Nostalgia in Gig Harbor and Bremerton (203-204)

We left Seattle and drove towards Tacoma. Traffic was a nightmare, of course, and it took 2 1/2 hours to drive 60ish miles.

The closer we got to the Tacoma Narrows, the more nostalgic I became. I remember growing up in Navy housing in Bremerton.

My dad was stationed aboard the USS Seattle, a fast combat support ship, able to refuel and supply goods and munitions to combat ships at sea.

The USS Seattle was just completing construction in Bremerton and my dad and the rest of the crew were getting it sea worthy.

Here’s the coolest picture I could find, taken in 2004 before it was decommissioned.

Several years ago, my dad wrote a short biography of his Navy career. Here’s what he wrote about our time in Bremerton. I remember it was a good time for us and I was really proud of my dad. I know he did a lot of important work on the ship, but as a 7 year old, I had a different perspective.

We lived just across the Port Washington Narrows in Navy housing.

As a kid, it was great to be in navy housing, with open space and all kinds of friends to play with and plenty of activities. It was a lot of fun. Here’s a couple photos from back then. That’s me in the red shirt with a big hole! 🙂

Alas, all of that is history now. We drove around the same streets, but they were filled with all new, and much better quality, Navy housing. I’m sure it’s for the best, but now it looks like any ordinary street of homes.

We went to a nearby museum dedicated to the history of the Navy in the Puget Sound, but mainly Bremerton.

It was well done, but I especially appreciated the exhibit on the USS Seattle.

They had a lot of memorabilia from the ship, including this article on the commissioning ceremony.

We also went to the United States Navy Undersea Museum, located about 30 minutes north. Also a well done museum, with lots of exhibits to help you understand life aboard a submarine.

They had a great exhibit explaining the missiles, including nuclear missiles, that some of the subs carry.

Not too far away from the sub museum is the little harbor town of Paulsbo.

I think it’s mainly famous for the Sluys’ Paulsbo Bakery! There was a long line going outside the building the length of the bakery. It was all delicious, and just as good as I remember from several years ago.

The next day we enjoyed Gig Harbor. It’s also a beautiful harbor town with clear blue water and Mount Rainier rising in the background.

We enjoyed perfectly cooked fish filets at Anthony’s on the outside patio overlooking the harbor.

Just a short walk from there is yet another museum, the Harbor History Museum.

The centerpiece for the museum is the Shenandoah, a 65ft seiner. A seiner gets it name from the purse seine net it uses to encircle the fish and then cinch it closed like a purse.

I loved how they completely restored the starboard side, but left the port side unpainted so you could see the work involved in the restoration.

As a huge fan of another wooden boat, the Tally Ho, that was recently rebuilt in Port Townsend by the Sampson Boat Co., it was great to see this up close and personal. If you have yet to see the Tally Ho rebuild, it’s really worth watching the YouTube videos.

You can also go inside the Shenandoah and see where the crew slept and where the salmon were stored. Everything must have reeked of salmon!

We really enjoyed our stay at the Sun Outdoors Gig Harbor RV Resort. It is a relatively small park for Sun Outdoors, but it is located close to the harbor and served us well. There is a bike trail that leads to the harbor, but it’s a pretty steep grade and difficult for non-electric bikes (like ours).

On our way home, we made a stop at Grants Pass OR for a couple days.

We reserved an amazing site right on the Rogue River at the Riverpark RV Resort. It’s a beautifully landscaped park, but most of the time we just relaxed by the river in the shade of huge cottonwood trees.

Before we left, we stopped by Henderson’s Line-Up. They inspected the suspension for free, and the owner happened to stop by and we chatted awhile. This is a great, family run business.

As we left and went up the steep grade toward the border, there was a fire in the hills on the west side of the freeway.

Helicopters were dropping water on it and we saw several trucks and firemen actively working to stop its spread. I’m really thankful they were there!

In a few hours we spotted Mount Shasta! It always feels like we are almost home when we see it, though we still have about 4 hours to go!

What a great adventure we had this trip. It began in Lassen Volcanic National Park, and continued in Bend OR, Seattle WA, the Olympic National Park, and finally Grants Pass OR.

We had been away for over a month, though, and were happy to get back home and out of 300sf Big Blue Box (BBB) for awhile.

So we got back home, and I washed and cleaned the BBB. But it wasn’t long before we were anticipating our next RV trip with our good friends, the Stivers, in Avila Beach CA!!

Al & Deb