Olympic Mountain view
The Olympic Mountain Range as viewed from The Juan de Fuca Cottages. This picture taken in mid February 2008 shows the peaks with a nice winter coat of snow. Driving time from the Cottages to the summit at Hurricane Ridge is about 50 minutes - and well worth the trip! Fantastic views of the entire range as well as the Elwha Valley. In winter there is skiing, snowshoeing and sledding. What a beautiful blue sky day!

Baby Llama on the Bay

Early January 2008 and a new baby is born next door to the Cottages. Both Momma and baby were out enjoying the sun’s warmth in the late morning. With views of the Olympic Mountains and Dungeness Bay, this little guy has a great place to call home.

Snow on Dungeness Bay Dec. 9, 2007

So rarely do we see snow here at the Cottages being so close to the water but Sunday morning found us with a beautiful snowfall for a few hours and then it melted all away!

Olympic Mountains - Fresh Snow
First big storm of the year came through the area dumping fresh snow in the mountains. Skiing at Hurricane Ridge opens soon with bus runs on the weekends. Beautiful to view the mountains from the Sequim-Dungeness Valley - especially out the doors of the Juan de Fuca Cottages! Come stay for a few days!

If you HAVE to work - take a trip to Sequim, bring your laptop, a good friend and Mom visiting from another state, head outside and view the birds on the Spit or flying over the Bay while you make those executive decisions! Life is good at the Cottages!
A -a-h-h working doesn’t get any better than this!

An incredible
late summer day up near Hurricane Ridge.
After a harrowing 8 mile drive
over a winding, narrow, extremely steep road
you arrive at Obstruction Point to take several options for trails.
We chose Lillian Ridge for 1.25 miles.
A sharp incline at beginning and then fairly flat through the
top of the ridge.
Breathtaking views down to lakes, valleys and more mountains ridges than you can count!

Only a couple patches of snow in shady areas but
winds were chilly.
Solitude and oh so very quiet.
Watching the cloud shadows move across the sides of the mountains made me think of the Bible verse that talks about God
allowing His glory to pass in front of Elijah.
God is so near and wants to talk with each of us!
What a unique place on earth!

Late August and the sunshine is so warm! A great day for barefeet, playing catch and “mowing the lawn”! Thanks guys! Later in the day these guests headed off to Tarcisio’s and some homemade pizza!

Dungeness crab - named after Dungeness Bay here in Sequim -
is a buttery tasting, firm crabmeat. Measuring at least 6-1/4 inches across the back, male and not soft shelled are the requirements to keep one of these to cook. When crabbing season is open, you can launch a crabpot in the morning here on the Bay and pull in a pot full at night. Limit is 5 per day.

Dungeness Crab (Cancer magister)

One of the most popular items on Washington seafood menus is the Dungeness crab. This hardshelled crustacean is fished from the Aleutian Islands to Mexico. The shell is purple-tinged, gray or brown on the back and the tips of the claws are typically white. The Dungeness crab can reach ten inches across the back though six to seven inches is more common. In Puget Sound this crab is most abundant north of Seattle, in Hood Canal, and near the Pacific coast. The Dungeness crab is frequently associated with eelgrass beds and prefers sandy or muddy substrates.

Looking like beached fish - these seals are actually sunbathing on an 80 degree day on the Bay! One decided to pose for my camera and wave it’s tail! You have to have a boat to view these babies!

Wow! After 1-1/2 hours of paddling from The Cottages, we arrived at the Dungeness Lighthouse! We passed dozens of seals and their pups on Massacre Spit and the little sandspit off of Cline Spit. They were very inquisitive - at least the ones who were awake! Saw eagles, a bull seal, seagulls, caspien terns and many more species of birds. We spent an hour or so touring the Lighthouse, eating lunch and just relaxing before heading back. Out with the tide, back in with the tide - worked great that way!