I met a guy of about my age dressed in camo gear (it’s very fashionable in these parts) outside the campground washrooms. He said he needed to wash the blood from his hands. He was holding a knife. This was a big guy – 6′ 3″, 250 lbs. It was dark, we were alone. I became a little concerned. Turns out he’s a hunter and had just killed an elk with a crossbow. The animal weighs 600 lbs so he had skinned and gutted it and would be returning in the morning to carry out as much as he could of the meat.
We chatted and he discovered I was from Canada. “I love Canada,” he says, adding that he’s probably been to more places in Canada than I have. I doubted that, but he then explains he used to play for the Detroit Red Wings junior hockey team and they toured all over Canada. So it was true. He had been to more places than I had.
He then asked me if I knew our national anthem, Oh Canada. Of course I do, I said. “All five verses?” he asks. There are five verses? Who knows that? He does, because he loves Canada.
You 2 are amazing! FYI-Chuckanut Drive area is bible belt country, Hood Canal is where the USN has its Trident nuclear attack subs,and Whidbey Island is where they train carrier pilots, as in the old bad movie “Officer and a Gentleman”. The Olympic Peninsula was as quirky for me in 2001-2 when I was sailing out of Port Angeles and out to Makah. Many people from the end of the road and proud of their lack of technology. You are making very good time and are seeing places off the beaten path. Hope the headwinds are light and the food is plentiful and calorie rich! Enjoy the Zen of the ride.
Love following your trip.
Don and Lisa