Washington Coast

 After work on a Friday we drove over to the Washington Coast so we could officially say we have seen all of Washington. It was a deceiving drive and actually took FOREVER to get there becasue traffic was just terrible the whole way, but once we battled that, being there was completely worth it.

First we stopped at Hurricane Ridge. It felt like we were in the Alps, you know, becasue we are so familiar with the Alps. What was really fun was that there was this family of deer that would just follow everyone around. There was a buck, a mom, and a baby. One time I came around the corner after going to the bathroom and I was standing about 5 feet from them. I know they are just deer, but it was freaky. Kelsey just laughed and laughed at me!!

 It was freezing at the top and there was still a lot of snow pack on the ground so Kelsey thought it would be fun to throw snowballs. Throwing snowballs was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

 

Victoria is that island in the distance

 We spent our nights in Forks and got an upgrade to the Belle Suite in our hotel. It was as ridiculous as it sounds. Probably the best hotel stay ever. Everything was black and red there were drawings from the books on the wall. It was fantastic. In all seriousness, the upgrade was super nice because it gave us an extra pull out couch so we didn't have to share to full beds. You know how I hate sharing a full bed

Lake Crescent at sunset

In the morning we drove to the Hoh Rain forest and did several of their smaller hikes. It was completely worth going there, but I will say that now that we live in Seattle and are so used to green and woods, I think some of the majesty of the rain forest was lost on us. We are just so spoiled where we live.  I still thought it was amazing, but some of the other tourist by us couldn't stop talking about all the green they were seeing. Once again, its all relative.

I forgot the backpack for Madison so both girls walked the whole time. I'm sure in total it was only about 2 miles, but they did so good. They didn't really complain at all and even let us wait until we got back to the picnic area to eat lunch. They are such troopers.

Kelsey was grateful I wore my buffalo shirt so that the elk and bears would be afraid to come near us. That was my plan

It was an abnormally hot weekend for the coast and temperatures reached into the 90's. The rainforest kept us nice and cool and truly not a single complaint from this group about 90 degrees, but it made heading to Ruby beach that much more exciting. This specific beach is known for its tide pools so there were more rocks than sand and more driftwood than rocks, but it was the beach! As soon as we stepped onto the beach a calm passed over our whole family. We found a nice little sandy spot and ended up staying there for well over 5 hours. We were all so content and happy. Madison sat in the sand for maybe 45 minutes at a time just filling her bucket, Ethan and Kelsey wouldn't get out of the water, and I just sat on the beach soaking in the sights and sounds. It was perfect.

 

I had gotten a terrible sunburn on Thursday so any direct contact with the sun was just brutal. I had to wear Ethan's shirt all day, but luckily the water was so cold that it didn't ever feel too warm. I mostly just feel foolish for getting such a bad burn a few days before our trip

It really was just the best afternoon ever. Towards the evening, the tide started to go out and so we kind of got to see some tide pools, but not really. We had such a great time regardless. Even I got in the water once which is saying something.

We headed back to Forks to clean up and eat. We ate at this restaurant with great food, but it literally took like 1.5 hours to get our food. They lost our order and didn't even apologize for it. I was so irritated. Never make a pregnant lady wait 1.5 hours for her dinner!

We were going to go to La Push after dinner, but were running out of time. We decided to head over there anyway and boy am I glad we did. It was truly the most beautiful beach. The sand was like Hawaii sand and the scenery was just breathtaking. We got there at sunset so it was a little bit cold (especially when Kelsey JUMPED in the water in her clothes!!) but the sunset was just jaw dropping.

Unfortunately in the morning it was time to head back. On our way out we stopped at Lake Crescent for lunch and I completely regret that we didn't spend a whole afternoon there. I always thought Lake Coure De Lane was the prettiest lake I would ever see, but I stand corrected. Lake Crescent wins. Amazing!!! We already are planning a trip back to just camp and play at Lake Crescent. Its amazing!!! So clear, so clean, so beautiful

Traffic was no better getting home, but this time we took the ferry across. It was no shorter, but a little more pleasant than just sitting bumper to bumper. And we saw a jelly fish and Mt Rainer so it was pretty awesome.

There is so much to do over there. We didn't make it to Sul Duc Falls, Madison Falls, the Ozette Triangle, Beach 2 and 3 in La Push, and waterfall by Lake crescent, and a downtown walk through Port Angeles. So much to do!!! Hopefully we can get back there soon and try all new things.