Port Angeles Washington - The Center Of It All

Salt Creek Recreation Area is located on the wild, Northern shore of the Olympic Peninsula. I went for the first time about a week ago and had such a great time I went back on Sat. You can explore rocky bluffs, tide pools, upland forests, or comb the sandy beaches. There are panoramic views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Crescent Bay, and Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The park also has the remnants of World War II concrete bunkers. All of these features are found in a 196-acre full service camping facility with 90 campsites. My favorite thing was walking around the tide pools looking at all the different see creatures and watching the wave’s crash against the rocks as the tide started to come in. It is such an amazing place I can’t wait to go again.  

The City of Port Angeles Recreation Division is hosting the Captain T's Spring Hoopfest Tournament this weekend, with 23 youth basketball teams participating in the event.There are divisions for 7th, 8th, and 10th grade boys, and 6th and 8th grade girls teams. Port Angeles has an entry in each division and will face competition from teams from Bellingham, Bremerton, Chico, Coupeville, Eatonville, Lake Stevens, Nooksack, Poulsbo,  Port Orchard, Sedro Woolley, Shelton,  Sequim, Port Townsend and Forks.Tournament play begins on Saturday at 11:00 AM at Roosevelt Elementary School, Stevens Middle School, Port Angeles High School, and Peninsula College courts. Sunday's play starts at 9:00 AM with the championship games scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m.  For more information contact Dan Estes, Special Events Coordinator at either 360-417-4557 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Hurricane Ridge road has been closed since January 18th when a slope below the roadway slid downhill, taking with it most of both travel lanes along a 100- foot long section of road. The road closure was just below Heart O’the Hills entrance station, about five miles south of Port Angeles. As long as weather allows, the Hurricane Ridge Road will reopen this Saturday, February 27 at 9:00 a.m.  Entrance fees will be waived for all visitors traveling to the Ridge this Saturday and Sunday.   The Hurricane Ridge Ski Area will be open this weekend, weather permitting, with both the beginner and intermediate rope tows in operation. The Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center information desk will be staffed and a guided snowshoe walk will be offered at 2:00 p.m.; anyone interested in participating in the snowshoe walk should sign up in advance at the information desk.   For information about…

Congratulation goes out to Dan Wilder of Wilder Auto Center and Wilder Toyota-Scion for receiving “The Dealer of the Year Award” for two consecutive years. This award is presented by Time magazine in partnership with The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and the National Automobile Dealers Association. Forty-five auto dealers from around the country were nominated for the 41st annual award, which recognizes new car and truck dealers for exceptional performance in their dealerships and distinguished community service. Congratulations Dan keep up the good work!  

Last weekend I had such a great time with the Red Wine and Chocolate tour. Going to six different wineries on the Olympic Peninsula two being in Port Townsend (Sorensen Cellars, Fair Winds Winery) and four in Port Angeles (Harbinger Winery, Camaraderie Cellars, Black Diamond Winery, Olympic Cellars). Each of the wineries had a tasting of their wines and parried them with different chocolates, some from local chocolatier's (Taza Chocolate, Yvonne’s Chocolates, An Elegant Touch Chocolate Fountains). I would like to say thank you to all the wineries for all of the amazing wines and the chocolatier's for all the fibulas chocolates, it was a blast and everyone I talk to said the same thing!

Are you an art lover and looking for something to do this weekend? Well your in luck tonight is the second weekend Art Event! Taking a walk around town going to the Gallery Openings and Receptions is a fun way to experience Art. Saturday 13th the Art Weekend continues with the art walk this is a guided walking tour with artists of Art on the Town sculptures. Meet at the Landing Mall at 11:00am.  

I would like to congratulate Colette’s Bed and Breakfast for being selected as one of the Top 10 Romantic Inns for 2010 by I Love Inns, Colette’s was chosen out of thousands of inns for its overall romantic attributes-scenery, location, amenities and personalized service. Click here for more information.

A great new opportunity for 2010, The Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce is proud to present you with “Make the Most of Your Membership” learn more bout the Chamber: how to be involved and make your membership valuable to you business and in turn support our business community in general. It will be the first Wednesday of every month and is Open to new and current members!   This month guest speaker will be Kathy Charlton, Olympic Cellars, 2010 Chamber President’s Award Recipient. The first meeting will be held at the Port Angeles Visitor’s Center (121 E. Railroad Ave.) February 3rd, 7:00-8:30 p.m. For more information please contact Betsy Reed Schultz 360-460-7848 / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it    

Sadly it looks like Hurricane Ridge Road is expected to be closed for an estimated six weeks.  Access is cut off to the Heart O’ the Hills campground as well as to Hurricane Ridge. The roadway is blocked to all traffic, including pedestrians, and bicycles. Heavy rains triggered the slid on Monday the 18th and destroyed both travel lanes along a 100-foot long section of road.

I have yet to see all of the Olympic Peninsula since moving here in Aug. but one of my favorite places I have been is Cape Flattery. It is the most northwest point of the contiguous United States and WOW what a view! The cape is just a 2 hour drive from Port Angeles WA. And well worth it. There are plenty of places along the way that you can pull over to enjoy the amazing views of the sea stacks and take a nice walk along the beaches. Once you get to the trail head for Cape Flattery it is a nice 20-30 min hike most of witch is gravel and boardwalk. It make’s for a great day. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. If you have been what did you think? DIRECTIONS: If you take Highway 101 west to Highway 12, follow 112 for…

At the Chamber Lunch meeting on Monday the chamber was happy to announce the selection for the President’s Award and The Member Extraordinaire. The results are kept a secret from the membership and of course the individuals receiving the awards so it was a great surprise for Kathy Charlton who received the presidential award and also Leslie and Howard Fisher the member extraordinaire. Thank you Kathy, Leslie and Howard for getting involved and being a great part of this community.

