Seattle Day 2

Mark has wanted to go to Olympic National Park for a long time!

From Lacey, we drove south and west over to Olympic National Park. We got an early start because it is a two hour drive over to Lake Quinault. We arrived before 8:30 and got started on our hiking. 
 
First up was the Quinault Rainforest Nature Trail. It reminded us so much of the hikes we took in New Zealand. Once you got under cover of the massive trees, it grew dark. Mosses hung across the trail, and birds chirped in the canopy. We even spotted a few squirrels darting about the massive trees. Some were several hundred years old and hundreds of feet high. The hike was short and easy, and we really enjoyed the perfect weather.

The deer in the northwest had short black tails.

We spotted so many huge banana slugs!

Looks just like New Zealand.

Even though it was mid-summer, it was jacket weather in the mornings.

This is a perfect place to hide when you are being pursued.

The air was really rich with the smell of the rainforest.

The trees were so cool. Look at these guys growing on this stump.

This cool log was right in the trail.

The boys got to mark another National Park off their list.

A little farther down the road, we stopped to do Cascade Falls. All the ranger stations had been closed so far, but we managed to find the trailhead. It was a short climb to the falls, which was a nice double cascade. We took a lot of pictures of the waterfall framed by green ferns and moss before heading back to the rental car.

Dax likes crossing bridges because he can play Pooh-sticks.

We didn't see a lot of big mammals, but there were plenty of small ones.

Seth wanted a picture through this tree's roots.

The waterfall was one of many that we enjoyed.

 
We decided to drive all the way around Lake Quinault, which required a little bit of time on a bumpy gravel road. We did get to see two nice roadside waterfalls, though. First, we came to Merriman Falls. It was tall and beautiful, and the boys wanted to climb right up to it. Second was Bunch Falls. This one zig-zagged across the rock face until it splashed into a small pool below.
 
There were a few nice tree stops, too. The first was at the largest Sitka Spruce in the world. It was 60 feet in diameter and almost 200 feet tall. It reminded us so much of the massive Sequoias we saw at Big Trees a few years ago. Of course, it was hard to get the entire tree in a picture! We also hiked the Maple Glade Trail. This interpretive trail wound past several massive old trees. Each one was labeled with its type. There were also markers for a trail guide so that you could learn about the trees, but with no rangers around, we had to enjoy the walk without them. 

One of the surprising things we saw was these beautiful blue flowers.
They were everywhere near Lake Quinault.

Merriman Falls was a roadside stop.

We could walk right up to some of these waterfalls.

It takes a pretty good spotter to see a snake like this.

The trees around the waterfalls are so lush.

The lighting in this picture is pretty cool, but it shows how wet the area is with two waterfalls.

That's a big Sitka spruce!

So much moss grows in Olympic.

We met at least one Ent.

On the north shore, it was much quieter, and still beautiful.

After we finished at Lake Quinault, we made the long drive up to Forks. It was about an hour and a half, but in the middle of the day, it seemed like 4 hours! All the roads are 50 miles per hour here, so drives seem extra long. We wanted to get to Rialto Beach north of Forks so that we could hike out to Hole in the Wall at low tide. That meant arriving by 3 o’clock and walking a mile and a half out the beach. 
 
We were lucky and a parking spot opened up right when we rolled in. The hike was really nice, too, though we had to hurry on the way out to the arch. The waves crashed along the shore, and massive pieces of driftwood that resembled the massive trees we’d left behind were scattered on the beach. It was pretty busy because it was low tide, which is the only time you can walk through Hole in the Wall. 

Hiking in the sand was hard work!

It was also really windy right down on the beach.

The boys love to throw rocks into the waves.

The hole in the wall is located near those seastacks.

When we reached the hole, it was a bit of a scramble over the rocks to get down to it. We made it okay and took some quick pictures. The kids wanted to check out the tide pools, so we spent some time searching around the arch. Mark spotted a starfish, and Dax found some hermit crabs. We saw a ton of green sea anemones, but they weren’t glowing because the tide was out. 
 
