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Location Port Angeles is located on the north
coast of the Olympic Peninsula in Western Washington State. A
small city of about 15,000, its climate is relatively dry, sunny,
and mild in the summer months compared to much of the rest of Western
Washington because it is near a climate anomaly known as
the “blue hole”, the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains. It is
within a few miles of both magnificent mountains and scenic
seashore, yet only 70 miles from the world’s northernmost rain
forest. Wildlife is still present in abundance outside city
limits. For example, nearby Sequim has a resident elk herd. And
it is just 22 miles across the Straits of Juan de Fuca (100
minutes by ferry)
to the beautiful city of Victoria, Canada with its famous
gardens and historic Victorian architecture. We
anticipate that all participants will be accommodated in the Red
Lion Hotel, where the conference will be held. Several nice
restaurants are within walking distance. We have arranged a
special hotel accommodation rate for conference participants at a substantial
discount: Water-view rooms are $119 per night for double
occupancy plus $10 per additional person. Regular rooms are
$109 plus $10 per additional person. We recommend arrival on
Saturday 2008 September 6 and departure on Friday September 12
to minimize travel stress and get the most out of your time at
the conference. Side trips to scenic locations will be planned
for the morning and afternoon of Sunday, September 7.
Travelers from most locations
will opt to fly initially into Seattle-Tacoma ("Sea-Tac") International
Airport (SEA). At Sea-Tac, you will still be about 90 miles from your
destination, with several options for getting there. One of the
easiest is to take a free ground Shuttle to nearby Boeing Air Field,
then a Kenmore Express commuter flight to Port Angeles, which
has a small airport for flights to and from Boeing Field. It is
best to allow at least two hours between scheduled arrival at
Sea-Tac airport and departure on Kenmore Express because of
baggage collection, shuttle time, and the possibility of
late-arriving flights. The commuter flight to Port Angeles takes
about 30 minutes and is quite scenic on a clear day, with
marvelous views of the Puget Sound, Hood Canal, and Olympic
Mountain Ranges. Costs range from about $40 (internet fare) up to
about $90 per flight. Our travel agent (see below) can find the
best match between these flights and your Sea-Tac flights.
We will help arrange ground transportation via limo and ferry as
an alternative. One alternative
option to the commuter flight is to travel by automobile. Cars
can be rented at the Sea-Tac airport. It takes about three hours
to reach Port Angeles by auto, but one hour of that is waiting
for and transiting on the automobile ferry across Puget Sound.
So the actual driving time is about two hours (if Seattle rush
hour is avoided) and is scenic.
Social Program (Side Trips)
In
addition to the banquet, we will organize side trips for
our guests on Sunday, 2008 September 7 to view some of the
uniquely beautiful areas on the Olympic Peninsula while
you are perhaps recovering from travel and jet-lag. This is also a chance to
meet your colleagues, or perhaps to share quality time with
spouses. Among the numerous possibilities are
Hurricane Ridge and its Nature Center, the
Hoh Rain Forest via
beautiful
Lake Crescent, or
the
Olympic Game Farm
(wildlife) near Sequim. Your choice of one of these is included
in a full-conference registration fee.
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