Day 1

Jumped on the 10:30 a.m. Coho ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles.  Despite it being a Monday morning, we were lucky to get snuck on as the last 2 vehicles.  If we'd been in a car, we wouldn't have made it.  Arrived in Port Angeles around noon and headed straight for Hurricane Ridge.  Amazing ride up to an elevation of 5000+ feet.  Stunning vistas and plenty to see at the top.   Still lots of snow on the mountains, but none on the road, fortunately.   Back down the mountain for lunch at the Coyote BBQ Pub in Port Angeles.  Good burger for a decent price and a free piece of pecan pie for dessert because we had to wait a bit for our lunch!  :)      Headed out for the Sol Duc Hot Springs and found the ride up Sol Duc Road beautiful, free of traffic and in great shape - the kind of road that makes you want to turn around and do it again.  We spent and hour and a half having a soak in the hot pools before riding that wonderful road back down to 101 to Forks.  Spending the night at the Olympic Suites Inn, which obviously used to be apartments.  Got a 2-bedroom suite for the price of a hotel room - older, but clean and neat and great value.  Note that there is an additional $150 charge if the following occurs in your room:  Smoking, having a pet in a non-pet room, or . . . Wait for it . . . . Cleaning fish!!   Lol. That one was a first for me, but totally legit!  Discovered that almost everything in Forks to do with food closes at 9 p.m. and were lucky to score a subway sandwich at the last minute.  The bonus was that you can buy a 750 ml bottle of Stella Artois for about $2 in the gas station.  Not sure what the Mike's Hard cost, but it wasn't much more.  Bit of chill time, then will retire for a decent start in the morning.   Grabbed a yogurt and a cheese stick for a quick bite in the morning, then will hope to find a cool cafe or restaurant on the route to Astoria, which is tomorrow's final destination.