Our Tour of Washington

I could really get used to this whole waking up to the sound of waves crashing on the shore thing.

Sunset from Kalaloch Campground at Olympic NP

We spent a couple of nights in Olympic National Park in northwest Washington.  This may be one of the most diverse parks we have been to yet.  We set up camp at one of the parks’ beach campgrounds. The first morning, we woke up (late as usual...we are really getting spoiled) and drove to the only rainforest in the US.  Yeah, I said it… rainforest!  We (Daniel) had a few hikes planned for us in the Hoh Rainforest.  There were two main reasons, however, for us not completing much of said hikes:

1.) The land-of-the-lost-sized bugs were about to carry us away. Literally, I felt something land on my leg and when I looked down, I was alarmed to see a prehistoric looking horsefly fully shadowing my calf.  So it didn’t take us long to realize that in Olympic NP, the size of the bugs is directly proportionate to the size of the trees...which by the way are ridiculously huge.  

Mount Olympus (in Olympic NP) covered in clouds

2.) Once we got a pretty good ways down one of the trails, we met up with a group of about ten or so hikers going back the opposite way.  They didn’t seem to be on a peaceful stroll through breathtaking scenery either.  They were on a mission. The lead guy did slow down, however, to ask us if we saw the bear just a minute ago...which we had not.  Apparently, Mama Bear and Baby Bear were hanging out right off the trail not far in front of us.  The guy even said that Mama had stood up when they came by.  She never charged or got aggressive or anything but, seeing how we were only two lone hikers without the strength in numbers that they had, and Daniel was carrying a big bottle of sweet nectar (Mountain Dew…actually, I’m not supposed to say that since he’s a dentist now...He didn’t swish it, I promise), we turned around.

Once we gave up on the hikes, we got back in the car and headed for, you guessed it, another beach.  Ruby Beach is probably my favorite beach of the whole trip!  Its giant climbing boulders, rock caves, rumbling waves and collision with Cedar Creek earned it this prestigious recognition.  Oh yeah, and the wildlife there was pretty incredible…we saw a BALD EAGLE just hanging out in the wild! We didn’t get to stay there too long, though.  We only had time for one chorus of “This Land is Your Land” and a few minutes of gawking before we got hungry.  I know, it sounds like a ridiculous reason to leave but, we have learned the hard way that if either one of us lets hunger progress to hanger…things can get pretty dicey.  So, especially on a trip like this, we have to nip that in the bud pretty quick.

The next morning we had to get up and hit the road early because we had a date with some whales in the San Juan Islands. We boarded the boat at 10am and didn’t come back to shore until around 4pm.  In between those times, we hung out with two humpback whales and at least eight different killer whales.  One of the killers even brought us a seal right up to the boat before he (warning-weak stomachs please skip ahead a few lines…) ripped it to shreds! There was definitely some wild shark-week action going on.  It was pretty disgusting to see the water turn red like that but, at the same time, it was so cool to see nature take its course out in the wild.

The Original Starbucks

From there, we checked in for a couple of city nights, and not a moment too soon.  So thankful for a place to do laundry…I was really starting to look like a hobo!  We have loved being in Seattle.  I have seriously never seen so many coffee shops in all of my life and I don’t hate that.  We, of course, had our morning coffee at the original Starbucks, visited the Starbucks Reserve and checked out all of Pike Place Market including the gross, giant, headless fish that were being tossed to and fro at one of the seafood stands.  We later saw one of those (fully intact) fish golden-fried to crispy perfection resting in Joe’s birdbath of a plate at supper.  It was great to be able to meet up with another survivor of the UAB School of Dentistry class of 2015 all the way across the country.

Mount Rainier from Seattle (over 70 miles away!)

We are starting to get a little sad because we know that our trip is on the downhill slope.  But we still have a ton of stuff packed into this last week and a half!

Next stop – Oh, Canada!!

Humpback Whale Tail

Seattle Skyline

Pike Place Market - Before...

...After