Sequim Elk Herd

When talking about Sequim, one cannot forget to mention the Sequim Elk Herd. Even if you won't see them on your visit to Sequim, you will be made aware that they are around. The Sequim Town Welcome sign says it all...this is the town where the elks (still) live. It's not to everybody's delight.

As the Sequim elks are roaming around freely and don't know any boundaries, they are not really that welcome by the farmers or gardeners. Sequim town is growing fast, so the area where they can hang out without interfering with residents' life gets smaller and smaller. For quite some time, there have been talks to relocate the elks to another area. For now, they are still here.

The Highway 101 flashing caution lights remind us of their presence and the need for caution on this stretch of highway.Some of the Sequim elk wear transmitting radio collars. The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife monitors the herd by using portable receivers with directional antennas. In addition, collar signals are sent to an innovative system of receivers along Highway 101 just east and south of Sequim. These receivers pick up the elk signals, triggering flashing lights on elk crossing signs to warn motorists when elk are close enough to be a collision danger.

The Sequim elk herd is comprised of approximately 100 Roosevelt elk who consider the Sequim area part of their range. They move about in the foothills east of the Dungeness River, south to approximately Blyn, east of the City of Sequim and north to Port Williams Road. When not in the forest, they graze in farm fields and lawns. Fences do not normally bar their movement. We got a good look at the elks, just the other day when they were hanging out on a big open meadow off Sequim Bay Rd which leads to Sequim Bay Marina.

Luckily, I had my camera and got a few nice shots. A camera with a telescope would have been better but we take what we get. Of course, we were not the only people who stopped to have a good look this amazing picture of the Sequim elk herd. We were happy to see them so close but definitely everybody tried not to agitate the elks and keep a nice distance to the elks. The Sequim elk herd is not tame, although they may appear to be. Normally, they avoid close contact with people and generally move away when approached. However, they may show signs of agitation if people get too close or when people or cars block what they consider to be an escape route. The elks can move very rapidly when reacting to danger.

Let's enjoy the Sequim elks as long as they are around. Have a great weekend in currently not so sunny Sequim!
p.s.
Hope you had a chance to visit the Sequim Garden Show last weekend.

Tags: Sequim Sights, Sequim Elk Herd

Sequim Garden Show

Hello to all current and future Sequimers,

After showing you the beauty of Sequim Bay Marina in our last post, here is a short note on our new Sequim house construction. We are still on schedule. Insulation got in this week and finally our big picture window for the living/dining area. What a view of Bell Hill and the Olympic Mountains! New photos coming soon!

Remember Sequim is rich in festivals and other annual events. I nearly forgot to mention this weekend's Sequim Garden Show. the Boy's and Girl's Club in Fir St will be transformed into a gardener's paradise during the the 9th Annual Soroptimist Annual Garden Show. More than 80 vendors represent all facets of gardening - from plants and landscaping to sunrooms. For more information, visit their website Sequim Garden Show.

Well, since we are talking about March events in Sequim, let's mention this one too, organized by the Olympic Peninsula Bird Fest: Grab your binoculars and come to the Olympic Peninsula Bird Fest Friday March 30 to Sunday April 1, 2007 in Sequim, Washington. Visitors will find guided birding trips, boat tours, kayaking, salmon banquet, and many other presentations.

Today, we would also like to invite Sequimers to join our Sequim blog. If you like to write and would like to share some information with people who consider to retire in Sequim or want to come for a vacation to sunny Sequim, please, let us know. Anything goes: from Sequim real estate, Sequim Festivals & Events, Sequim weather, Outdoor activities...whatever you like.

We are looking foward to hearing from you with your Sequim article (short is fine). Have a great weekend. The Sequimmers

Tags: Sequim, vacation, travel

Sequim Bay John Wayne Marina

Sequim Bay Marina

After our little visit to the Sequim Lighthouse, it's more sightseeing time for new Sequim residents or visitors who come on vacation to Sequim. One of our favorite areas to walk to is the Sequim Bay Marina or even better know as John Wayne Marina. It's a nice 1 mile walk from Sun Meadows subdivision. Great place to hang out, watch the boats and the wild life in the ocean and on land and just enjoy a peaceful place.

Sequim Bay Marina was constructed in 1985 on 22 acres of land donated by the John Wayne family. John Wayne frequented Sequim Bay waters aboard the family yacht – the “Wild Goose”. Today, the marina features permanent and guest moorage, excellent marine services, a restaurant, showers, laundry and banquet facilities, and provides boat launch ramps, fuel facilities, public beach access and picnic areas. John Wayne Marina is easily accessible from Seattle, the San Juan Islands and Canada. Transient morage is usually available for those who wish to boat up to Sequim Bay and enjoy the weekend.

