It's that time again...the Western Washington Shop Hop! This year celebrated the 24th year of this event. I've gone a few years with Mom or Grandma or Mom and Grandma. This year Mom and Grandma did a couple days here and there with their quilt guild. Mom talked me into going with them (Mom, Grandma and Janice) to Kitsap County and the Olympic Peninsula. We were going to take the Escape. I made sure it had a full tank of gas the night before.
I got up at 8:15 and got ready. I packed some snacks and drinks in my orange backpack just in case. Mom, Grandma and Janice rumbled into the driveway around 9. Everyone used the restroom one more time and then hopped into the Escape. Most of the shops opened around 10 a.m. and closed around 5 p.m. We had a lot of ground to cover,
Our first shop was Shabori Dragon, up in University Place. We literally drove into the parking lot at 10 a.m. sharp. Mom bought Grandma some fabric, they got their passports stamped and their free pattern. I went to go use the restroom and saw they took advantage of the space inside the bathroom. All of their stencils were in there. I thought that was hilarious. Mom paid for her fabric, and we hopped back into the Escape.
We drove over the Narrows Bridge and into Gig Harbor. Mom said this quilt store had moved and used to be further down the road away from Hwy 16 near the Cougar store. I followed Nuvi to Sew Hip, found a parking spot and we all went inside. Their store was decorated in a cute beach theme. We got our passports stamped and everyone got the free pattern. We thanked them as we walked out the door.
Next, we drove up to Manchester, which is east of Port Orchard. We got back onto Hwy 16 and followed Nuvi to A+. I dropped them off and I went further into town to grab the virtual cache, Manchester Veteran's Memorial (GC9P5HA). I had to answer questions from the plaque down below the sign. I got a picture of the plaque, me at the sign and walked back to the Escape. I drove the short distance back to the quilt store. I parked and went inside. Mom was in line to purchase some fabric she liked. We got back into the Escape, I put the next address into the Nuvi and off we went.
Our next shop was Sherry's Cozy in Poulsbo. It was about a 40-minute drive through Bremerton and Silverdale. We hit a couple patches of traffic but nothing too horrible. Poulsbo was pretty busy, but the quilt store was really easy to get in and out of. We went inside and they got their passport stamped and their free block. We kept seeing this certain type of fabric at every single quilt store we've been to. It was a paper bag colored fabric with various designs of neon colors all over it. It literally looked like a paper bag with highlighters all over it. For those of you who are old enough, we used to use old paper bags to wrap our school text books up in and used Sharpies and highlighters to decorate them. This fabric looked exactly like that but without the Sharpies. We got back into the Escape and drove down to Bainbridge Island.
Mom and I have only been here once back in May 2016. We took a day trip and drove up there to do some of the state parks and to go see Frog Rock. I have never been to the actual town center and wow; we picked the wrong day to come down there. There were tons of people walking around. The farmer's market was going, and it made it really hard to find a parking spot. We did eventually find a spot and we walked down into town. They went to the quilt store while I wandered around for a few minutes. There was an Adventure Lab in town, but I was only able to do two of the waypoints before meeting back up with them in Ester's Fabrics.
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We had to wait for our group to use the restroom, so I sat down and colored a fox picture with some crayons. When I was done, the shop lady told me I could put it on the wall. They liked that I put my name and the date on it and gave me a high five. We left and walked back up the short hill to the Escape. We drove back up through Poulsbo which was pretty much the only back tracking we had to do.
A little further up the peninsula, was a quaint town called Port Gamble. Just before town, there was a recreational area off to the left and I wanted to stop to get at least one of the WSGA 20th Anniversary GeoTour. We stopped at Heritage Park in the parking lot, and I got out to look for WSGA20-OP-5 Port Gamble Heritage Park (GC9YJGD). It was near the parking lot but because the tree cover and it kind of led me astray. I did eventually figure it out and it was easier than I was making it. I got our names on it, got a picture and put it back. I walked back to the Escape and got back on the highway towards town. Port Gamble was adorable, and I can't believe I haven't been there before.
I wasn't sure where we were supposed to go so, I parked over by the general store. They walked to the quilt store, the Quilted Strait, while I went inside the store to browse. Mom had given me a dollar so I could get her an Almond Joy while I found a postcard and a sticker to bring home with me. I used the bathroom before I left.
I went outside and opened up the Adventure Lab and had enough time for 8 of the 10 waypoints while I waited for them at the quilt store.
I ended up making the circle and went inside the quilt store to see if they were still in there. The lady asked if I could be helped, and I told her I was looking for my people. She said she had a group of three ladies that came in and just left. I told her they were probably my people, and I was their driver, lol. I thanked her and walked back to the general store. I saw them ahead of me and saw Mom trying to call me. I answered the phone and told her I was right behind them. I met up with them and got back in the Escape to head to our next location.
We headed up Hwy 104 and had to cross the Hood Canal Floating Bridge to get to the Creative Union Fabrics quilt store just south of Port Townsend in Port Hadlock. We came to a complete stop just before we got to the bridge. I looked up why we were stopped. The WSDOT app said that it would be closed for about an hour to let a ship pass through. What? Were we going to have to wait here for an hour? Noooo! As luck would have it, we only had to sit there for about 15 minutes before traffic started moving again. So lucky! We crossed the bridge and followed the GPS to the quilt store. We had to wear masks inside because the owner is immune compromised. We got our passport stamped and the free pattern. I bought some fabric for a possible table runner for our wedding.
I plugged in our last address into Nuvi, A Stitch in Time in Sequim. It was about a half hour drive from Port Townsend. Along the way, we listened to Janice tell us stories about her family.
We arrived in town, and I was trying to remember the last time I was in Sequim, it had to have been during the tail end of Covid, when Mom and I drove up to do some water fall hikes, in August 2021. We made our way down to the main road through Sequim, found the shop and parked in the large lot just outside the entrance. We admired the large mural on the outside of the building. I saw it was part of a multicache, but I didn't have time to do it unfortunately, maybe the next time I was here.
We went inside, browsed a little bit, got our passports stamped and our free pattern. I took a bunch of goofy pictures.
I knew we were going to have to find some food before we left town, so I asked Mom what kind of food she was interested in having and of course she said fish and chips. I found a fish and chips place a few blocks away called FnChips. I loved the name so much that's where we were going to go. We drove a few blocks, found a place along the street to park and went inside. Mom, Grandma and I ordered fish and chips, I paid for Grandma's food and drink and Janice got a chowder bread bowl and had to send it back because the bread was cooked a little bit too long. She got a brand new one no questions asked. Overall, the food was pretty good, but they gave us too many French fries. We ate and headed back out to the Escape to head home.
But before we did, I grabbed The Great Sequim Bike Rice - Stage 3 (GC57G2N) just down the street from where we parked, before heading out of town. It didn't take me long to find it, I got our names on it, a quick picture and walked back to the Escape. We got back onto Hwy 101 and drove south towards Olympia.
We stopped at Triton Cove State Park so Grandma could use the restroom. I'm glad that I remembered there were places to stop along the way. We got to my house around 7:30 and everyone went home. Ben was on shift and didn't get home until 10:30. I logged caches, took a shower, talked to Trish for a bit, ate some popcorn, watched some TV and did a load of laundry. I did get some of our beach stuff ready to go for the next day.
Next Adventure: Father's Day Trip to Ocean Shores
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