Day 8: The Southern Oregon Coast! (again, sort of)

So I think I mentioned yesterday that we asked Andy to set his alarm for 7am. Did I mention that the alarm was the sound of a duck quacking? Well, at 5am Steve is telling me that Andy’s alarm is going off. I am trying to explain to Steve that I think it’s a duck nearby, but he is having none of it. Finally, I find Andy’s phone and sure enough, there was no duck. It’s funny what you think when you’re awakened from a deep sleep!

Once the alarm was shut off, I looked up and noticed it was dark. It was at that moment that both Steve and I realized Andy had set the alarm for 7am HOME TIME, not PACIFIC TIME! Ugh. So, the duck squelched, we went back to sleep with no alarm set. So glad we’re having a dry run before tomorrow!

We finally woke up around 7:30 and the timer was running! Steve and I jumped into action while Andy and Emily crawled into action at best. Peter disappeared to the campsite next door where I found him playing trains and having breakfast with his new friend. So glad someone is watching Pete!

Breaking camp was tricky as moisture was everywhere. It was like it had rained, but it wasn’t falling, it was just in the air. Once again we were in the clouds and it was very foggy. We did get the sleeping bags and tent put away, but everything was wet. We knew we’d have to just wait to dry out until tonight. Our total breaking camp time (including Andy having a shower and all of us but Pete having breakfast) was 1 hr 30 minutes. That makes for an early morning tomorrow, but we can do it! (if the duck doesn’t go off too early)

We headed south to get ice when I had an inspiration. Since Emily had missed her chance at tidepools at Seal Rock, I asked Steve to backtrack to Seal Rock (about 10 miles north of us) so that she could have her tidepool time. While it went against everything Steve believes in, he did it for his daughter. And I’m so glad we did! The tide was out, and we saw all sorts of sanemone (as Pete calls them) as well as fish, mussels and huge barnacles. We got our feet wet, but didn’t care as it was an awesome opportunity to experience nature on her terms in her environment.

Seal Rock and Tidepools!

After Seal Rock, we headed back towards Yachats. We went to a drive thru espresso shop, which is the size of those old Film processing places from my youth. They are everywhere out here, and the coffee they sell is really really good! Both Steve and I got a chocolate coffee bean on top of our cups. I had a white chocolate/dark chocolate espresso and Steve got a hazelnut latte.

It was 11am, and we found ourselves passing our campsite from the night before. So much for making good time today! We headed south on 101 until we got to our next destination which was the Heceta Lighthouse. I considered just stopping and taking a few photos, but Emily convinced us all to take the walk up to it, and once we got there, to take a tour. I was glad we did! The tour guide told us that the glass was made from the purest glass in all the world at the time (in England) while most light houses are made from French glass. This glass is so clear, that the beacon can be seen 21 miles out to sea on a clear night. He said the only reason it can’t be seen farther is because of the curvature of the earth! It was a fascinating tour. The old caretaker’s house has been turned into a bed and breakfast, and the Coast Guard manages the light from elsewhere, but it is still a working lighthouse. I wish we could have seen it at night!

The most surprising thing during this visit was that the clouds pushed off the coast! WE SAW THE SUN!! It was so exciting. We finally got some beautiful views of the coast that we weren’t able to see before now. The guy who had filled up the car with gas earlier in the day explained that when it gets hot inland (central Oregon is having record breaking heat…over 100 degrees!), the cool Pacific meets up with the heat and forms clouds. We could actually see them cascading down the mountains. It was really nice to finally have sun.




It was a short drive (like 5 minutes) to our next stop which was the Sea Lion Caves. For way too much money, we took an elevator down 200 ft. to an area where we could watch (and smell) sea lions hanging out on rocks, barking, sleeping, swimming, and doing whatever else sea lions do on a summers day. It was really fun to watch them for awhile. We headed back up the elevator and over to another lookout area where we saw them sunning themselves on rocks. They really are funny creatures!