After searching the tide pools for a safe amount of time, we went back through the hole and scrambled back over the rocks. It was getting close to dinnertime, and the car was miles away. This time our shoes seemed to sink into the soft sand and perfectly round stones. The boys began to drag, and Mom and Dad did, too. It was a long march back along the tired beach!

Hole in the wall was really pretty.

It was a popular picture spot.

The driftwood on the beach was perfect for resting.

Seth likes to pose for pictures by himself.

Mom and Dax with the sea stacks.

We had dinner in Forks at an old diner called Sully’s Drive-In. The food was okay, but the servers were really nice. Finally, we drove back to Kalaloch Lodge. We wanted to turn in early, because low tide was at 5:30 the following morning! We enjoyed our stay in the lodge, but we did get up early!

Mom bought ice cream treats for our stay in the lodge.

The boys like it when Dad reads, even on the road.

Seattle Day 1

The boys were excited to fly again.

We were out of the house by six o'clock in order to catch our 8 am flight. Amy was nice enough to drive us to the airport. Everything went really smoothly and before we knew it, we were on the ground in Seattle. We even commented on how quickly we got our baggage and rental car. Speaking of the car, it cost about three times as much as the plane tickets. This is primarily due to the pandemic, though we did have to have a big old Tahoe to hold all five of us and our groceries and baggage. 

After shopping for a few essentials, we made our way north to Port of Edmonds. Our first, adventure was whale watching. We were soon checked in and boarded on a rather large boat. We zipped out through Puget Sound, watching closely for any sign of fins. The boys like to spot anything, so the jellyfish, crabs, starfish, and even the rat weren't disappointments.

Seth was so excited to see the cart elevator at the grocery store.

The rest of us were excited to see some orcas.

We were hoping the looked just like this one!

We loved the egg yolk jellyfish by the dock.

The waterfront on Puget Sound was beautiful.

As we got down south toward Seattle, we saw a few harbor porpoises. They flashed above the water only briefly, much like the Hector dolphins we saw in New Zealand. After a few minutes, Dax spotted the orcas. It was amazing to see their massive fins that rise six feet out of the water! We watched for a long time, as three pods (families) splashed and rolled in the water with the city of Seattle skylined in the background. We had a great guide, who kept up a running commentary on everything from facts about orcas to their family groups. We watched for more than an hour at a distance of about 100 yards.

Mark (seen here spotting Seth) was our key spotter.

Seth loved being on he boat. Mom did great, too.

It got pretty windy when the boat was really moving.

Like really windy!

It was fun being out in the wind.

Get ready for a lot of pictures of orcas.

This picture was kind of a fluke.

The research boat got really close.

Orca belly!

We could have watched them all day!

If you looked away, you missed something.

We were amazed at how far out of the water the orcas came.

Too soon, the captain took the boat over close to Seattle. The city was really beautiful from the water. The Space Needle and the Mariners' stadium framed the huge buildings that were downtown. We took a few photos and then turned back. Suddenly, the orcas came up right next to us. They were only about 20 yards away! Before we could really even get the cameras out, they moved quickly away, hunting porpoises right there in Elliot Bay. It was an exciting end to the excursion. 

We splurged on blueberry crumble.

The view of Seattle was beautiful.

The porpoises were so small compared to the orcas.

Seattle is beautiful. 

It was a great boat trip.

For dinner we splurged on a seafood restaurant right down on the pier. The food was really good, and most of us ate everything on our plates. Then we took a short walk along the fishing pier. There wasn't much to see other than a beautiful sunset. By the time we packed up and drove south to Lacey it was after 9 pm, and two-thirds of the boys fell asleep on the 90 minute drive. It really was an unforgettable day!

Port Edmonds was lovely.

Dinner was delicious and everyone ate well. It was amazing!

Perfect end to the great day.