Have fun enjoying Sequim Bay Marina on your boat trip or just on foot, as we do. Have a fun time in Sequim. The Sequimers
p.s.
Here is some useful information on the Sequim Bay Yacht Club. Boat lovers may contact John Wayne Marina Harbormaster Ron Amundson P: (360) 417-3440 or by Email Ron.

See a map for directions to John Wayne Marina.

Tags: Sequim John Wayne Marina, Sequim Sights

Sequim Lighthouse

Sequim Lighthouse
As this blog is not just referring to our life in Sequim but also is supposed to tell Sequim visitors about things to do and places to go, we are starting a few Sequim Sightseeing posts.

One of our trips when on vacation in Sequim was a hike to the Dungeness Spit. It was quite foggy that day (at least by the ocean), so we were quite surprised to find other hikers and even kayakers taking off from the beach. We were not sure how many of the tourists who started their walk on the beach along the the Dungeness Spit in the direction to the Sequim Lighthouse ever made it. We are still planning on doing the 5-mile walk to the end of the Dungeness Spit and resting at the Lighthouse. Summer time will be the right time to go on the adventure.

For now, let's share some information on the Lighthouse. First of all, the Lighthouse is still working because of the New Dungeness Light Station Association. Association members pay a 'keeper's fee' for an opportunity to live and work at the historic lighthouse. Annual membership family membership is $30. The Dungeness Light Station is completely maintained by the volunteer keepers, many of whom stay a week at a time at the station. To find out more about the schedule openings, go to Dungeness Light Station Keepers.

The sound of waves softly rolling ashore and eagles soaring overhead are awaiting you. Serenity now! Have a fun vacation in Sequim. The Sequimers

Tags: Sequim Sights, Sequim Lighthouse, Sequim Vacation

Sequim Senior Center

First thing we noticed when we moved to Sequim - actually the sign was big enough to already spot it when we were on our Sequim vacation - was the Sequim Senior Center. The Senior Center and Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center are probably the most prominent places where retired seniors in Sequim meet and socialize.

For just $30 membership fees a year, seniors can enjoy a wide spectrum of activities or classes to keep mind and body in optimal shape or just having fun meeting other seniors. Most classes are free but selected classes require a fee. Here is a selection of the free activities at the Sequim Senior Center: Bingo, Scrabble Stretch Yoga, Pinochle, Taxaide, Senior Workout, Walking Group, Spanish, Knitting, Tae Kwon Do, Diabetes Support and more.

Frequent Tours and trips find a great resonance amongst the members of the Sequim Senior Center. Senior tours in March include trips to Tacoma's 3 Museums, trip to Phoenix and Marysville among others. The center is a non-profit organization and many members volunteer their time to keep it operating.

We are looking forward to seeing you at SARC and the Sequim Senior Center. The Sequimers.

Tags: Sequim Senior Center, Sequim

Sequim Stretch Class at SARC

Hi everybody,

When you move to Sequim, the first and most important action, after buying a house, is signing up with Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center SARC. This will keep you in the best shape of your life plus contribute to meeting new friends in Sequim.

The annual membership is quite affordable, especially when you are a senior. With your SARC membership you don't only get access to all the fantastic gym exercise machines and aquatic recreation, but you will also get a huge discount on all classes Yoga, Tai Chi or Stretch Class.

After we moved to Sequim in January 2006 and got settled in, we joined SARC and Keoki started teaching his Easy Stretch class. He had been teaching his stretch class in Hawaii for over 20 years to senior citizens. This was a great opportunity to continue spreading the word of the importance of stretching for health in the lives of Sequim senior citizens. Now, he teaches the Easy Stretch class twice a week Mondays and Wednesdays 10:30am - 11:30am at SARC.

Just come by and check out the fun stretching your body (easy full body stretches!) and a guided relaxation at the end. Get your energy flowing with a nice chant, just as the Hawaiian people do. You are gonna love it. If you want to get into a nice regular stretching routine, you can also buy Keoki's Easy Stretch video: A video combining 30min of full body stretches and 10min of guided relaxation to the sound of gentle ocean waves, with your guide Keoki. Stretch with Keoki's exercise video in the privacy of your home. Read more below about the benefits of stretching and how this Hawaii stretch & relaxation video had developed.