Good thing this wasn't photographed in "smell-o-vision". STINKY!!

After buying popcorn and drinks in the gift shop, it was back on the road for the short drive to Darlingtonia Wayside Gardens to see the insect eating pitcher plants. What cool plants! And there were so many of them. We tried to explain to Peter that the plants ate insects, but I’m not sure he understood. After that quick stop, we headed into Florence where we saw great sand dunes. Apparently there is not basalt from old volcanos to keep the sand at bay, so the ocean breezes have created great sand dunes. Our neighbor from the previous night’s campsite had recommended taking a buggy ride as it was the most amazing thing she’s ever done. Since we were tight on time, we made a mental note that we’ll have to do that another time when we come back (and we DO want to come back some time!!)

We headed inland towards Eugene, and then turned south towards Crater Lake National Park. It took us about 3 ½ hours, but we finally made it to the campground and set up our wet tent from the night before. We knew we were running out of time, so we got it set up, laid out our sleeping bags on the picnic table and the mattress pads on the bear boxes, and then headed back to Union Creek for dinner to a place I had read about on the web called Beckies. It’s known for it’s pie. This was probably a mistake.

It took awhile for us to get seated, and then it took FOREVER to get our dinner! We tried to be efficient. While we were waiting for a table, Steve went across the street and bought ice for the cooler, and I made sandwiches for tomorrow as I know it’s going to be an early morning. Nonetheless, we found ourselves leaving Beckie’s at 9:30pm, knowing we still have a 20 minute drive back to the campsite and we still had to set up the tent inside. Oh well, what can you do?

Everyone pitched in and we were in our sleeping bags by 10pm (ish). We set Andy’s alarm for 8 CHICAGO time, which means we’re getting up at 6 Crater Lake time. I sure hope we hear that alarm…

Day 7: The Northern coast! (well, sort of)

So the heart was willing, but the body was weak. The alarm went off at 7am, and all I could do was to muster enough energy to beg Steve to turn it off. An hour and a half later, we were finally getting our sorry selves up and out. We checked out of the hotel, packed the car, got ice, and stopped at a really nice market for some pastries. We were on our way at 10, which was NOT what I had planned.

We made an executive decision to cut across the mountains at Portland and not head north to start our coastal drive at Astoria. After two hours of mountainous driving, we made our way into Tillamook, cutting out Astoria, Seaside, and other northern coastal towns. This also means that we missed Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach (which is now called Goonies Rock as it was in the Goonies movie). As it turns out, it was probably fine as we probably couldn’t have seen much anyway. There was heavy cloud cover almost at the road line. You could actually see the clouds forming as they rolled down the mountains towards the Pacific. We saw them just above the mountain line as we approached Tillamook, and it was quite foggy as we drove down 101.

Our first stop became the Tillamook Cheese factory. Perhaps you’ve had their cheese? We were able to view the cheese making process from a second story overlook of the factory. We also got ice cream (which was very good but confused Emily and Steve as this was a cheese making place….Andy and Pete weren’t confused…just appreciate of the ice cream) and free samples of cheese. After a much too long stop in their gift shop to get some cheese and beef sticks (don’t ask), we were back on the road.

We headed off of 101 to see Munson Falls, a nice out-of-the way area that wasn’t as popular or crowded as the falls of yesterday. No RVs were allowed which really helped cut the crowd down! Also, it was about ½ mile walk to see the falls, and our experience has been that if it requires much energy, most of the out-of-town sightseers around here don’t go. I think that’s why the cheese factory was so popular. Not much walking, and ice cream and free cheese!!

After Munson Falls, we drove along the coast and marveled at its beauty (when we could see it…the clouds never lifted all day!) After a few hours of driving, Steve finally pulled over just to view the beauty of the ocean, rocks, and birds. Our next stop was Newport. I had heard they had a pretty cool aquarium, and we weren’t disappointed! We spent about 1 ½ hours touching sea anemone, sea cucumbers and starfish, walking in a glass tube inside big tanks with fish all around us, and enjoying the sea lions, giant octopus and sea otters. Em, Andy and I had a great laugh at the flounder with the two eyes on one side of his body running into the other fish and sliding down the glass tube.

