Quick tour of Olympic Peninsula-suggestions? (1 Viewer)

[Jim_F]

After some cursory research, I've come to the "conclusion" that the sunny part of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington is paradise (for a native Michigander who dislikes temperatures above 80 or below 20 degrees F) Sounds like a wonderful retirement destination, if not sooner. The problem is, I've never been there.

I don't have any special vacation plans this year, so I'm thinking I could take a few days in late summer/early fall to check it out.

So, what must be seen/done in, say, 4 days there? I figure 1 or 2 days in Seattle as well.

Feel free to add any positive/negative feedback about the area.

Thanks!

 

[Scott Barnhart]

1) Go to Dungeness Spit, the longest natural sand spit in the US, and hike out to the lighthouse. Very beautiful.

2) Drive up to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic mountains.(this is near Port Angeles). Again, really pretty.

3) Drive out to Neah Bay and the Makah Indian reservation. Most north-western point in the lower 48. Haven't done this myself (yet), but I really want to.

4) Visit the Sol Duc Hot Springs.

5) Visit Bremerton? Don't know what all there is to do here - I enjoyed touring the Vietnam-era Destroyer they have moored in the harbor. Plus, the ferry ride from Bremerton to Seattle is very pretty.

6) Visit Port Townsend and the nearby Fort Worden State Park.

7) You could always take the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, B.C. for a fun day (or more) trip.

I'm a little too young to be contemplating retirement myself, but on one of my visits, I talked to an older man who retired to Sequim. He really loved it for all the same reasons you mentioned, plus it has a lower cost-of-living than Seattle. His only comment was that if you have any specialized or serious medical needs, be aware that you fairly far from the top-notch medical facilities in Seattle, including a ferry ride in order to get over there. So a visit to a Seattle doctor could be more like an all-day thing than a couple hours out of your day.

 

[Jim_F]

Thanks Scott, That definitely helps. I was looking at the information on medical facilities, thinking primarily of career opportunities. My golden years are still a couple of decades away, but I also expect to be working at least part time (for medical benefits if nothing else) for as long as I'm able. Fortunately, hospital work is not my only option, just my preferred one.

I really should take my travel bike along, but I'm so out of shape so far this year, that I'm not sure if I'll bother.

 

[D. Scott MacDonald]

Sequim is growing very quickly, but I don't know what type of medical community they have there. Port Angeles is probably the biggest hospital in the area, but it is not in the rain shadow of the Olympics.

I lived in Port Angeles for three years as a teenager, and I personally could never go back there because the place is too small (not much to do), is very backwards (mostly loggers and un-employed mill workers), and is extremely isolated (I lived there when the floating bridge sank in 79 or 80, and it was a four hour drive to anyplace). That said, it has been a long time since I lived there, so it may have changed somewhat.

But the scenery is very nice.

 

[Chris Hovanic]

If you swing by Seattle for a couple days go catch a movie at The Seattle Cinerama Its a great 1 screen theater that Paul Alen refurbished... It has a huge screen and an amazing sound system. You even get to put your own butter on the pop corn