Bremerton, WA

Sequim, WA - Bremerton, WA
3/Jun/24 -4/Jun/24

Miles Traveled     57
Trip Total          5212
Travel Time       1:24

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA, OR, Washington

The trip from Sequim to Bremerton was very interesting.  To start our day there was an American Bald Eagle soaring over our heads as we prepared to leave. What made it even more interesting was it had some prey in it's talons.  The picture was the best I could do with a cell phone.  Another milestone of this trip is we are finally done with Highway 101.  Yes it was beautiful but we are all glad to move on to new roads.  Our route took us over the Hood Canal and the Hood Canal Bridge.  This 1.5 mile long bridge is the world's third longest floating bridge, and the longest floating bridge in tidal saltwater.  The floating portion of the portion of the bridge is almost 1.25 miles long.  To open the bridge three sections on each side are raised above the pontoon, and the center sections slide under the lifted sections. 

In 1979 during a storm with 100MPH winds and 15 foot seas half of the bridge sank.  The quick actions of two of the bridge tenders kept the entire bridge from sinking.  When they realized the bridge was buckling from the pressure they opened the center span which saved the eastern half of the bridge, they were also able to get off the bridge before it sank.   Washington DOT has a webcam on the bridge, but the camera is shut off during openings.  A large portion of the marine traffic through the bridge come from the Kitsap Naval Base  and the cameras are turned off for security purposes.  Kitsap is the third largest US Naval fleeting area home to vessels ranging from submarines to aircraft carriers.

After arriving at the Elks, and setting up the RV's we headed to the U.S. Naval Undersea Museum.  The museum has exhibits on undersea mines, torpedos, naval research, and most importantly underwater rescue from submarines.  The museum was about 15 minutes from the Elks. It would have been cool if we could have seen the base and some submarines but the museum is outside of the main gate and we could not access the base.

Tuesday afternoon we went to the Elks club for lunch and an afternoon of playing Mexican Train.  Mexican Train is a dominos game, that friends of ours (Nick & Ginger from Ginger Gale) from our Great Loop Trip taught us.  The Bremerton Elks has a group of members that plays every Tuesday afternoon and they were very welcoming.  Rather than playing with the same people each week, everyone puts their name in a bowl. and the players for each table are selected randomly.   It was a great way for us to meet people.  Their rules are slightly different then we are use to, put we were able to catch on very quickly.

Bremerton Elks sits on a hill overlooking Dyes Inlet and Olympic Mountains the view is incredible.  Several of the members recommended that we come back to the lodge at sunset to watch the sunset. We did but unfortunately the clouds hide the sun.  Even though we did not catch the sunset, we did see deer hanging at the edge of the woods.

Our next stop is Burien Washington where we will be staying at another Elks Lodge.  Burien is located about 20 minutes south of Seattle and is a perfect place  for us to stay while we explore Seattle.