, Kindle edition. How can THB read so many books? Well, the answer is: THB is willing to give up on a silly book rather early (see Freedom). This is another one that THB cannot figure out how it got such a good review and thus made it onto his list. It is a send-up of the late 1800s, early 1900s exploration biographies (a genre THB thinks highly of, see the Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, and others) and novelizations. It is too tongue in cheek. THB gives up very early. To provide balance, Wolff and his brother wrote memoirs of their childhoods, one spent with mom, the other with dad. GW’s book is The Duke of Deception (obviously dad), highly recommended, as is Tobias Wolff’s book, This Boy’s Life.