Emily marveling at the aquarium above her!

After Newport, we were getting concerned with time as it was a camping night, so we made a quick stop at Seal Rock where we saw no seals. Emily asked to go down onto the beach and we said no, that we would be on the beach and looking at tidepools at our campsite area: a decision I regretted later.

We found the Beachside Campground and I was pleased it was so nice…showers close by and a water source right next to the campsite…woo hoo! Of course, I wasn’t too thrilled to read the sign that said we were in a Tsunami Hazard area and that if we felt an earthquake we should head to the highest point possible. I’m not sure I could live in a Tsunami Hazard zone!

There was also the nicest family next to us: a mom and her three kids ages 12, 8 and 4. Peter was in heaven as he now had a friend to play with! We set up camp and decided to go into Yachats for dinner. I knew this would be our last night on the coast and I wanted good fish one last time! The caretaker of the campground suggested a restaurant called The Landmark, and it was a very good suggestion. We all got clam chowder, and Steve, Emily and I enjoyed different fish dishes. Andy and Pete had spaghetti, of course.

Once back at the campsite, we took a walk on the beach and discovered that it was a sandy beach and not rocky at all. This would be when I regretted my decision to not let Emily explore the tidepools at Seal Rock. She was very disappointed to find a big sandy beach with no sealife to explore unless she wanted to get IN the water, and it was cold! We walked along the beach for awhile and then headed back to the campsite. Pete went over to play with his new friend, and the rest of us finished getting the tent ready.

The neighbors invited us over for s’mores, and Pete had his chair next to their campfire in a heartbeat! Steve made a fire at our campsite as well, and the kids sat and read for awhile. The clouds were still really low, so there was moisture just hanging in the air. Everything felt so wet. After a nice visit with the neighbor, it was time to brush teeth and get ready for bed.

We asked Andy to set his alarm for 7 as we are going to try to time us breaking camp. In two mornings we HAVE to be ready to go by 9 as we are catching a boat on Crater Lake, and so we have to know exactly how long it takes us to break camp so we can back time it for that day. Hopefully we’ll be done by 9am tomorrow, but we’ll see!

Day 6: Portland via the Columbia River Gorge

Dew dew dew dew! No, that’s not a song in my head! We woke up literally inside a cloud. If you touched the side of the tent, whatever touched it was soaking wet! We gingerly emerged from the tent and looked around. Well, we couldn’t look far as we were still inside a cloud! The sun was desperately trying to burn off the fog, and we were praying it would because we didn’t want to pack a wet tent!

After a slow start, we finally had everyone up (read Andy), and were beginning to reorganize and prepare for departure. By the time we had some coffee and got the kids cereal, the sun was beginning to shine strongly, but not on the tent as we were in the shade! But it was shining on the road, so we uprooted the spikes and placed the tent in the middle of the road. Fortunately it was a quiet road, but every once in awhile, we’d have to spring into action, with the two big kids and Steve and I grabbing a corner and running it back to the grass to let a car pass. It was pretty comical!

As we waited for the tent to dry, Emily, Pete and I took the small trail to the area overlooking the beach. The combination of fog and the tide being out made for a very misty, cool view. It is amazing how much beach becomes exposed when the tide goes out! We watched a man walk across the beach towards the water’s edge until I couldn’t see him anymore in the mist.

With the tent as dry as it was going to get, we finally got everything broken down and were soon on our way. It was much later than I had hoped, and this makes me concerned for the Crater Lake night when we have to be up and GONE by 9am! Oh well, I’ll fret about that in a few days when it’s time.

