ETC is back with part 2 of our mini Hood Canal (not really a canal, but, anyway) road-trip. Check part 1 for the map of our route, we continue with a little drive up to Lake Cushman. On the way to check out one of the Cushman dams we ran across this little gem (pic above), lake Standstill. Onward!

Lake Cushman is beautiful from afar...too bad it is winter and access to the lake is blocked off (from what we could find). We hit the gravel roads back to town.

You say Hamma I say Hama...you say corny, I say...hey, wait just a minute - to clarify - the river here coming out of the Olympics near Eldon is the Hamma Hamma and the oyster company established right on its banks in 1922 is called Hama Hama. They are still in business harvesting yummy oysters - we had some for lunch after exploring the grounds.

Pleasant indeed.  We may have to bring Kingsley here for a little R & R this summer...

I had sailed to Port Ludlow on the summer man-cruise but hadn't taken my wife there so I thought we'd stop by before we caught the Bainbridge Island ferry back to the city...mini-Hood Canal road-trip...done.
   ~Paul & Amber   ETC

With winter in full swing in the Northwest, sunny winter days are hard to come by. Harder still are sunny winter days when you're off work. We saw one coming and decided to take a little mini-roadtrip around the Hood Canal. Below is the route we took - it was beautiful. We soaked up much needed vitamin D and scoped out quite a few future paddling and sailing destinations:) When I started putting the post together I decided I had too much for just one post so I broke it into two. Part 2 comes next!

First stop: Shelton to stretch the legs and look at a train...and some llamas.

Caught a peek of this on Google Earth before we left. It's the powerhouse from the nearby Cushman dam #2 (the second dam on the North Fork of the Skokomish River). Since the river is blocked in two places it creates two lakes: Lake Kokanee and Lake Cushman.

Dude. I told my wife she should totally buy this place. Down the road from the powerhouse and just before Hoodsport lies this little run down, for sale, fixer-upper. Does anyone out there have pics from Skipper John's heyday? Did she have a heyday? 

Well, the mini Hood Canal road-trip is half over...stay tuned for our next post tomorrow with pics of Lake Cushman, Hama Hama, Pleasant Harbor, and Port Ludlow.
   ~Paul & 'Skipper Amber'   ETC