Feel free to contact us for more information on the 'Easy Stretch video - Body/Mind Relaxation'. You may also visit our website Hawaii Stretch Video for benefits of Stretching and Testimonials from Happy Easy Stretchers.


New Easy Stretch DVD is now available at low price $24.95 + FREE shipping through PayPal's secure server. Sold USA + Canada Only:

Sequim residents can call us 360-504-1157 for buying Easy Stretch video or DVD. No S/H fees apply. See you at Stretch Class in Sequim. Keoki, stretchguy

Tags: Sequim Stretch class, Stretch Video, Stretch DVD

Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center

Just a short message from the Sequimers today:

After Keoki got finally done with his 14-day jury duty in Port Angeles, we are happy to be back to our exercise routine to visit three times a week the Sequim Aquatic Recreational Center. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are our work-out days.

What makes the SARC, short form for the long word, so attractive to retired residents in Sequim, like us, is that you can get a whole body and mind workout done. The gym offers more machines than you have seen anywhere else and more than you can actually use during one visit. You have to make decisions. Personal trainers are available, if you don't know how to use the machines best. After our workout, we use the stretching area in one part of the gym.

After all the hard work exercising on bikes, treadmill, cross trainer etc., it's great to finish with a relaxing lap swim (don't want to go for recors) or just relax in pool, jacuzzi and sauna. How better can it get?! We always tell people that SARC is a worthwhile reason to buy a house in Sequim and move to sunny Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula. More on our life in Sequim soon. The Sequimers.

Tags: Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center, Moving to Sequim

Sequim Home with a View

Hi again from the Olympic Peninsula,

We are quite sure our most recent post about our friends' Sequim Home for Sale got your interest, provided you are discussing to move to sunny Sequim, just like we did.

Got to tell you this. Before we went house hunting in Sequim during our fall vacation in 2005, we had done our homework online. We showed up in Sequim with a long list of houses and addresses, which we thought were worthwhile looking at, as they met our price range and location expectations. No realtor involved! We wanted to get a first impression of the house, property and surrounding and not being talked into things.

This approach of Sequim house hunting worked well. The online listings don't always show you the whole picture...how close is the next door neighbor or the highway or a new subdivision under construction. After two days, our list of about 12 Sequim houses was down to maybe two or three houses for sale. Now, it was time to get a realtor involved and things got interesting.

We noticed pretty soon that with buying a house in Sequim, the question is: Do you want Mountain View (Olympic Mountains ) or Ocean View (all the way to Victoria, Vancouver Island) or even both? We furthermore noticed that Ocean Views, like from Bell Hill were rated higher than the Mountain Views. Much over our budget, what we wanted to spend on a house in Sequim. For houses with ocean views from upscale Bell Hill neighborhood, you have to dig deep into your pocket.

Bottomline of today's post, if you want to have a house with a view in Sequim, you have to pay for it, just like everywhere else. We had found a nice house in Sun Meadows with a glimpse of the Olympic Mountains but nice sunny exposure and both fell in love with it at first sight plus the price was right. Well, our new Sequim house will have nice mountain views. We won't complain! Love from the Sequimers. Stay tuned on our Sequim Life.

Tags: Sequim Home for Sale, Sequim, vacation

Sequim Home for Sale

More on our Sequim life...

We mentioned in an earlier post that we'd like to help friends to sell their Sequim house FSBO. Today we want to take the chance and promote their home for sale in Sun Meadows, just a short 1 mile drive to Sequim town and to John Wayne Marina. So, we would like to tell you a little bit more about their house in Sun Meadows and show you a few photos.

Why should somebody move to Sequim? Sequim enjoys mild weather, truly spectacular scenery, and the bounty of land and sea. Read more about this special place called Sequim. Best of all, homes and real estate can still be acquired at an affordable price, even though Sequim has seen a steady, strong growth in real estate market value over the last few years. If you liked what you read about Sequim and the Olympic Peninsula, this might be the perfect home for your retirement in Sequim.

Beautiful Sequim 1786sq.ft 2 Bd/2Ba home + den (office) and attached finished 528sq.ft double garage for sale by owner in peaceful neighborhood of Sun Meadows, with a short 1-mile drive to John Wayne Marina in Sequim Bay (perfect for boat lovers) or to Sequim town for shopping and other activities. House enjoys the advantage of great Southern exposure and beautiful mountain views. House is built with high quality Hardi Board siding (no rotting, no termites!) and 20-year composition roof.

