Puget Ramble Day 2

[olivermoss]

Day 2 was the day I'd planned to be my big driving day. I had two ferries to catch and a lot of north to go. I originally wanted to go more north overall, but planning was so tricky. My thought was that this trip would be a good way to learn what I needed to know to take a more adventurous trip in the future. Right now adventure doesn't sound exciting.

This sign pretty much determined a lot of my day.


Finn Lake is a well known and established cider place. The tasting there was not great. They have pizza and ice cream vendors and they cram as many people into each tasting as possible. I was part of a group of 17 with an bored seeming server. The local vendors and stuff was nice, the cider was good, but the whole thing had a commercial feel to it.

Eaglemount was okay. They focus on the flavors created by the fermentation process rather than the apples. It's a style, but not one I am big on.

Alpenfire was amazing. They are an organic slow producer deep in the woods. You have to drive for a while down a private gravel road with dense, tall forest on either side. They do a wide variety of ciders including super dry, rum casked, semi sweet and single varietal. I didn't want to buy cider on my trip because it would be a hassle, but I bought a bottle of their rosé style. It's a semi-sweet made from apples with pink flesh. The server was knowledge and loved her job. High marks all around.

Overall, Alpenfire and Dragon's Head were the best ciders, had the best servers and both let you keep your glass. They were also the better values than the other places.


I only had tiny sips and had about the equivalent of a shot glass of cider at each place, and then hung for about an hour. I usually don't drive at all if I have had any alcohol that day, so a few sips and then waiting an hour is pretty relaxed for me. So that took up a bunch of the day.

I went to Port Townsend to catch to the ferry to Whidbey Island. When I went to get my ticket I was asked if I had a reservation. When I said I didn't the lady went 'Oh, honey ....' Never a good sign.



I wound up spending some time in Port Townsend between attempts to board the ferry. Once the reserved people are on, the unreserved line moved up until it's full.

It's a cute town. I got coffee from a shop where a group of people were playing Irish folk tunes. Not pro performers, just people in a circle playing some reels I recognized.

I took this picture from one of the docks:



I went to see if I could make the next ferry. I barely did. A full sized car likely would not have been allowed to board.


If I fits...

This night was the one where my ABnB host cancelled on me and I got stuck with very few room options. I booked a traditional B&B through Hotels.com. My thought that was going with more typical lodgings would be a nice break. Wrong. This place was weird. First, parking was hell and gone from the house. I paused near the house to get my bearings in the dark and another car started honking at me. It turned out to be the owner.

The room turned out to be in a converted basement. It was weird and creepy and everything I'd done my best to avoid on the trip. I seriously considered leaving instead of going to bed, but where would I go? I was on an island later than the last ferry and knew everything else was booked. I'd been meaning to write an article on the realities of traveling alone, so I started writing it while I heard his footsteps above me.

The room cost a lot, but I'd not had other options due to the late cancellation. I expected a lot more for my money. I'd also hoped to get at least a few cute pictures out of it or the farm it's on, but I didn't want to have pictures of that place in my galleries. Also, I wanted the heck out of there once daylight came.

On my way out, the guy remarked how the other person who stayed the same night as me left unexpectedly early. He thought it was weird that she just took off. I just nodded stiffly.

Instead of the pretty farm, have a picture of this thing that I saw on my way north to hike do some hiking:



I saw three of these things driving around on the islands in different places. No clue why. WTF Western Washington?

Comments

[waketosleep]

Because Minions are popular as heck! I saw a water tank done up as one (next to a fireworks place if memory serves) on my way back up the 101 today. Man, that road is a fun drive when you're not stuck behind people who don't seem to realize they're the "slow car" all those turnouts are for. I made a lot better time northbound than south.