Destination: Lake Quinault Lodge, Olympic National Park, Washington
We were on the road earlier than expected as the washer at the Best Western was out of service. Our alternate plan was to visit a laundromat near the Safeway in Aberdeen just before crossing onto the Olympic Peninsula. We would do laundry then stock up on groceries for the troops. (We planned to attend the Thanksgiving buffet at the lodge, but most of our meals would be eaten in one of our rooms.)
As we departed Long Beach, we needed to check "propane fill" on our to-do list. We would need propane to use TCB's Truma heater for Quinnbo in the Olympic Park's chilly rainforest. I caused a big hiccup in our Thanksgiving plans by not reading the fine print.
Despite reading on the website that Lake Quinault did allow dogs, I'd ignored the asterisk and fine print, back in July, when I reserved two rooms. Our rooms did NOT allow dogs. With yesterday's realization, we had no other option than to make TCB the heated "dog house." We would solve the problem with frequent walks and bringing Quinnbo for visits to our patio overlooking the lake. It was not ideal, but it would have to suffice. We would make it work.
After filling the propane, our trip north on the 101 was beautiful, driving along the coast through inlets and sloughs, on bridges and by vast areas of serious logging and lumber mills. (Again, What shortage of lumber?????)
Anticipation of our holiday was both exciting and anxiety producing, as this rendez-vous was my idea. On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I was hoping there would be no more snags.
The car math worked like this:
My brother, Chris, Linda and the twins, Ian and Kai (CLIK) and Austin, their rescued puppy, would pick up Monica, who flew in from Newport, RI, at the Seattle Airport and drive to Quinault. Eric would be leaving from San Jose, CA and arriving 13 hours later. Rachel would drive from Tacoma after a full work day and retrieve Schuyler who flew in from Juneau, Alaska, in Olympia, who was visiting Nor's in-laws. I do not expect you to understand this complicated matrices. The Metcalfs were excellent at car math and seem to thrive on it.
The immaculate laundromat, owned by a husband and wife team, was minutes from Safeway. Van, determined to wash TCB before the holiday, left me at the laundromat to find a truck wash.
I planned to knit while waiting. I was distracted by a young man who was getting instructions from the owner on how to load the laundry card and run the machines. He asked, "Do I need to add soap too?" Hearing this, I offered two soap pods from our big pouch we had carried across country.
My second good deed was helping a hooded man who entered the laundromat with a shopping cart filled with belongings, recycled cans and bottles. He entered to collect his blankets from the dryer next to mine. In this place, an alternative to coins was a machine to load a card with a prescribed dollar amount using cash or credit card. As the man opened the dryer and reached to feel his blankets, he sighed to learn they were not dry. As the man fished through many pockets feeling for a coin, I offered my card. "How much time do you need? I asked. "Ten minutes," he answered, in a mumbled accent. He quickly rolled his cart out the door and disappeared down the street. I suspected this man was unhoused. He returned 15 minutes later, leaving his cart outside, to retrieve his blankets. I said, "Have a good day." He mumbled then made a swift exit. I continued knitting after this sobering interaction.
At that moment, I considered all my blessings. "Why are some people in life dealt the right hand in life while some are not? If there is a God, why can some people figure it out and some cannot?Why was I uncomfortable and fearful next to this man?"
These were heavy ponderances that I often considered, especially around the holidays, missing my brother Jay, who had many people's help and couldn't figure it out. My knitting helped me out of this heavy conundrum. This pre-Thanksgiving encounter was timely and precient.
The dryer stopped, I folded our clothes and Van appeared. I would wait to tell him about my laundromat interactions while driving. Van was ready to drive away, when I asked him about the laundry card which had a remaining balance. Card in hand, I knocked on the car window of a woman who was reading the back of a Pillsbury piecrust box. She rolled down the window and listened as I explained that didn't know the exact card balance. She smiled, then gladly took the card before thanking me. It was not an ordinary visit to the laundromat.
Safeway was bustling. It was the last place to be at 2 PM on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. However, this visit turned out to lift my spirits, as it suddenly felt like Thanksgiving. Van and I had made a list during our drive up the coast, so we were prepared to "divide and conquer." (I had come to enjoy doing normal things like grocery shopping on the road, as it brought comfortable feelings of normality and home. Grocery shopping = comfort? Who knew... TCB had amazing effect on me.)
Finishing our chores, we left Aberdeen in beautiful afternoon light to enjoy the coastal sights. We arrived in daylight to Lake Quinault Lodge on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, and checked into our lakefront room (all rooms were lakefront).
I took a minute to enjoy the view then settled in. Connecting to WIFI, we communicated our arrival to the rest of the family, then headed to the lodge to explore. It would be a perfect place to celebrate with the Sellstone Clan.
The weather had turned from mist to heavy downpours. This rainforest weather would be terrible for driving in the curvy, leaf-covered roads. As the family arrived, one auto by one, my relaxation meter increased exponentially. We waited by the large fireplace in the oversized leather couches of the main lodge. Lounging beside the beautifully decorated Christmas tree with loved ones, beverage in hand, I felt like we were on the set of a Hallmark holiday movie.
We passed the time waiting. Ian, Kai and Schuyler enjoyed playing on the oversized chess board near the fireplace. It seemed everything was oversized at Lake Quinault.
As the hour approached 10 PM, Linda and the preteen twins headed to their rooms. When the headlights of Eric's Subaru appeared through the window by the Christmas tree, I breathed a sigh of relief. I was so happy that everyone had arrived without incident. We caught up on our travels then retired to our comfortable rooms. Whew. The Thanksgiving holiday had arrived.
I am blessed. Many thanks to my family for making the trek to the Olympics and to TCB for this adventure.
