Day 9 & 10- Tacoma, WA

                                                Friday 6/29/12 & Saturday 6/30/12
Waking up at the Poulsbo Walmart Friday morning we got right on the road to Tacoma. We just missed the more expensive toll cost of $5 which starts 7/1. We had what was supposed to be a free birthday burger for Isaiah at Red Robin but since we didn't register the birthday gift card until that day we couldn't use it at all. After waiting an hour for food at the Albany "Dirty Bird" (as Joel calls them) while celebrating my last day of work and Annie's Birthday with co-workers and this awfully frustrating experience they are defintely on the ban list. Sorry Dirty bird but you had it coming. Isaiah has done his homework and this weekend in Tacoma is the "Taste of Tacoma" free event. Yep that's right, free! Our kind of place. We took the event shuttle to Point Defiance park which is one of the nation's 10 largest urban parks. The event was huge and yet we only saw a small fraction of the park which also boasts a zoo and an aquarium. Several booths had free samples so we filled up on tiny Morningstar garden burgers, fudge and pickles to name a few. A local casino puts on the event for the community and unbelievably pays for five different stage acts...at a time! A very impressive display but for all practical purposes fairly obnoxious if you liked more than one band who played simultaneously. We watched a couple good local bands and a couple not so good. There was also 5 comedians who performed and we saw them all. Each comedian brought a completely different perspective but couldn't resist the temptation of talking about how their career has clearly "peaked" as they performed within a beer garden tent to Isaiah and I and a handful of drunk people.

Our unanimously agreed favorite was the last comedian Gabriel Rutledge. I laughed until I cried. Very funny. Isaiah managed to not get picked on but I did get called "Nicole Kidman" and teased for my "tramp stamp." I swear I didn't know they were called that when I got it. For dinner I had a Gyro that wasn't even close to the Gyro's I grew addicted to in Germany but fairly good anyway. We toured the beautiful rose garden and then took the event shuttle back. As we "turned off the lights" and got ready to drift asleep we saw fireworks going off. It must have been from closing out the festival but we were in a perfect viewing point to see them erupt over the sky. On Saturday we went back to the festivies and saw another 3 hilrious comedians. Our favorite for the day and mayve overall was Brad Upton. He mostly talked about how stupid "20 somethings are" and Isaiah now being 30 just laughed and laughed. We also unfortantely were witness to a wannabe 80's hair band. It was bad...real bad.      -A

                                                     Rose gardens at Point Defiance Park

                                                    Rose gardens at Point Defiance Park

Day 8- Port Angeles and Poulsbo, WA

                                                             Thursday 6/28/12
We started off the day exploring downtown Port Angeles. It really is a nice little town with lots of funky shops. One of our favorites was the Fiber Crafts studio. The owner clearly has some imagination and some pull with the city as she has decorated many of the statues that surround her shop in various outfits. In the heart of downtown there is a flight of stairs stretching three flights high. At it's base is a beautiful wrap around mural of the area's forest and ocean views with a fountain at it's center. Literally just a few miles outside of town is a view of at least six different mountains making up this exquisite Olympic mountain range. The view was so beautiful that it was hard to understand why it was named Hurricane Ridge. Then the wind started up.

Inside the safety of Vandrea we heard the winds whip and lap at the van's exterior and the hands and faces of fellow tourists heading for the visitor's center. We eventually found the will (when the wind slowed slightly) so we stopped in the visitor's center and learned that there are several different species of animals (like the Olympic Marmot) and wildflowers that occur only in this area. Since it is almost July we had expected better weather but like Mt. Saint Helens, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Elinor, the mountain dictates the weather not the season. We ended the day is the quaint town of Poulsbo. This little Scandinavian town even has an adorably decorated Senior Center or Senior Citizen Lounge as they call it. For the night we stayed at the local Walmart and greatly enjoyed the movie "Jeff who lives at home." If you haven't seen it, do. It's fantastic.   -A

