Cape Flattery At Last

Sunday June 8th    Neah Bay, WA

The idea for a camping trip to the Pacific Northwest was planted nearly four years ago when Jamie and I were hanging our with our besties, Alice & Debbie. We were talking about our bucket lists and Alice said,”I’ve always dreamed of going to Cape Flattery.” Now, I’ve been lucky to have traveled the world because of my career…but Cape Flattery? I’ve never heard of it. ”Where is Cape Flattery and why do you want to go there?” I asked. Alice explained that Cape Flattery was in Washington State and that it was the furthest northwest tip of the 48 contiguous states. “That sounds awesome, let’s do it,” I said. So the four us planned an epic road trip to Cape Flattery.  We left Evergreen in mid September of 2023 in high sprints ready for the adventure of a lifetime.

Things don’t always go as planned, especially with road trips. We had a great time traveling to Spokane when things came to a screeching halt. Huge wildfires were erupting all over Washington. The police stopped us and told us we could go no further. Most of the roads we were planning to travel were closed. The air was thick with smoke and breathing was difficult. We were disappointed about not making it to Cape Flattery but there was nothing we could do about it.  We headed to Montana and had a wonderful bonus week there.

We planned another trip to Cape Flattery for last September. Debbie and Alice weren’t able to come so Jamie and I struck out on our own. We got as far as Sacramento when my Mother developed complications from surgery. I immediately flew to NJ. to be with her. My wonderful sister in law rode with Jamie as he drove Rhoda back to Colorado. Mom died a few days later.

This past winter I asked Jamie if he wanted to try to get to the PNW and Cape Flattery again. Since the third time had to be the charm, we decided to give it a shot. This year, we figured that going in the spring just might change our luck. So for the third year in a row I booked a trip to Cape Flattery.  This trip has not been charmed but I’m thrilled to report that…WE MADE IT TO CAPE FLATTERY!

It was absolutely gorgeous but I felt no sense of triumph because Alice and Debbie were not with us. Debbie is in hospice care after battling ovarian cancer for the past 4 years. Alice, her loving wife is by her side. Instead of being together, we stood on the northwest tip of the 48 contiguous states thinking that it just wasn’t right to be there without them. When we got back to our campsite we saw four bald eagles soaring high in the sky above us. Debbie, the most patriotic person I’ve ever known, adores bald eagles. One perched in a tree directly above us and stayed for a very long time. We knew that Debbie and Alice were there with us; we had finally made it to Cape Flattery together.