This one level 2004 built Sequim home features an open floor plan with beautiful vaulted ceiling and oversized south-facing windows in spacious great room providing dramatic views of Olympic Mountains & sunsets with seasonal sightings of eagles, Canadian geese, ducks, birds and frogs. Laminate hardwood floors, custom window treatments, lots of closets and cupboards make this house your new perfect home in sunny Sequim. Spacious kitchen features plenty of maple cabinets & Island with slide out drawers for additional comfort and convenience provides additional storage space plus nice preparation area or extra seating for bar stools.

This Sequim House is SOLD.

Good luck with your Sequim house hunting project. Your comments are welcome.

The Sequimmers

Tags: Moving to Sequim, Retire in Sequim, Sequim home for sale

Sunny Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula

How better can the weather get in sunny Sequim?!

It's the beginning of March. Today, the sun has been shining since the early morning, temperatures are at 60 degrees F (that's about 15 Celsius Centigrade!) in the shade, and everybody is outside, either doing caring for the early spring flowers (we have the first daffodils blooming, I see crocus at other places) or doing a nice neighborhood walk through Sun Meadows or do a jog like myself.

We are very happy about this nice dry spring weather. First, we were both sceptical about building a house over 'winter' but just as last year, when we moved to Sequim, the months January and February were quite dry. Perfect for our new Sequim house construction. To be honest, we have long given up paying to the weather forecasts from our local TV stations Komo4News from Seattle, as the forecast in 95% does not apply to Sequim. Just recently, Seattle got hit by an ice storm leaving lots of crashed commuter cars, behind. Sequim did not even have any rain. Yes, Sequim is in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains and has the famous blue hole. We are more than happy to retire in Sequim!

Stay tuned on Sequim life from two retirees. Greetings from the Sequimers

Tags: Sequim weather, Sequim rainshadow

Breaking news from our life in Sequim

Hi to all our friends in Sequim, in the US and the rest of the world,

We wanted to keep you updated on our new life in Sequim but it looks like with all the new things happening in our life, we lost you after our last post Christmas in Sequim.

The Sequimers are back! Here is what happened in the meantime. In December last year, we bought a nice lot in Sequim on a little hill of oak trees overlooking Bell Hill and a panoramic views of the Olympic Mountains. This was supposed to be a real estate investment. However, it turned out that Keoki could not resist the urge to build right there.

So, now you know what kept us busy after that. We put all our efforts in selling our current Sequim house in Sun Meadows as a for Sale by Owner, which we had done before. To sell a house or condo FSBO takes a lot of commitment and strategy. As usual, we received the biggest response from Craigslist with people from Californa, Oregon and Alaska making viewing appointments.

As everybody knows, the real estate market had considerably slowed down, even in the much desired retirement town of Sequim. We were lucky. Our buyer found our sign on the way to his boat in the marina. Escrow closing will be 3/15/07. It looks like we can still rent our house for another month from the new owner of our Sequim house, which we appreciate a lot. Now our full focus is on the house construction of new house in Sequim city limits.

If you know of anybody who is still looking for a Sequim home for sale, we can help. Our Sun Meadows friends Arlyne and Bill want to sell their house FSBO. Their Sequim house for sale has lots of privacy and beautiful mountain views. Look at photos Sequim Home for Sale. Our friends would like to move into an assited living home in Tacoma. We would be happy to help them to sell their house.

That's it for today. We will stay in touch about our Sequim life more frequently. Stay tuned with Life in Sunny Sequim. The Sequimers

Tags: Sequim home for sale, Sequim house construction

Christmas in Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula

Sequim at Christmas

Sequim is beautiful at all times of the year, at least to us Sequimers who always enjoy the dramatic panorama of the Olympic Mountains and like to watch the change of the seasons. Sorry for the delay with this post. It must be the season. Yes, holiday season it is. We love it!

The Sequim Intermezzo with the snow has been over for about two weeks. It’s all melted away. Should we say luckily or sadly?! Even with the restrictions involved through the snow (for the first two days, no snow plough made it through Sun Meadows, so we decided to leave the car just in the garage, with its summer tires we were not too convinced about its performance anyways), we loved the sight of the snow…the snow covered trees, garden, houses and mountains. A white Christmas at the end of November! All Sequim residents told us that they had not experienced so much snow in years. If there had been a few flakes, they would never lie for long. Well, this time they lasted a week!

