Traffic Delays Hurricane Ridge

July and August are our high season for Sequim vacation. One of the biggest vacation highlights is a visit to Hurricane Ridge. We love to take visiting family and friends for an outing to Hurricane Ridge and Crescent Lake. Get some hiking done in the middle of the Olympic National Park - great exercise! - and enjoy the most stunning views. When we recently saw this beautiful photo of wild flowers in full bloom on Hurricane Ridge Trail, we decided it's time for a return visit in the middle of summer!

Good for us that we've found two days later in the Peninsula Daily News the article about 'Expect delays on Hurricane Ridge Rd - Crews work to install new conduits, rock walls, repave road'. Bottom line of the article is that visitors may expect delays of up to 40 - 50 minutes each way on Hurricane Ridge Road during construction. Here is an important notice for hikers in this part of the Olympic Mountains: The Switchback Trail parking area, which is about 3 miles north of the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center, will be closed beginning today, Monday 7/28/08. It will be closed for about 1 month to repair storm damaged sites.

New conduits have been installed and new rock walls are being completed. Construction crews have started the process of milling the old pavement and repaving Hurricane Ridge road. Flaggers and pilot cars will guide traffic. The road will stay open 24hrs a day. So far weekend work has not been scheduled. This might be the best chances for visitors and hikers to make it up to Hurricane Ridge without big delays. The crews are working hard to complete this road rehabilitation project my mid-November 2008.

Hurricane Ridge Rd will be closed to all traffic Monday through Thursday from September 15 - October 15. It will remain open Friday through Sunday, weather permitting. For more trail and hiking information, check the Olympic National Park website or call 360-565-3100 or call the Park hotline for additional information 360-565-3131.

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Cheap Sequim Vacation

For all those who have come to Sequim, not just for the Lavender Festival weekend but for an extended Sequim vacation, there is great news for saving money on gas when using the public bus service of Clallam County and Jefferson County. I could not believe it when I read the article on the Peninsula Daily News 'Peninsula public transportation scenic dropoffs'. A day pass for Clallam County bus transit costs $2.00 and for Jefferson County just $1.25 and best of all, the bus can take bikers or hikers close to some of the prettiest spots of the Olympic Peninsula, from waterfalls to wild beaches in La Push and stunning Crescent Lake.

When reading the complete article about using Clallam County bus for exploring some great sightseeing spots on the Olympic Peninsula and the Olympic National Park, we noticed that quite a number of Peninsula attractions which can be reached by public bus are our favorite destinations too, such as the trail to 90-foot Merymere Falls, Crescent Lake with Crescent Lake Lodge for refreshments (I love having a cocoa and sit out side on the wooden chairs watching the kayakers and the beautiful lake scenery) or First Beach at La Push. By the way, if you did not know it yet, Marymere Falls have an optical illusion: Stare at a ledge to the side, about the middle if the falls for about 1 minute and then look back at the falls, and you will see the falls go upwards. This is no joke!

Hey, hikers and bikers in the Sequim area, it gets even better. If you don't want to plan your sighseeing tour according to the Sequim bus schedule, you can plan your own schedule with 'Dial-a-Ride' from and to the Sequim Transit Center. Just make sure that you call 24hrs ahead to make your reservation.

The Dial-a-Ride' bus will take you out wherever you want to be in the Dungess Valley, including the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge's beach and other trails and points along the Olympic Discovery Trail such as the Dungeness River Audubon Center at Railroad Bridge Park, which is our favorite point for starting bike rides and easy walks with friends who visit us in Sequim. Believe it or not, Dial-A-Ride trips are covered by that $2 per person day pass. Children 6 and younger are free. That will save you and your family between $10-$40 depending on what car you drive.

Check bus schedule and route or make reservation for Dial-A-Ride online for Clallam County or call 360-452-4511 and for Jefferson County or call 360-385-4777. BTW, both bus systems offer a youth pass that covers unlimited rides all summer for $10. Again, when taking off on the regular bus route for a special area destination, tell the bus driver where you'd like to be dropped. Good planning is key for full success riding the public bus on vaction in Sequim.

