Last night I started feeling pains in my lower back - something I've had before and at one point had to start going to a chiropractor to be able to stand erect. It wasn't quite that bad, but it still hurt to stand up straight, and in the morning, it was a little worse. As normal, when I pay to stay somewhere - especially at a motel, I tend to stay until the checkout time to maximize the value and because I usually check in late.
It was my plan to start Scenic Route #1 - the Olympic Loop, going up Hwy 101 to Olypmic National Park, but because of my back, I decided to hang around Aberdeen for a while and work on my blog updates. I finished packing up my car, bailing out my cooler, and filling it with ice around 12:30, then headed to lunch at McDonald's, where I knew I could spend some time updating my blog with free internet access.
I was able to post the last 2 day's travels, update the map, and then I set to work selecting and editing pictures for Day 8. As is common throughout this trip, I took a lot of pictures, and had a lot to post. I finished posting that day around 5:45.
Tall Ships Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain
While I was sitting there, I overheard a conversation about tall ships, and I remembered Aberdeen is the home to a couple of them. I decided I should check them out, so I looked them up online, and found out that today is a celebration to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority, and they hosted a demonstration of the largest spar lathe in North America, and were having other festivities. In addition, there are several cruises this weekend that the two ships are hosting a Battle Sail, where I presume they fire at one another at sea.
Unfortunately, the evening sail left at 6:00, and it was now around 6:30, but they were due back at 9:00. Another problem, though, is I didn't know exactly where they were returning to. They have recently designated a site called Seaport Landing as the new home dock for these ships, but it is a long term project that has just begun. Still, they have pictures of these ships docked there on their website, and I determined it was a site across the water from a city park named Morrison Riverfront Park, so assuming they would come back to dock there, I drove to the park to await their arrival.
I was wrong about their docking point, and about their course. Around 8:40, I looked up from my laptop, as I was typing this post, and saw the first of the ships coming from up river, rather than through the drawbridge. Fortunately, this course took them straight past the park, so I stopped typing, grabbed my camera, and jogged to the seawall and the dock to get better angles on them as they went by. They turned at the bridge, and docked on the same side of it that I was on, so I drove over to take a closer look at the ships.
I walked down to the lower dock that they were moored to, and met the first mate of one of the ships, as well as a photographer who I exchanged business cards with. The first mate gave me some suggestions for places to visit as I continue up Washington. I took a few pictures along the dock, then headed back to the Olympic Inn.
On 6/10 (the next day), they have walk-on tours scheduled for mid-day and another Battle Sail departing at 2:00, so I decided to stay a second night in Aberdeen so I could tour the ships, and if my back improved overnight, possibly try to sail.
No comments:
Post a Comment