We started Wednesday with something very important:  doughnuts.  The girls had a bit of a rough start, and while our plan was for Laura to run in to grab something for everyone, we all ended up in Num Num Donuts so they could pick out their own, after deciding that one donut per person wasn’t going to be enough.  After finally making some decisions, we got back in the car, and made our way towards the park visitor center, where we planned to pop in for a few and then try Hurricane Ridge again.  While I don’t recall seeing it during our last trip, we found a room at the back of the building that had a huge amount of activities for kids.  While talking to a ranger while the kids were enjoying it, he handed me a key that would open up any of about two dozen drawers that contained even more activities, books, puzzle, stuffed animals, and the like.  We easily spent an hour and a half in the room, which included a very cute puppet show

presented by the girls.

 

After talking to the rangers a few minutes and getting passport stamps once again, we made the drive up Hurricane Ridge again.  This time, it was much more pleasant at the top, but still cold and somewhat windy.  Regardless, we walked around a bit and got the obligatory family pictures in front of the picturesque Olympic Range.  The girls were again not in the best moods, and were already hungry again, so we made our way back down to Port Angeles, and hit up a favorite joint that we’ve visited on each of our trips:  Next Door Gastropub.  While there were plenty of options on the menu I wanted to try, I have trouble passing up their burgers, especially when the Mrs. Newton has bacon, brie, fig jam, and stout mustard.  As expected, it was delicious, as was the Elysian pumpkin ale and Tricerahops double IPA that accompanied.  We loved that the restaurant stocks full coloring books and crayons for the girls to enjoy.  They split fish ‘n chips and a grilled cheese, and Laura went the healthy route with a salad.

While we’d visited many of the places we’d visited on previous trips, we had plenty of time in the afternoon to check out another new spot.  Dungeness County Park, which is the jumping off point for the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, was a quick 20 minute drive a bit east and north of Port Angeles.  After a quick pit stop, we found an empty parking lot at the trailhead for the one trail in the park, about a half mile walk through the forest, which takes you to a viewing point, and then down a steep hill to the Dungeness Spit.  A five mile walk on the spit takes you to a lighthouse on the very end.  While there’s a variety of wildlife that frequent the area, such as harbor seals orca whales, and a huge variety of birds, we didn’t see anything on our walk down to the spit.  We spent a few minutes at the bottom of the hill, but ultimately, everyone had had enough for the day, so we made our way back to the car.  Unfortunately they were so over it that we ended up having to do a lot of carrying.

On the way back, I ran into a small shop that sold Pacific Northwest related shirts and gear, and then into a small Chinese bakery that sold BBQ pork, curry beef, and other varieties of buns, where I got a few for my own dinner.  We were back at the hotel fairly early in the evening, so we hung out and watched TV, and I enjoyed my dinner, a beer, and booked our hotel for the next night in Seattle and double checked our flight home.