Eric and I spent almost a week in Washington visiting his sister, friends, and mainly exploring the Olympic Peninsula. It made such an incredible summertime escape from our home in extremely HOT Henderson, NV. The weather was perfectly cool without being cold and for the entire trip while you expect rain while in Washington, we never felt a single drop! Our trip was wonderful in every way but ONE. We lost our SLR Nikon digital camera! It was on day 4 of 6 that we discovered it was gone so it didn't ruin our whole trip but definitely added a very gray cloud to sunny Washington.We had fortunately taken a few (relatively speaking) photos with our phones.
Sunday morning we spent with Eric's sister Marcy and had the privelige of meeting her new husband Chris. They had just been married on July 4th! After spending some time in their home, we headed to Lake Quinalt.
We did not stay in this historic lodge but did enjoy breakfast in their dining room on our first morning out. We would also take in a short hike near the lodge before heading away from this beautiful lake.
We would then spend our morning exploring the beaches in Olympic National Park. The first one we stopped at called Beach 1 (creative--right?) was empty of other people. Eric had fun playing in the waves.
Ruby's beach was gorgeous and everyone else must have thought so as well as this beach had a ton more people.
Our one and only picture of our time in the Hoh Rain Forest where it wasn't raining.
We would drive through Forks, WA in the later afternoon. This was my second time through this little town and I was amazed by its change from 15 years ago because of the whole Twilight phenomenon. We would head towards La Push where we stayed at a campground on the property of a bed and breakfast. It was so fun to camp just Eric and I without having to worry about bringing all of our camping gear. The campground had a tent, air mattresses, bedding, table, and fire pit all set up for us. The hostess even left us a smores kit. Its been a long time since I've been able to enjoy a campfire next to my man without worry of small children.
The next day we drove up to Sol Duc Valley and hiked to the Sol Duc falls. Probably the best waterfall we saw on this trip so I'm glad we happened to get pictures with our phone.
Hiking to Marymere Falls near Lake Cresant
We checked out the Lodge at Lake Crescent and also hiked to Madison Falls which was the last place we took pictures with our nice camera.
That night we stayed the first of three nights at "The Loft". A heavenly place up and away from it all in Sequim, WA. I highly recommend this place. It was truly divine!
Wednesday we did a NW Adventure with a tour guide that included a kayak trip in the morning at Lake Crescent and a mountain biking trip in the afternoon.
Peering into an old railroad tunnel,
I discovered I am lacking in mountain biking skills. Many times there were drop-offs and I managed to escape going down one of those when I dove off my bike when it took a sudden turn towards the edge. The trail was difficult but the scenery was spectacular and I made it to the end and lived to tell the story.
We spent our day in Sequim looking for our camera and filing reports with various agencies, driving up to Hurrican Ridge and hiking and going out to the Dungeness Spit (no pics).
Eric drinking out of a mason jar at our lunchtime spot in Port Angeles. Many of you may not know, but Eric started this trend many years ago when he couldn't find a regular glass in my mom's glass cupboard. We used to give him a hard time about it ;-) Not anymore.
Had lunch with Wendy on our way back to Tacoma area. Yummy Thai Food and a great visit with her. That night we went with Marcy and Chris to the luxury theaters to see Superman. This is the way to see a movie!
The next day we would visit Darrin in Bellevue and drive through Seattle to see Kalyan and his little family. The area was so sunny and you could see far more than I had seen in previous visits. I could see Mount Rainer! Such a beautiful day driving around seeing friends before our flight back to Salt Lake and our kids. They had had their own vacation with Nana and Papa. The Pacific Northwest may end up being a summertime escape tradition as last year we were in Portland. I look forward to going back! There is still so much to see and do!