                          Fiber shop owner's unique fashions in downtown Port Angeles

                                               Hurricane Ridge outside Port Angeles

                                               Hurricane Ridge outside Port Angeles

                                               Hurricane Ridge outside Port Angeles

                                                                Senior Center in Poulsbo

Day 7- La Push, Mora, Lake Ozette, Port Angeles, WA

                                                           Wednesday 6/27/12
As you can see from the places above today was busy. We quickly left Forks in the morning and headed to Rialto Beach in Mora which is right outside of La Push. This beach was breathtakingly beautiful and we walked along it's length. At one point we had to pass over a mini creek made in the sand. Isaiah hopped over it with no problem and like the gentleman he fashioned me a log bridge to cross over. Instead of the normal make up of OR beaches this beach was full of rocks in all different shapes, sizes and colors with one thing in common; they were all incredibly smooth. Not a jagged rock on the beach, it was really cool to see. Lots of rockhounds scouring through the gems on the beach as well. One of my favorite beaches yet. We then headed to First Beach in La Push which is really similar to Rialto beach, we even saw bald eagles resting on the small island like rocks sprinkled in the water like we had at Rialto.

Then it was time for a long drive. Driving miles and miles out in the country has so far proven to be worth it and this wasn't an exception but not for the reasons you would think. We ended up hiking over 6 miles to see Cape Alava which was disappointing but thankfully the hike was lovely. The vegetation in this forest was much different than the others with large leaved flowers springing up along the ranger made wooden trail and lots of moss carpeting the forest floor. Some of the very cool things we saw and heard that made it worth the drive were: A very loud and guttral growl echoing through the forest (we can't be sure but think it was a cougar), creeks with a red tinge to their water and right before we left three playful river otters putting on a show. We tried to get pictures of the otters but they are quick little things! The day came to a close with a stop at the Port Angeles library and then a walk along it's waterfront. We had just missed the Dixieland concert on the pier but unfortantely didn't miss the teenage boy trying to make seagull sounds but actually sounding more like a dying cat. We then called it a night at the Walmart.  -A

Rialto Beach in Mora

Rialto Beach in Mora

                           

                                                           Rialto Beach in Mora

Rialto Beach in Mora

                               The red creek along the Cape Alava trail at Lake Ozette










                              

Day 6- Sol Duc Hot Springs, WA

                                                       Tuesday 6/26/12
Today was especially hard. We spent the day at the Sol Duc resort hot spring pools soaking up the warm almost hot tub tempartures of the three different pools (the fourth felt freezing at 75 degrees!). We lounged by the pools, read and relaxed the entire day. We were so relaxed in fact that we forgot to take any pictures, sorry. Since we both had never been to a hot spring before we weren't sure what to expect.  We found it is much different than a hot tub. The water is filled with sulfur which puts out a distinctive and at first unpleasant odor. It also has white colored floating flecks in the water which almost look like pieces of skin. Here at the resort we got a much different type of hot spring then we would have gotten in the wilderness as the lifeguards were constantly maintaing the temperature levels all day. Another suprise to the resort experience, the majority of people there were European. We also did something else that is special; take a shower. It is unbelievable how great showering feels after almost a week. It is defintely a feeling we take for granted. For those of you who might think we stunk all week we have actually taken great precautions to prevent that and naturally we smell like roses.

In the evening we drove to the town of Forks which is best known for it's connection with Twilight. Though there is little to relate to Twilight here (other than businesses saying "Get your Twilight flowers here, etc.") it does have a nice rest stop. Though not an entirely crime free one. The rest stop has a Visitor's/Transit center and I stopped in to use the bathroom. On the benches inside were an irate homeless couple. I couldn't quite make out what the woman was screaming about but I quickly finished up, clutched my purse tight and high tailed it back to the van. For obvious reasons I felt uncomfortable by the situation. When we stopped back by the Visitor's/Tranist center in the morning a huge rock had been thrown through the vending machine and glass was splayed everywhere. The worst part is that the robbers actually, judging by the wrappers at the scene, stayed and ate Starbursts. I couldn't be much help in solving the crime, due to the police department's lack of interest in the event. Yet the whole thing might be more understandable if you take into account the tranist system signage. One sign said "Catch the bus, not swine flu." Another said "No fireworks on the bus." Have to figure that someone must have tried the last one. The cops must have their hands full.  -A