It is time once again to ring in a New Year! If you have not yet made plans for tonight here are a few Ideas. Port Townsend is having First Night a fun filled night for the family. They will have games, songs and storytelling 6pm-9pm. At 9 p.m., which is midnight in New York City, Port Townsend will usher in 2010 with the raising of the illuminated anchor created by sculptor Thaddeus Jurczynski, followed by fireworks launched from Memorial Field. Admission is by donation. A $5 donation is suggested. Proceeds will benefit the Jefferson County Historical Society, which organized the event sponsored by First Federal. SEQUIM — The third annual New Year’s Eve Bash will be held at the Sequim Boys & Girls Club, 400 W. Fir St., at 8 p.m. tonight. PORT ANGELES — The Elks Naval Lodge is hosting a public party that is a fundraiser for…

I just heard about the Peninsula Home Fund, What a great organization! If you are like me and had not heard of this it’s an organization that helps to provide hot meals for seniors, warm winter coats for kids, home repairs for the low income, needed prescription drugs, dental work, safe drug-free temporary housing and the list goes on and on. From Jan. 1 through Dec. 18, the Peninsula Home Fund has served 1,921 families, comprising about 3,643 individuals. And all of this is through Fundraising; I just wanted to tell every one involved to keep up the great work! If you would like to help out or have any questions about the fund, contact John Brewer, Peninsula Daily News editor and publisher, at 360-417-3500.

All you shopping deal-seekers know that the truly huge discounts come just after Christmas. But this year it may pay to wait a few extra days. I just read about how many stores have gotten wise to the fact that consumers like to redeem gift cards a day or two directly after the holidays, so many stores have pushed off steeper discounts until later this week to maximize their profits. So I would wait for the real deals at the tail-end of the week when the stores want to rid their shelves of unsold holiday merchandise and make way for the New Year’s replacements. Remember we have some great local store that also have good discounts after the holidays so don’t get stuck in just the big stores. Good luck and happy shopping!

We are all looking forward to sitting a round the table with our family and friends to enjoy a nice holiday meal. Unfortunately there will be many families that can’t afford that meal. So when you are out shopping for your big dinner pick up a few extra cans of food to donate to the food bank your area. Locally In one month the Port Angeles Food Bank served over 13,093 and this number continues to rise, so they really appreciate the help. Don’t forget pets are family too, so go out and make a donation to your local Humane Society. Thank you for your help and Happy Holidays!

It was so nice to go downtown on Monday night to do some last minute shopping and see the twinkling lights that line the streets, the huge tree in the fountain plaza covered with hundreds of lights and all the store fronts decorated. It really got me in the Christmas spirit. I wanted to say thank you to the downtown association and all the shop owners for making the downtown so beautiful for the holiday season.

OK all you Twilight fan if you live in Forks, Port Angeles, or La Push and want to be on a reality TV show this is your chance!  A Los Angeles-bases production company is going to be in Forks today (Dec.22) and tomorrow (Dec.23) to cast for a reality series set in forks. They are looking for someone that has an outgoing personality is TV friendly and lives in or works in Forks, Port Angeles or La Push. The casting sessions are today from 12:00pm-4:00pm and tomorrow from 11:00am-1:00pm @ “The Twilight Lounge” at Dazzled by Twilight 81 N. Forks Avenue, Forks, WA For more information, call 310-450-5860 or go to www.redvarden.com. Good luck!  If you try out I would love to here how it went!

With the weather being so nice it is a perfect time to take a trip up to Hurricane Ridge for some fun winter activities like snowshoeing, cross country skiing, down hill skiing, and tubing for the kids eight years and younger. Being my first winter on the Olympic Peninsula I’m really excited to get up there and have some fun. I have been snowshoeing on the ridge before and had a blast it was my first time ever and what an amazing place to go for your first time. The views are absolutely breath taking; it was a clear day when I went so you could look out and see all the way to Victoria. I haven’t been cross country skiing before so I would like to try that this year. WHERE DO YOU LIKE TO GO FOR WINTER ACTIVITIES IN WASHINGTON?

Yes the time has come once again for a fun filled night of shopping. Tonight downtown shops and restaurants will be open late for the sixth annual “Shop ‘Til You Drop”. There will be sales, special discounts, drawings for door prizes and holiday candy at many of the stores for people who come in between 5pm and 8pm. Santa will be there too! He will be seated with one of his elves at The Toggery, 105 E. First St. so parents bring your cameras. Hot cider will be served from First Street Haven’s Christmas Room, which is next to The Toggery. It’s going to be a lot of fun so I hope to see you around town! HAPPY HOLIDAY’S!

I have driven by Lake Crescent a few times and have thought it was absolutely gorgeous but have not had the chance to walk around the lake till just the other day. I made a stop by Lake Crescent Lodge and walked along the shore line and through some of the forest area. It was such a nice place, I found out how much there is to do around this area whether it be kayaking/canoeing, or hiking/ biking. Needless to say I can’t wait to go back and next time I would like to hike to Marymere Falls I hear it’s beautiful. DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE MEMORIES ABOUT LAKE CRESCENT?