The next three hours were spent making our way south along route 101 and then Hwy 5 headed for Portland. We were close to the shoreline most of the way, but not close enough to see the Ocean. At one point, Mt. St. Helens came into view and it was amazing. I found some photos of what it looked like before it exploded in 1980, and you could sure tell that it is now missing it’s top. I found descriptions of the explosions and how it affected the surrounding area. Check it out if you’d like:
http://www.olywa.net/radu/valerie/StHelens.html

Once we had made it across the Columbia River, we headed east down the gorge for only about 30 miles. While I would have loved to really explore the gorge, we were only going to be able to treat ourselves to the Multinomah Falls. While everyone seems to stop there, and it was quite crowded, the falls were beautiful. At a 620ft. drop, they are one of the tallest falls in the US. After much oohing and ahhing, and photo snapping, we were on our way.

We headed into Portland and made our way to the Kennedy School where we were going to spend the night. What a place! It is an old converted school which not only has lodging (we stayed in Mr. Jack’s room), but also has a movie theater (not like what you’re used to: think couches, coffee tables and a waitstaff ready to bring you pizza and beer), three bars (the Honors bar, the detention bar and the boiler room bar which has pool tables), a soaking pool which is kept at 100 degrees and has minerals in it instead of chlorine, a restaurant which is located in the old cafeteria and on weekends you can dance in the gym! It is decorated in a really funky way, and was just so cool. If you’d like to see more photos, check out their website at: www.kennedyschool.com and go to the Kennedy School link.

Once we checked in, we headed back into Portland to see what we could see. We wanted to find the Rose Gardens, but instead the GPS took us to the Rose Garden Arena. Nice if you want to watch the Trailblazers, but not very good for viewing flowers. We finally figured out where Washington Park was, and headed across the river and up onto the other side.

We parked inbetween the Rose Garden and the Japanese Garden, and first took a walk through the Japanese Gardens. They were so beautiful! The Ambassador to Japan has stated that it is the most authentic and beautiful Japanese Garden outside of Japan! There were also fabulous views of Portland with Mt. Hood in the background.

After the Japanese Garden, we headed down to the International Rose Garden. As it was getting late, and we were getting hungry, we didn’t spend much time there, but we did marvel at all of the different types of roses. This was truly a beautiful place!

Once to the car, we headed back to “school” where we ended up having dinner in their restaurant, and then the kids took a quick dip in the soaking pool. I was impressed that Pete got into the hot water. I guess the desire to swim can outweigh the sting of hot water. He got used to it quickly, and I ended up having to drag him out after 15 minutes. It was getting late, and his cheeks and ears were all red. We were all overheating!

We made it back to the room, where we got the kids settled in for the night, and then Steve and I headed back to one of the bars to plan for the next day. It was a very fun experience to have found this place to stay tonight. Tomorrow, the coast!

Day 5: Olympic National Park

Today started with the age old chore of laundry. It’s only been five days, and here we were with a full laundry bag! I drove a few blocks away and got it started while Steve got the kids going. I had the easier job! Once things were in the dryer, I headed back to the motel to help pack and leave. The front office offered a free “continental breakfast.” It was continental only in that the coffee was from Brazil, and the oatmeal was from the Quakers.

After our fabulous breakfast treat, we headed up to Hurricane Ridge. It is a 17 mile drive straight up into the Olympic Mountains. Once there, we were able to see Mt. Olympus as well as many of the others. It was a beautiful day for viewing them. We had a brief stop in the gift shop before we were on our way back down.

Out of Port Angeles, we followed Route 101 around the northern part of the mountains. We occasionally dipped back outside the park, but for the most part we stayed on National Park land. We passed Lake Crescent which was an AMAZING color of blue! I am not sure the camera captured the colors very well. It was also crystal clear straight down to the bottom. It was really beautiful. We stopped part way along the lake and dipped our toes into the water. It was quite cold, as I suspected it would be. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to hike up to Marymere Falls (it would have taken 1 ½ hours) as we still had to get to Forks and La Push and it was almost noon!