Now, Sequim life is back to normal or better: to celebrating the Christmas season. Not only the center of town is nicely decorated with Christmas wreaths and lots of lights but Sun Meadows where we live has its own homeowners’ Christmas decoration competition. The best decorated house will win $50. We love to do a nice walk in the crisp mountain air, all bundled up, enjoying the different decoration efforts of the homeowners. We did not join the contest - only decorated our pine tree in the front garden with a nice colored light chain.

However, you should see our blue spruce Christmas tree in the house! We had tagged it on the Christmas tree farm before the snowstorm came and it was really still there afterwards. In joint efforts, we dug it out of the ground, put it in a big planting container, found the best spot in the living room for surviving the season, decorated it beautifully and enjoy the wonderful tree each day and hour. We water and fertilize it on a regular basis and give it lots of love. So far, so good! We are optimistic that we will be able to plant the tree in our garden in spring of next year.

You intend to move to Sequim and retire in in this amazing small town on the Peninsula, stay with us and check what we have to tell you about our new life in Sequim. We wish everybody Happy Holidays and A Merry Christmas. Peace and love from the Sequimers

Tags: Life in Sequim

Sequim Winter Wonderland

Winter Wonderland Sequim

We got an email from Hawaii this morning ‘What’s up with the banana belt’ weather in sunny Sequim? Well, to tell you the truth this snowstorm caught us by surprise too.

By the way, we received a nice feedback upon our trip report on our Mexico vacation. Thank you. Back home in Sequim, winter has us in its grip. Here is the latest story from our Sequim life. Yesterday, WA state and even us in the 'banana belt' of sunny Sequim got hit (still get) by a huge snowstorm. It was continuously snowing for hours day and night. What a beautiful sight to wake up to this morning…everything deeply covered in the freshest white snow and an eerie silence around. Wow!!!!

Last night, we shoveled our garage driveway and this morning again. Our estimate is at least 7" of snow or more! It just started snowing again. Schools are closed. Kids are having great fun. Taking anything from their house to slide down our little hills. We enjoyed another long walk in the snow of beautiful winter wonderland Sequim. Luckily, we retired people don't need to get on the roads. No snow ploughs in Sun Meadows where we live. Electricity and cable are still working, and we have everything at the house we need...enough food, beer and fire wood for emergency in case of blackout.

To all our fellow Sequimers…enjoy and embrace the winter season! Stay tuned with our Sequim Blog to hear more from the Sequimers.

Tags: life in Sequim

The Sequimers visit Mexico

Dear friends,
You did not hear from us for quite some time after our last Sequim area hiking adventure to Lake Angeles. Here is the reason. We were gone on a longer trip to Mexico. Now, we are back home in sunny Sequim. Well, we were a little concerned when we read online about all the bad weather news in the Seattle area, while enjoying the sunny, blue skies of Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. Our Sequim house made it just fine through some tough November rains (most rain recorded for November ever, even sunny Sequim broke its records). Now, it looks like we brought the sun back home with us from Mexico. The Sequim skies are sunny and blue with a few clouds coming and going. Instead of heavy clothes, a vest will do fine as an outdoor protection. We love to be home.

How did our trip to Mexico go, you want to know. Let’s cut a long story short. It was our first trip to an all-inclusive hotel in Mexico. Keoki had been to Mexico some 30 years ago, but that does not count. There were no inclusive hotels then anyway. We had done quite a bit of research for our Mexican vacation - isn’t the Internet great for that purpose?! - on vacation spots in Mexico, on all-inclusive hotels in Puerto Vallarta and on the hotel we had finally decided for…the Royal Decameron in Bucerias.

We read our way through the Trip Advisor reports written by travelers who had stayed at the Decameron before. Over 90 % were positive and assuring, which made us feel good. The bad reports troubled us somewhat and made us a little concerned and aware what guests encountered, like an Iguana under the bed or an upset stomach (Pepto-Bismol was in our luggage). We also knew ahead of the time what building we wanted to be at…by the ‘adult only’ pool. We had requested a room there, which worked out great.

Here is our experience in a few words…we had all the 14 days sunshine and blue skies (we were actually happy about each cloud in front of the sun, as it was at times too much heat for us Sequimers 88-90F), beach was endless in both directions, water was a little murky from steady surf (mostly OK for swimming), several pools to choose from (we preferred adult only, no screaming kiddos and no loudspeaker noise or music from daytime ‘actividades’), food was plentiful and great variety to choose from (what looked ‘funny’ we did not eat, I also stayed away from fresh lettuce).