Tags: Sequim, travel, vacation, Sequim vacation, best, Olympic Peninsula

Visit Sequim for Sequim Lavender Festival 2008

It's time to talk the talk about Sequim, it's lavender fields and the Sequim Lavender Festival. The 12th Annual Sequim Lavender Festival, the biggest highlight for our small town Sequim, is quickly approaching. It will take place July 18 - 20. When we were picking strawberries at the Cameron strawberry fields, this Japanese couple talked to us and asked us where they could see some lavender? Well, we said it's all around you, as there is hardly any private garden which does not grow at least a few bushes of lavender. Our own lavender bushes at home are in full bloom. We noticed though that lavender farms grow a later kind, which is also grown at the entrance to Carrie Blake Park.

Despite the cooler weather this spring, the lavender farm growers believe that their fields will be in full bloom by the festival. Everybody in Sequim who is in the lavender business is getting business ready for thousands of visitors, tending to their lavender fields and filling up their stores with their own lavender products.

Lavender Farm Tour tickets cost $15 for adults (children age 12 and under are free) and allow you admission to eight lavender farms for all three days of the festival with unlimited use of the farm tour buses.You can buy tickets at the Sequim-Dungeness Chamber of Commerce 1192 E. You may also go shopping at the online Lavender Store offering beautiful lavender posters, calendars and even a Lavender Festival Dinner by Cedar Creek restaurant.

If you are still looking for a place to stay during the Sequim Lavender Festival, our fully equipped 1Bd/1Ba 'Bell Hill View' Sequim Vacation Rental is still available. Please, email us with subject 'Sequim Rental Lavender Festival' for rate and reservation. Why not visit Sequim for the Sequim Lavender Festival!

Tags: Sequim, vacation, travel, Sequim vacation, Sequim Lavender Festival

Berry Season in Sequim

Dear Sequim visitors,
Those of you who follow our Sequim Vacation blog regularly, stay definitely in touch with the Sequim weather. We have friends in Hawaii who intend to move here and believe us, they check our Sequim weather logo as often as possible. We had a long, much colder spring than usual. When we believe the weather guys it was the coldest spring in 100 years. Whether this is true or not, it definitely felt great when summer started and the thermometer showed summer temperatures. For the last few days, it seemed actually a little bit too much with temperatures around 86 F. We even had to run the AC on two days.

Well, with spring being cold and not not as sunny as necessary for fruits, berries and vegetables growing nicely, the berry season in Sequim started really late. I'd say 2 - 3 weeks late. Last summer we were always picking something, starting with the strawberries at Graysmarsh, then cherries and blue berries at our private picking place, back to Graysmarsh for raspberries and closing the season with picking wild blackberries at our special picking spots.

When we decided on Sunday to go for our first strawberry picking to Graysmarsh, we were surprised to find the farm gates closed. They were sold out or picked out. No berries were left! We went back the way we came from, to Sequim Dungeness and just crossed the road there and followed the sign to the Cameron Strawberry Farm for about 3 miles on Woodcock. Cameron Strawberry Farm is on 899 West Hendrickson Road in Sequim. On our leisurely drive to the farm, we could not resist to take a few photos of the beautiful Olympic Mountain views!

When we arrived at the strawberry farm, we got welcomed by Dave the owner telling us where we'd find the best berries and handing us light styrofoam containers to keep the fruits from getting smashed. We joined the pickers in the fields and were amazed to find an abundance of ripe strawberries. Within half an hour, we both had picked the ripest and sweetest strawberries. For all those Sequim visitors who like to pick berries when on their Sequim vacation, both berry farms, Cameron and Graysmarsh, charge now $1.50 per pound for u-pick your own berries. Believe us these fruits are worthwhile the money and your picking effort.

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Tags: Sequim, Vacation, Travel, Sequim Vacation, Olympic Mountains