After sandwiches in the car, we found ourselves all the way to the Pacific Ocean at La Push. Immortalized in the Twilight series books, we took a walk on the beach, saw a group of Indians playing baseball (this is also the Quinault Indian Reservation) and took a photo of Emily in front of a sign that said “No Vampires Past This Point.” We were also behind a “Twilight Tours” bus for part of our drive.

Heading back east, we had to go through Forks, which is also featured prominently in the Twilight books. There we found bookstores with Twilight posters advertising them, as well as a Motel with a sign that read “Edward did not sleep here.” We drove past the house that the people of Forks have decided was Bella’s house, and there is a sign in front that says “Home of the Swans.” We also got a photo of Emily in front of a replica of Bella’s car outside the visitor’s center. They have really embraced the books!

After Forks, we headed back into Olympic National Park to see the Hoh Rainforest. We took the Spruce Nature Trail and the Hall of Mosses Trail. We decided just one probably would have been enough. We did see amazing spruce, hemlock and alder trees, some covered with moss because this is a rainforest. There were signs warning us of the dangers of Roosevelt Elk, but we saw none in the area. Not that I wanted to be charged by an Elk, but I thought it would have been cool to see one.

After the hikes, we headed onto the campsite. I had originally planned to eat at Kalaloch Lodge, which is right next to the campground, but when I found out it was run by Aramark (the same company which makes the food at the Tinley Park Amphitheater Concession area), I decided it would probably be overpriced, and not very good. So after a family meeting, we decided to get mac and cheese, and hot dogs from the grocer at the camp store. What a feast! And at $30, it was a bargain!

Emily and I started dinner while Steve and Andy started to set up the campsite. It felt like we were in a wind tunnel as our campsite was right next to the ocean. A wall of bushes had been planted, and initially I was sorry that they blocked our view. After five minutes at the site, I was so grateful for them for blocking the wind!! However, it wasn’t enough, and at one point, the tent started to literally fly away after Steve had walked away for a moment to find a hammer to nail in the stakes. We all ran after it, and fortunately it didn’t get damaged.

After the tent was staked, we made our feast and ate it as quickly as we could. Not only was it windy, it was cold!! We cleaned up the site and walked down to the beach. The huge driftwood logs were incredible. The tide was coming in, and Emily tried to find as many treasures as she could. (a broken shell and a crab’s leg and back were her big finds) We didn’t last long because of the wind and so headed back quickly to the campsite. Andy and Emily decided to hike the driftwood for awhile.

Back at the campsite, Steve got a campfire going (which can be tough to do in intense wind), and the children sat at the top of a point watching the sunset. After awhile, the kids decided the sun was setting too slow and headed back to the campsite. We made some s’mores, but it was just too cold to hang out for long. I could see my breath! As Steve and I put things away, the kids disappeared into the tent. They were in their sleeping bags before the sky was dark and that was that. I guess it’s good they went to sleep so early because we have to break camp and get to Portland, so we have to start early!

Day 4: Seattle

A nice early morning, found us heading off the mountain by 8am. I so love the fact that we are two hours ahead of home. The teenagers feel like they slept in, but we’re getting up by 7! That will be very important later on when we have to break camp and be on the road by 8.

As it is Saturday, we seemed to be the only ones heading down the mountain. Everyone else was headed up! That was fine with us. We drove through many quaint towns, and past roadside stands. We couldn’t resist the one that said “One basket of cherries for $1!” I bought one bunch of Rainier and one bunch of regular cherries (the larger basket, of course, which was NOT $1).

As we headed into Seattle, I was able to hook into the internet and get the first few days uploaded to the web. I am so grateful Steve has that ability on his laptop! The approach into Seattle from the south was beautiful. Once in the city, though, and it was a mass of people. Seems as though Saturdays everyone heads into the heart of the city. We finally found a place to park which would accommodate our car top carrier, and headed into Pike’s Place.