Day 5- Mt. Elinor, WA

                                                         Monday 6/25/12
Today was supposed to be the day I started my online Statistics class. It looks like I will end up having to postpone this (again) as it requires all tests to be proctored. I am only half sad to be honest, it would have been a pain to do this summer. Otherwise our day went fantastically. We drove to literally the middle of nowhere. We drove miles and miles of unmaintained forest roads that just about killed the van's suspension and finally ended up in our destination spot. Apparently that was the easy part. We decided to do the upper level hike not realizing that when the sign said "Upper" it meant straight up. The trail was totally vertical and incredibly intense, yet somehow blissfully enjoyable. We climbed through a beautiful mountain forest with lots of great views of the valley below. We kept going until we ended up hiking in snow.

The difference between hiking on dirt and in snow is really something to behold. We weren't entirely prepared for the snow so we slipped...a lot. Eventually Isaiah found a walking stick and I found a better path so we made it almost to the top. We stopped just short at the advice of experienced hikers coming down the mountain. They warned that a mountain goat had been bothering them at the top and advised against going up. Between their advice and the several warning signs we had seen we decided to take the mountain goat threat seriously.  The best part of the day and maybe overall so far was coming down in the snow. The hikers we had seen were very prepared and had snow axes so they took part in glissading down the mountain side. For those of you new to that term (we were too) it involves sliding down the snow in a seated position and using a snow axe to slow you down. Since we had no snow axe we settled for sliding down on our butts and had the time of our lives! It was so much fun to slide down the snow and maybe even more fun as I was in jeans and Isaiah didn't have any gloves. We clearly had so much fun that a couple from Kentucky tried sliding down too.  -A

View from Mt. Elinor

 

View from Mt. Elinor

 

On Mt. Elinor

 

On Mt. Elinor

Goat warning at trailhead for Mt. Elinor

Day 4- Tumwater & Olympia, WA

                                                                Sunday 6/24/12
Everyone has an off day.  This was ours. After days of waking up at 5a or 6a every morning we needed to relax. Parts of the day were, but we also experienced a city that can defintely be skipped. We woke up in Enuclam and headed out first thing to the city of Tumwater. Sites had listed its park as a can't miss and we wanted to check it out. The neat thing about Tuwater Falls Park is twofold:  
1) It has a fish hatchery in the middle of the park    2) Also in the middle of the park is a waterfall.  Initial impressions, however, can be deceiving. From the parking lot the park looks very sketchy and from a distance the fish hatchery appears to be a power station. Also in the early morning it appears to be the place that drug deals go down in town. Once you overlook those features it is a quite lovely little walk around the falls.

Our next stop was Olympia. I had been wanting to explore this city for some time, so expectations were high. Our first adventure in town was trying to find a library for WiFi. The library was closed (such is our luck) but that didn't stop the homeless population from carrying large stacks of pipes around in the parking lot. We settled on McDonald's instead and divided the afternoon between that and a park along the water. In the evening we walked through the quaint but beautiful Japanese Gardens. It was right next to the youth correctional facility so unfortantely not quite as serene as one would hope. The later part of the evening had promise...for a while. We walked along the docks which held boats of all different shape and size. The dock is lined with a beautiful park and a boardwalk. Our plan had been to see the panaramic view of the city from the Olympia Port Tower. Unfortantely for us as we were walking up the gate was being closed and we were told gruffly to come back in the morning. The city was a bust but the day wasn't entirely. We decided to get the hell out of Olympia. For sleeping arrangements we tried and promptly left the town of Shelton. It was a small town along the highway that hosts such charcters as the grown man letting (encouraging?) his two young girls to run in the middle of the street at 11p. We settled for a Walmart further down.  Much better. Have I mentioned that each Walmart we have been to in WA has provided excellent customer service?  Unlike our experiences in OR Walmarts.  -A

                                                  Tumwater Falls Park in Tumwater

                                                 Tumwater Falls Park in Tumwater

                                                    Tumwater Falls Park in Tumwater

                                                      Port of Olympia in Olympia

                                                      Port of Olympia in Olympia

                                                      Port of Olympia in Olympia

Day 3- Mt. Rainier, WA

                                                           Saturday 6/23/12
We woke up in the town of Morton to several disappointments. The first being that the speedometer became possessed and the needle spun round and round. The second being that the town of Morton are not only against getting up early but also against working on the weekends. We hung around in town until the one coffee shop was supposed to open only to realize that they are closed ALL WEEKEND. What kind of coffee shop is that? Make sure to not only read the sign but do so thorougly. Especially if you have a conference call first thing. We ran into a fellow road traveler who was even more disappointed than us to see his one chance at WiFi go up in smoke. Some other advice to fellow travelers; when the travel book says to visit Mt. Rainier in August it really means it.