We liked the option to eat dinner ‘a la carte’ at one of the 5 restaurants, like Thai, Japanese, Italian, Mexican and Steak House instead of the buffet. Mostly we enjoyed our food…nice setting w/white tablecloths & candle lights, with salad bar, appetizers and all the drinks you want (not first class but average quality). The staff was well trained, friendly and accommodating. Most of them spoke decent English, otherwise they had to cope with our beginners broken Spanish. We improved somewhat within the time of our vacation in Mexico. Some Spanish classes could not hurt.

All in all, we had a wonderful vacation in Mexico but are happy to be back home in the crisp autumn air of sunny Sequim. More Sequim adventures will follow from the ‘Sequimers’.

RV Parks in the Sequim Area

Hello Sequim lovers,
Hope you enjoyed our hiking adventure to Lake Angeles in our last post and want to know more about our retired Sequim life. Having lived in Hawaii for so many years, we did not only notice the dramatic difference in climate and nature between the two states but there was another big life style difference. We noticed immediately that every second home had a recreational vehicle standing on their property, from small camper van to trailer and big RV buses. On our first outings around Sequim and Olympic National Park, we were impressed by the good size number of RV parks at all kinds of locations, rates and features.

A little while later, it must have been after our visit to Victoria B.C. on Vancouver Island, we thought wouldn’t it be nice to have a small unit ourselves, big enough to sleep and cook but small enough to still get some decent mileage with the ever rising gas prices and be able to drive comfortably. The search started! The Internet was the best way to go. We were lucky to find a nice camper van Coachmen 1991, really well taken care of by a couple living about 80 miles south of Sequim. They had already bought a bigger unit, as they wanted to take the grand children along for their trips. We liked the camper van, checked everything out carefully and drove it home the same day.

Our first longer visit took us to Bavarian Village in Leavenworth, after we visited long time friends from Hawaii on Whidbey Island. Whidbey Island…beautiful place too! Our new motor home drove fine up into the mountains, even mastered the 4000ft pass without a problem. And Leavenworth turned out to be that wonderful place to be as announced online and in catalogues. We loved the setting in between forests and high mountains (must be gorgeous in winter!). You love gift shopping? No better place to be. Influenced, of course, by German traditions, like nutcrackers and wonderful Christmas pyramids. If you like German cuisine, plenty of restaurant choices there serving German dishes like Sauerkraut with Bratwurst or Wiener Schnitzel.

Our KOA RV Park was totally meeting our expectations. Wonderful green settings with stream running by and panoramic mountain views. Swimming pool and Jacuzzi and very clean and modern showers and bathrooms made our stay complete. We met the nicest people from all kinds of places, from Canada and even Germany. Take your RV or motor home to Leavenworth. You will love it!

After that wonderful experience, we tried another short RV trip right here in the Sequim Port Angeles next to Olympic National Park area. Out ‘fishing’ class with Peninsula College in August helped us a lot. We did three field trips on which we were visiting secret places for fishing but also just for enjoying the great outdoors and nature. That information came handy with this RV trip.

We still went online for more RV park information and came up with some good search results http://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm We went on our way with a short list of parks which we liked according to their location, amenities and fees. However, one never knows. We pulled in at least 3 parks and pulled out again for one reason or the other. That’s the advantage with a small camper van…easy getting into a park and easy driving out again.

After checking three parks, we decided to enjoy our day before searching further for the perfect RV park. We had a wonderful picnic at Crescent Lake and enjoyed a great hike to Marymere Falls. Scenery of both places is most impressive. We never thought we’d find so many mushrooms on our way and good ones, according to our knowledge. Next purchase will be a mushroom book (better be on the safe side). In any case, when it was time to get settled for the night, we decided for Shadow Mountain http://www.shadowmt.com/park.html , which has full hookup at $25/nt. Views were nice but Hwy was a little too close. Next night, we were much happier with the free RV Park next to the Hungry Bear Café (actually wanted to stay at the Hungry Bear RV Park as it has hookup but nobody was around to take our money). That park is next to the Sol Duc River, where quite a number of people go fishing. We hiked on a trail and must admit felt very lucky that some park rangers had marked the trail with pink ribbons. One can easily get lost there otherwise. After three days in the great outdoors, we were happy to make it back home to our comfortable bed and big house.

Stay tuned till next time from sunny Sequim!