Pike’s Place is where the market is. Plenty of fresh food stands, and, of course, the flying fish market. This was a “must see” on Emily’s list. We watched them should out to each other and throw the fish from one guy to the next. It was fun, and definitely something the tourists come to see. There were more people standing and taking pictures than there were buying fish! If I’d had a place to cook that fish, I’d have bought some!

Anyway, it was lunch time and we were hungry. We found a place called the Athenian located above the market. Apparently Alaskan King Salmon is in season, so their specials focused on that. I had the Smoked Salmon and Washington Cherry salad (which was in the form that tuna salad comes in, but with cherries and hazelnuts), Steve had the Alaskan King Salmon and Emily had halibut. Andy, of course, had steak. The view was fantastic of Puget Sound. We watched the shipping boats coming in, a big cruise ship docked and some crazy dude parasailing.

After lunch we window shopped a bit (Emily found an awesome store with odd musical instruments called Lark in the Morning) we walked down to the waterfront and contemplated going into the Aquarium. We decided we didn’t have enough time to really enjoy it for what it would cost us, so we headed back up the hill to Pike’s Place again. We stopped in the first ever Starbuck’s store, where the kids ordered some smoothie-type drinks, and we also bought some cheese from a specialty cheese shop and pastries from an amazing pastry shop.

After that, we headed back to the car (the hike yesterday still had an effect on our desire to walk around much) and were on our way out of Seattle. We did drive past the space needle, but no one seemed interested in going in. How dull are we??! Perhaps just pathetically tired still.

Anyway, we headed up to Edmonds where we caught the 3:50 ferry to Kingston across Puget Sound. It was pretty cool to get lined up and sent onto a boat, get out of your car and go upstairs, enjoy the boat ride, and then go back down, get in your car and be on your way! We got a great view of Seattle, with Mt. Rainier looming in the distance. Man, that mountain is FREAKISHLY large!



Anyway, we enjoyed the boat ride, as well as the drive along the northern coastline of the Olympic Peninsula. We made it into Port Angeles around 6 and immediately checked into our ‘funky’ motel for the evening, the Flagstone Motel. This motel is something out of Route 66. It is painted this shocking seafoam green color, but I must tell you that the front desk people were so nice, and the room was clean. We also got three queen beds again. Who could ask for anything more?!?

After a recommendation from the locals to eat at Dupuis for dinner, we headed down Route 101 for about 7 miles and had an amazing dinner. Seems that the next town over is called Dungeness, and yes, it is named after the crab. So, Steve ordered the special which was a two pound crab. This beast was brought on a place and contained enough crabmeat for two salads! Steve was in heaven. I went with the crabcakes with a sweet and spicy sauce. Em had the Pamesan crusted Cod and Andy, of course, had the spaghetti. To his credit, though, he did have the oyster stew for an appetizer and enjoyed it.

After dessert (I finally got my pie!), we waddled back to the car and headed for our funky so funky motel for the night. We are starting to need to do laundry, but we can keep going for a few more days still. Our hotel window overlooks the beautiful Olympic Mountains. Tomorrow we head up into them!

Apparently, this is an issue around here...

Day 3: We Hike a Mountain!

Today didn’t start out rushed, which was really nice. We spent our morning showering, getting dressed, organizing our clothes, and going to the lodge dining hall for a buffet breakfast. The breakfast was definitely filling, which was good for the day we had planned ahead of us!

After stuffing our faces, we got on our hiking boots, and headed to the car to make sandwiches for lunch on the mountain. Food was organized, water bottles were filled, and we headed up. We took the Skyline Trail, which is what the hikers who are going to eventually peak the mountain take. They take the trail to the turn off for the Muir Base Camp (where we had seen the flashlights the night before)., so we were going to be on a path with some serious hikers.

