Aberdeen Travel Guide

OLYMPIC PENINSULA / Hoh Rainforest
We made a walk through the rain forest. The trees were covered with Tillandsia moss, it's all over the place. This stuff is very expensive in Belgium, it's used for flower arranging, too bad I couldn't take a bag home with me. The humidity was bearable; I expected a tropical heat and constant fog or rain.

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This can be a very popular place, and with good reason. The food quality is very good, and it has proven to be popular with many of the locals. The restaurant can be quite crowded at times, and they do a brisk business in takeout as well.

One of the more interesting items is that there are a lot of photographs to describe the food. If you look at the outside of the restaurant, you will find photographs of the various dishes scattered about on the windows. When you sit at a table, you get menus for each diner but you also get a notebook filled with photos showing what each of those dishes look like.

Keep in mind that the restaurant closes at 8:30 at night, even on Fridays and Saturdays.

Certain alcoholic drinks are served, but the restaurant does not have a full bar - nor does it need one as it has done just fine doing what it has always done.

NOTE About Location: This place is best approached from the south (west) on highway 501 as turning left into it is not easy sometimes. However, it is almost invisible from the west due to a huge pile of brush obscuring the entire restaurant. Be looking for the sign above a large clump of abandoned bushes. See the main photo - the sign is on the right side, and because of the bushes you see behind the sign it makes the restaurant invisible from the other direction. The only clue to the restaurant's existence is the sign above the brush.

Favorite Dish: Pad Se Ew (stir-fried noodles): very wide rice noodles with tofu, eggs, broccoli, carrots, and a sauce supposedly unique to this restaurant for $9.95.

However, I highly suggest trying some of the sea food dishes as well, after all the sea food is right outside the door. These are more expensive ($11.50 to $13,50 range). Pad Se Ew with the mixed seafood is $13,50 but very worth it.

The Thai Ice Tea will keep you awake for a while, and has a free refill.

Taking 26 west, from I-5, look out for cops. There are lots of speed traps, and vacationing people are a prime target for the local peace officers. The towns that you will pass through will have very dramatic drops in speed limits. Also, be on the lookout for crossing animals. Deer frequently cross these windy roads.

While just about everyone going to Aberdeen is stopping on the way to the coast, there are great hiking and backpacing options in the area. The Olympic Mtns. are some of the best places for hiking in the Northwest.