<<TableOfContents()>>
= Day 1 Sequim to Elwha Dam RV Park 31 miles =
{{/ODTday1map.png|map}}
[[/2022-07-26.gpx|gpx]]
== departure ==
A quick breakfast and we load up our packed gear and drive to yesterday's endpoint to park the car in the Sequim Chamber of Commerce parking lot. Once more we discuss the feasibility of "borrowing" one of the lavender festival purple flags to replace Monica's yellow "BOB" trailer flag. It really would have looked fabulous, but alas, our thieving days are decades in the past. We've all aged into such integrity, which is fun in different way. Really. Now we can get all the enjoyment from imagining nicking the city flag without the heartburn of worried or even actual pursuit by the cops.
Many photos are snapped. GPS is fired up. We hit the trail.
{{/DSCN1628.JPG|departure|width=80%}}
== the prairie section and the hornet ==
We wind our way thru Sequim on bike lanes and no traffic residential streets, eventually onto bike trail where we pick some lavender and each of us places a sprig on helmet or handle bar providing constant aromatherapy while we ride.
We make a pit stop at a very luckily placed public restroom on the trail and chat with a electric bike rider. Snacks are had, warm layers removed.
Arriving at the edge of town we see our first notice of the detour around the under construction Dungenous River Bridge. Happily we read carefully and consult the map and in fact, we find we are at the turn. David keeps a constant eye on the GPS and we successfully navigate busy highways with good shoulder back to the trail on the other side of the river north of Carlsborg.
The trail crosses open farm land with great views of the Olympic Mountains.
{{/IMG_1201.jpg|monica_david_mountain_view|width=80%}}
{{/IMG_1196.jpg|annmarie_monica_mountain_view|width=80%}}
Just after the photo op, Monica does three things simultaneously: she jumps off her bike, exclaims "A bee got under my glasses!" and whips off her sunglasses. It's over before we know it, and in the minutes which follow as we all brainstorm what to do about her sting, Monica realizes that she has not been stung severely, tis but a minor brush with bee or hornet. We continue on.
The weather is really heating up at this point and we stop at a shady line of trees. Serious snack time is had by all. Annmarie tells us of her family's cabin in Maine, possibly we could all visit. This leads to each of us reminiscing about special places we visited as children or visited with our children, and how strange it is now that the grandparents have passed that we've lost some of those places along with them.
We'd passed a park with benches before this stop, and are all just sitting on the ground next to the trail. Monica says, "wouldn't it be funny if there is a beautiful park just down the trail from here where we could have rested instead?" And sure enough, a local woman walking dogs stops by and says, "there's a really great stopping place by the river just down the trail from here." We laugh and head on our way, none of us dissatisfied in the least with our choice of snack spot.
== thru the woods ==
{{/IMG_1202.jpg|monica_david_on_the_trail|width=80%}}
== the beach section ==
{{/IMG_1206.jpg|reaching_the_beach|width=80%}}
{{/IMG_1210.jpg|reaching_the_beach|width=80%}}
== ending the day on a hot note ==
{{/IMG_1218.jpg|on_the_hot_highway|width=80%}}
[[../Day-0|Previous Day]]|[[../|Trip Index]]|[[../Day-2|Next Day]]
