A Drive Along the North Olympic Highway (Photo Essay)

T-Dawg and I went out of town recently to do some holiday shopping, along routes 20 and 104 south and west to Sequim and Port Angeles from our home in Port Townsend, Washington. T-Dawg drove (he's got his permit) which freed me up to take photos....

We head south on route 20 on an overcast day....

Here are the cabins at the intersection of routes 20 and 104, with the foothills of the Olympics beyond.

Below, you see "Fat Smitty's Burgers" and some local businesses at Discovery Bay.

Just around the corner is the "Whistle Stop," which sells candy and ice cream and fast food. Kids love to stop here and visit all the rail cars and toot the horn in the caboose. We didn't stop today...

Passing beyond Discovery Bay and going north and west, we come to Gardiner. Here we stop at Wild Birds Unlimited for a look-see.....

There's a wonderful little garden there, off to the side.....

The gateway draws you on.....

and through.....

and beyond.....for this lovely view of Discovery Bay.

Now we're heading inland across a peninsula, passing farms, many of which grow lavender. T-Dawg is doing a great job driving on the highway!

It looks like the weather is clearing, but the open country north of the Olympics is often sunny...

We turn south and head toward Blyn, at the inner end of Sequim Bay.

It looks like we're heading straight into the mountains.....

Then we take a turn west. Here's the new community center in Blyn, at the inner end of Sequim Bay, and home of the Jamestown S'Klallam tribe....on the right are more buildings and a visitor's center

Rounding the bay and heading north we pass the 7 Cedars Casino...

and before we know it, we're approaching Sequim.

We stop to do a little shopping. Here are some cool-looking dalmatians in the Walmart parking lot. T-Dawg took this photo.

We stop at the Serenity Thrift Shop in Sequim as well (sorry, no photo), then go have lunch at Taco Time, where we can eat gluten-free. We then decide to head on to Port Angeles. Here is some fall color along the way...looks like it's clouding up.

This is one of my favorite views of the drive. You round a corner toward the south, just before reaching the outskirts of Port Angeles,  and the Olympics rise up in front of you. It's not the best day for photos, but you get the idea. There is a scenic overlook here...

Here we stop at one of our favorite stores. But there doesn't seem to be much of interest here. I wonder if they list all the good stuff online now.

Then we head to another thrift store, in a lovely old church. The roof doesn't look in good repair anymore. I found some good Christmas books and some brass candlesticks, and T-Dawg found a great item for a brother (it's a secret).

It's late afternoon and time to head home. It's getting dark and gloomy now....

Here is the stretch of road along the west side of Discovery Bay, looking south.

And here are the businesses at the inner end of the bay, once again...

There's another half-hour of driving from here to get home, mostly up and down hills and through the trees, but no more pics. It was nice to get out of town with T-Dawg for a day and go exploring. Thanks for coming along on our drive!