Welcome To Bill and Sue's Point of View

Greetings!

Welcome to Bill and Sue's Point of View on the Olympic Pennisula in Washington State.

Nothing happens unless first we dream.

Carl Sandburg




Bill and I started building our house in Port Townsend, WA a couple of years ago. We are finally finished. Well, not quite finished. We have to finish the trim work in the basement and put on our lower deck. We are going to redo our front steps to the house and put in walkways and landscaping.

Where in the world are we?



















Port Townsend sits on the tip of the Olympic Pennisula.




To view a map, click on this link.


http://www.capegeorge.org/index.php?aid=15






This is the downtown area.

Boat building is one of the town's industries.






Port Townsend is a small Victorian town.

The Port Townsend/Keystone Ferry is in the background. It is on its way to Whidbey Island.



http://www.ptguide.com/index.html This is the official town website.


Shopping in Port Townsend is always fun and an adventure!

This is the Edmonds Ferry. You might take this ferry from Edmonds to get to Port Townsend. You could also take the Bremerton Ferry from downtown Seattle or, if you want to go the long way around, you could take the Keystone Ferry via Whidbey Island. However, you can reach Port Townsend by passing through Tacoma, without taking a ferry at all. But ferries are a fun way to travel.


To take a virtual tour of the town, click on the link below. The video is charming.


http://www.cityofpt.us/VirtualTour/Default.asp



This is Point Wilson, the town’s light house.

This is the Jefferson County Courthouse.



We live in the residential community of Cape George, which is about four miles outside of Port Townsend on the Strait of Juan de Fuca.






Before you read on dear blog reader, I need to tell you a bit about the gentleman for whom this strait is named.




According Wikipedia, “ Apostolos Valerianos (aka Juan de Fuca) was a Greek sea captain who sailed the Pacific in the late 1500's for the Spanish. He claimed to have discovered …. the northwest coast of the United States. He reported ‘a broad inlet of sea of land and waterways in almost every direction of the compass.’ ” I can't include his photo because apparently he was camera shy so I'll include his compass.



We also have views of the Olylmpic Mountains which are usually capped in snow. I am going to assume the Olympic Mountains were named by Mr. de Fuca as well since he was Greek and most likely a big fan of Mount Olympus and Zeus.





The Olympic Mountains and Discovery Bay can be seen from our deck.



We also can see some of the San Juan Islands.( Could they also be a tribute to Mr. de Fuca? )



This is the mouth of Discovery Bay. The Olympic Mountains were covered with clouds when I took this picture. Our neighbor's workshop is the building you see.




And we see the lights of Victoria, Canada, named after another celeb from another continent.



This is the British Columbia Parliment Building in Victoria, British Columbia.

The Coho Ferry sails from the United States to Victoria. The Coho ( aka the Black Ball Ferry ) is about an hour's drive from our house.













The ferry docks close to the Parliment Building and it's easy to catch a tour of the building. Shopping and dining are within walking distance of the ferry dock. The Royal BC Museum is across the street from the Parliment Building. It's also worth a visit.

For more information on Victoria, British Columbia, click on the link below.

http://www.hellobc.com/en-CA/RegionsCities/Victoria.htm?media=cpc&referrer=google-adwords&CMP=KNC-NA&HBX_PK=victoria%20canada&HBX_OU=50&gclid=CO7Z2tC9gpsCFeFL5Qodd3myyQ




This is Protection Island. It resembles a submarine in this photo but it looks like an island in real life.

http://www.ptmsc.org/science/plastics/gullbolusstudy.html






This picture was taken from our deck.



This small island is a wildlife preserve. It is home to eagles, auklets, puffins, and some "old bird" who has the rights to live on the island. His name is Marty Bluewater. He is a member of our homeowners association and comes over to the clubhouse on his boat to visit.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003311944_protection19m.html


Our house sits on a little less than an acre of land, sixty feet above sea level. It overlooks all the sights mentioned above.

This is actually the front of the house. We have tons of landscaping to do.



This is the back of the house. We'll add a lower deck next year.

This is our backyard.

Every day we watch eagles swoop and dive for fish or perch in our trees. We also have deer that live in among our trees and bushes. It isn't unusual to have a young buck was eating our clover and falling asleep under a tree. A doe and her triplets spent the summer with us. They wandered about our backyard. When we left, the fawns had lost their spots.

We watch cargo ships and other sea vessels sailing through the strait to and from Seattle. It's very quiet and of course peaceful.



This is the beach below our house. In this picture, the tide is out. When the tide is in, the water reaches the base of the bluff.

To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.
Anatole France