Day 3

On day 3 we decided to drive highway 112, a seriously scenic stretch of road along the NW coast. We all piled in the car and decided to put A in the middle of the back seat because we knew the drive would be twisty and she is the most susceptible to motion sickness. The drive was absolutely beautiful but increasingly "turny" to the point that no vehicle was doing more than 20 mph. Seriously. It was sometime around that point that R demanded a breather to avoid a big ol' Nutella waffle barfing incident. So, we discovered this nice little cove (and didn't barf).

Several stops later, we arrived at Makah Nation, and enjoyed a visit to the Makah Cultural and Research Center. It houses a great collection of Makah items and a full-size house. Here is a description of the site from the Museum's homepage:

The Makah people have inhabited Neah Bay for more than 3,810 years, according to archaeological research. While Neah Bay is the only centralized village on the contemporary reservation, there were five Makah villages prior to contact with non-Indians in 1790. One of these other villages was Ozette, the southernmost Makah village. Makahs abandoned Ozette in 1917 to send their children to school as ordered by the government. Many contemporary Makahs trace their ancestry to the Ozette village.

In the winter of 1969-1970 a storm caused the bank at the Ozette village location to slump, exposing hundreds of perfectly preserved wooden artifacts. A hiker contacted the Makah Tribe, then the Tribe phoned Washington State University, and in April 1970, some two months after the storm, excavation of the Ozette Site began. Makah oral history told of a "great slide" which buried a portion of Ozette long ago; archaeologists collaborating with the Tribe proved this oral history correct. Radiocarbon dates demonstrated that a slide some 500 + 50 years BP (before present) buried six longhouses and their respective contents, locking the pre-contact wooden and wood-based artifacts in a shroud of mud. The 11-year excavation produced over 55,000 artifacts, which the Tribe kept on the reservation. Consequently, the MCRC came about from the Tribe's desire to curate and interpret this unique collection.

It is an extraordinarily well-done museum in a nice facility. Sadly, the museum is nothing like the rest of the town of Neah Bay. Driving through town on our way to the Cape Flattery trailhead, we saw the results of years without a truly viable economy, alcohol, that scourge of small towns everywhere, Crystal Meth, and a general sense of hopelessness. I'm sure we missed a great deal of the good that was just under the surface and that's unfortunate because the museum left me with a great admiration for the Makah people and their rich history.

The trail to Cape Flattery was spectacular and particularly enjoyable after a long day of driving and measured breathing to avoid upchucking. I was on the fence about whether it was worth the drive but as soon as we rounded the first corner, I was smitten.

And then we reached the Cape. It was too overcast to see the lighthouse but the views were stunning anyway. There's something pretty special about that place -- I hope to explore the area more someday (including hiking in to camp at Shi Shi Beach).

and, if I could manage to suppress my inner (outer?) ninny just long enough to kayak into one of the caves, that would be awesome. Unlikely, but awesome!

By the time we hiked back to the car and stopped at the convenience store in town for some nice salty crunchy foodlike goodies, we all agreed that it was absolutely worth every moment of nausea and we all look forward to doing it again someday. A gave the day her greatest compliment - "I can't wait to bring my own kids here someday."

Despite our love for the destination, we decided to take the more direct (less twisty) route back to our cabin in Sequim, discovered that our rental car had satellite radio (and an ever-so-soothing classical station) and about 10 minutes into the drive, we experienced something we haven't enjoyed for many, many years...

...complete silence in the back seat. Priceless.