Tags: vacation in Leavenworth, vacation on Vancouver Island, vacation in Victoria, RV Parks Near Olympic National Park, Olympic National Park

Olympic National Park Hiking Adventure

Our special hiking adventure in the Olympic National Park

Hello again Sequim lovers,
The weather in sunny Sequim has been gorgeous ever since the beginning of July with blue skies and wonderful temperatures. Nights and early morning hours are little nippy for Hawaii expatriates. We love it and plan as many outdoor adventures as possible. Besides picking berries in Sequim, it's hiking the Olympic Mountains.

Well, here is our latest one. Our dear friend Bruce, a regular at the Sequim Aquatic Center just like us, told us many times to start one of those magnificent hikes from a hiking trail head area shortly before the entrance to the Olympic National Park leading to Hurricane Ridge. There was no cloud in the sky Sunday morning. We packed our lunch and water, drove to Port Angeles, from there to the trail head parking, studied the map with all the different hikes and decided for a 3.4 mile hike to Lake Angeles but missing the most important note strenuous hike.

We would find out pretty soon. The happy wanderers were pretty soon huffing and puffing and wondering whether it would go up that steep for hours. Taking little breaks and admiring the path through the woods, the bubbling noise of Angeles Creek along our way up and up into the mountains and deeper forest, we thought we can do this. Well, after some steep hill hiking for about two hours, we really met a person coming down the hill and asked him for some hikers advise. The lonely hiker told us that he had done the hike the second time within this week, that we had the toughest part behind us and it would take us just half an hour to make it to Lake Angeles, which would be worthwhile all the efforts. That sounded comforting and encouraging and we doubled our efforts.

Well, always be aware that there are different hikers categories. The lonely wanderer was obviously in the experienced half while we are Sunday wanderers. Believe it or not but it took us another full hour to make it finally to the lake, having half of our sandwich on the way to refuel our energy reserves. Here comes the good part. The scenery of Lake Angeles was from another world with sparkling lake waters around a beautiful fairy tale island in the middle, high forest covered cliffs all around the lake with dark blue skies behind and with the unusual stillness of nature, only interrupted by a few frogs croaking, some dragonflies buzzing around us and fish sending bubbles to the surface of the lake. We were beamed into another world, a lost one, which we city people have long forgotten. We took it all in for future memories.

It got later in the afternoon. We had to tackle the descend, as one does not want to get stuck in the middle of the forest with no cell phone connection available, which we had assumed would be so much easier. In some way it was but soon we noticed that we added to our sore hamstring and calf muscles some even tighter quad muscles. After about 5 hrs we made it back to our car, feeling each muscle in our body. Do not ask us how we are feeling 2 days later. Despite of stretching the recovery happens slowly. Whether we would do it again, we kind of doubt it but this hike will become a special place in our other hiking experiences. If you are not up for this challenge, make sure to check what the hike is rated at. With greetings from the Sequimers in Olympic National Park

Tags: Vacation in Sequim, Hiking the Olympic Mountains, Olympic National Park

Healthy Living in Sequim

Healthy Living in Sequim

Hi, everyone, the Sequimers are back. Last time, we mentioned the great outdoors in the Sequim area, which will be addressed all through our Sequim Town Blog, as that topic is much too big to be covered with one or two posts. What else attracted us to the Olympic Peninsula and Sequim in particular?

Sequim town and area is Berry Country

There are lots of organic farms and regular farms, which grow all kinds of berries during green season in addition to vegetables and other fruits. We tasted the first berries when we came visiting here last you end of September…sweet ripe blackberries everywhere! One did not even have to go to a farm. When you pick wild berries, just make sure that it is in an area where the country does not spray with weed controlling pesticides. Most places are safe to pick berries in Sequim.

Berries at the Sequim Supermarkets are not cheap. However, there are a lot of farms, which promote U-Pick all through the harvesting season. We just did a search in Google and there they were, nicely listed with address and hours and what berries at what months. We started picking berries with strawberries in early May, a month or so later the first raspberries were ripening (sometimes we went 2x a week for picking) and blueberries, which have become in the past few years a berry favorite with their most antioxidants content, followed soon. We were in berry heaven.

We picked the last blueberries a week ago. Checked yesterday with our favorite berry farm Graysmarsh Farm but all the blueberries were gone, as the farm had opened their fields for free picking and the birds picked probably the leftovers. Well, luckily there are tons of blackberries around us. They taste great and make a healthy food too. Again, if you have any questions, leave us a comment right here on our blog. You may also email us. We are happy to answer your Sequim questions. Stay healthy. The Sequimers
p.s.
Last remark for today about Sequim farms. A recent tendency shows that quite a number of farms got sold and turned into land for building houses or condos by developers. Old time Sequimers are not happy about this trend, not only that Sequim will lose its resources for farm produce but it will also lose its lovely small town ambience, which is the reason why people live here.