As this mountain controls all the weather in it's vicinty, it made the day mostly rainy and so cloudy it was hard to see the mountain (and trust us it's big)! With that shadowing the beginning of our day we decided to make the most of it by walking around the lower elevation of the mountain in the beautiful forests. We started our hike in the Grove of the Patriachs which is an old growth forest. Though the walk through the forest was great the best part was stumbling upon an in progress talk by one of the rangers. We tagged onto this group and spent the rest of our walk learning about the vegetation and animals in this forest. Several of the trees were estimated to be almost 1200 years old! The tour ended at a Western Red Cedar which was 31 inches around (Isaiah had the closest guess).

We then followed along the Silver Falls path. The falls were incredible to watch and such a reminder at the sheer force water holds. We saw logs being broken at the bottom of the falls like they were just meer toothpicks. All the forest area had just breath taking views every few steps. We spent the night in the glorious town of Enuclam which we were excited to be in since it had several signs of actual civilization and not a single home turned taxidermy studio in sight!  -A

                                               Box Canyon a heart pounding 850 feet down

                                                 Isaiah on the "one person at a time" bridge

                                                            Silver Falls breakinng logs

Silver Falls

                                                         

Day 2- Mt. Saint Helens, WA

                                                                Friday 6/22/12
After hiking up Beacon Rock I was not up for much walking today. However, Isaiah had different plans. We hiked at least 8 miles around Mt. Saint Helens and I don't regret a single step. I cannot quite put into words the depth and majesty of that mountain. The Johnston Ridge visitor's center was full of good information and we would definitely recommend the movie and Crater Ranger Talk. A little background on Mt. Saint Helens: The eruption that happened in 1980 caused the biggest landslide in recorded history. It was an incredible catastrophe and devastated the land around it for miles and miles. There were examples of decimated trees that had nothing left but a stump after they were flooded by soot and lava. We started the hike off at a meandering pace but once we came across the "Danger Difficult trail" sign we had to step up our determination. For several miles we were walking along the very edge of a mountain and if not especially careful our fate would be decided by a mountain's base. An experience like that makes you feel so small. We ended the night in the town of Morton where we were thrilled to see they had a Subway.  -A

Mt. Saint Helens

 

Sign for the Mt. Saint Helens trail we hiked

Sign for the Mt. Saint Helens trail we hiked

Day 1- Beacon Rock, WA

                                                       Thursday 6/21/12
We made it out of OR today. Our first stop was Beacon Rock state park in southern WA. It is a wonderful spot with a steep hike. The path around Beacon Rock was built in the early 1900's and still stands up fairly well today. The man who made it bought the rock and surrounding land for a $1. We had a great time climbing and the view was incredible. The only disappointment was that the view at the top of the rock wasn't as good as it had been on the way up. Could have saved ourselves some steps there. On the upside it was a beautiful day and we got a photo of a brilliant blue bird who was hanging out at the top. We spent the evening in the park and Isaiah stumbled upon a bunny in the grass.  -A

Beacon Rock

View from Beacon Rock

Bird on top of Beacon Rock

 

                              

                                             Bunny in the grass at Beacon Rock state park

         

Starting out...

Wednesday 6/20/12:
We ended up leaving mid afternoon and spending the remainder of the day at this beautiful park in Oregon City. It was right along the river and shorts and tank top weather. The only hiccups so far were a green tea spill in the van (sticky!) and having to blow dry my face with a hand dryer. For the night we camped out in a residential neighborhood.

-A

                                             Sunset over the river at park in Oregon City

Goodbye Corvallis

We are, after a few delays, heading out of town.  Thanks to all our friends.  We will miss you!