Rejuvenating Life in Sequim

Our new relaxing and rejuvenating life in Sequim

Got to catch up first on the past few months before we start dealing with our present life. Remember we told you in our previous post that we moved to Sequim in January 06, and also included why we moved to Sequim. We must admit it was a big change for us people from Hawaii. However, most of the days proved to be sunny, as promised in all the Sequim visitors information materials and in online Sequim weather statistics. The sun came out some time during the day and if it was just peeking through a small "blue hole" in the sky for an hour or so.

Olympic Discovery Trail

As we are very active people, having been a stretch class teacher (Keoki) and a physical education teacher (Heidi) for most of our professional lives, the colder weather and somewhat crisp air did not stop us from getting on our bikes, all bundled up with anorak, gloves and caps. The Olympic Discovery trail rewarded us with the most amazing snow covered Olympic Mountain panoramas. We were at awe! OK, we never made it to Port Angeles on our bikes but the Sequim part of the discovery trail is plenty for a 1 to 2 hr bike ride.

Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center SARC

Another big attraction right from the beginning was the Sequim Aquatic Center which we had read a lot about and also got a short glimpse of during our vacation visit in September 05. When we became Sequim residents, we tried it out on a monthly basis. We liked it so much that we joined the club for an annual membership after two months. Now, it’s our second home. We got to know quite a number of nice people, so small talks between workouts are common. Be aware that there are a lot of "gray panthers" (Sequim is a town of retirees) but this shows that more and more people adopt a very active, healthy life style when getting older. Our regular visits to the fitness center (three times a week) are encouraging and energizing. We did miss those visits during the recent 10 day-maintenance closure. Now, things are back to normal. Everybody is happy again. Give your muscles and heart a great workout and relax in pool, sauna or Jacuzzi afterwards. How better can it get?!

Want to know more about our life in sunny Sequim, check back soon. Stay happy and healthy till next time.
The Sequimers
p.s.
Nearly forgot, Keoki is back to teaching his Easy Stretch class twice a week, at SARC. Read more about his Stretch for Health class If you are interested in purchasing his Easy Stretch video, send us an email to with subject "Easy Stretch Video" and we provide you with information. More Easy Stretch information and testimonials.

Retire in Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula

Why we retired in Sequim on Olympic Peninsula in Washington state?

We are living in a blogger world now. I guess that's the best way these days to get the word out to family, friends and strangers about what's happening in people's lives. Here we go about our life. Ever heard of the town Sequim? Most people have not. Well, we moved here in January of 2006 in order to retire. Retire from where, you ask. From Hawaii we answer. How can somebody move from Hawaii to Washington state? We had lived there for 30 (husband) and myself for 15 years. We decided it's time for a change. We were able to sell our property and vacation rental business and move on with our lives. Feeling happy and free!

Best places to retire?

However, before we moved to Sequim, the biggest question was where to retire to? We boggled our minds with Thailand (too hot and tropical diseases), New Zealand (wonderful but they don't welcome the older folks, want to have 2 million NZ $ from immigrants, which we didn't have, plus still does not allow you to stay their all the time), Costa Rica was in the talks with all the American retirees (stories about safety and security issues were not really encouraging), San Diego was too expensive and so on and so forth. At that point, friends, who had moved from Hawaii to Portland, told us about the lovely small town of Sequim (means peaceful waters in Indian) surrounded by the the great panorama of the Olympic mountains and offering the splendid views of our so much loved Pacific Ocean!!! So, we we started our biggest research...about Sequim.

Sequim research over the Internet

Naturally, the Internet was our biggest resource. Luckily, one can find anything there from rainfall to real estate, from fitness center to health food stores. So, when we visited Sequim in fall 2005, we came prepared. We found a lot of information in the local publication Sequim Gazette. Had a list of houses for sale, knew all the things we wanted to check in Sequim town. And fell head over heels in love with this unbelievable retirement city. Bought a wonderful home 1 mile from Sequim town and 1 mile from John Wayne Marina, sold our Hawaii property and business and moved to Sequim beginning of 2006. Whether you believe it or not but we never regreted it one minute over the last 8 months.

Stay tuned for further news and gossip on our wonderful life in Sequim One last thing...Sequim is in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains and has an average annual rainfall of only 12" with a very moderate climate all year around. More about that later.

Tags: Moving to Sequim, Retire in Sequim