The first thing we did was try to step over snow that was covering the path. We all thought it was really fun that we were in this nice warm air (around 75 degrees), and stepping on snow! I should mention that we thought we saw snow when we arrived last night, but it was too dark to tell. This morning we saw that it was all around us! Anyway, as we headed up this trail, there were parts of it that were completely snow covered. Pete decided he was a snowboarder, and was having a lot of fun. However, there were a few times he “boarded” too close to the edge of the mountain, and gave Steve and myself a heart attack!

We ended up alternating between snow covered trails and hiking right on the mountain. We passed meadows that were just filled with wildflowers, and we passed glaciers and areas that were barren rock. This trail took us up 1,500 feet, and we were able to not only see one of the major glaciers coming off the mountain, but we ended up walking across one as well! The blue ice of the glaciers is really something. It’s pretty wild to be walking on snow in jeans and a t-shirt and not be cold!

The kids also loved to drink the water coming off the mountain. I wasn’t so sure, but Emily thought it was the best water ever. It was easiest to fill our water bottles when we would cross a mountain stream (or sometimes walked in one as it was part of the path). It took us about three hours to get to Paramount Peak, which was the highest point we wanted to get to. Anything higher and we would have been heading to Base Camp!

We stopped and had lunch there, and then made the little trek to a pit toilet since it was time. Emily thought it was the cutest little potty she’d ever seen. Uh, okay Em. We then headed back down the other side of the trail. There were fewer people on this side of the trail, and there were more meadows to walk across. It was drier, but we did end up having to cross a couple of glaciers, and so took the opportunity to have a snowball fight!

At one point, there was a small drop along a patch of snow, and it seemed easiest to just sit down and ride it down. We all took turns. The kids had a blast! I landed less than gracefully, but Steve managed to land well. We all ended up walking with wet rears for awhile!

By the time we made it back to the lodge, it was about 3:30 and we were exhausted! We had traveled four miles in five hours. Not very good time if you’re running a race! Yes, Pete had hiked the entire time (even ran some of it!) We stopped a lot going up, which accounted for the many hours it took to complete the circle. The back of Andy’s neck was sunburned, as were the back of Steve’s legs. Even though I was wearing a wide brimmed hat, the front of my neck was burned. I think it was the glare from the snow. It was a beautiful day, but that sun was hot!

Once back at the lodge, we all showered and put on comfortable clothes and shoes. We had ice cream and played a few card games in the lobby. The lobby is a two story wooden structure with beautiful wooden beams. Definitely something you’d find in the woods in the Pacific Northwest!

We ate dinner in the dining hall again, and did a little shopping in the gift shop afterwards. We got a few cookies from the café and sat outside enjoying dessert and another round of cards. After that, the kids collapsed into bed, and Steve and I enjoyed the evening presentation on volcanos in the lobby. I’m afraid he and I were starting to fall asleep during the presentation, so we headed back up to the room where children were already snoring.

Steve is now passed out, and I’m exhausted, so that ends the first fantastic day of our trip. Tomorrow we descend on Seattle for a day in the big city.

Day 1-2: JUST DRIVE, SHE SAID…

33 hours in a car! While I knew I was crazy to have planned it this way, it went surprisingly well! While the plan was to leave at 12 noon, we actually left at 12:30pm because of a quick trip back home to pick up a few things we had already forgotten. (Oh, we’ve forgotten other things, but nothing critical!)

We made great time getting up to Madison, WI (3 hours, a new record?), and we made it to Minneapolis by 7:30pm. Dinner was a quick stop in Arbys just before Minneapolis, and we had one last stop in Minnesota before Pete went to sleep. Andy drove the 9pm-11:30pm shift (I tried to sleep, but you ever sleep with a teenager at the wheel??), and then Steve drove until about 2am. I took the 2-6am shift and watched the sunrise. It was beautiful, even if it was behind me. I was able to stay awake thanks to a book on tape that I had gotten from the library. God bless North Dakota! The 75nph speed limit, incredibly flat terrain, and passing a car every ten minutes made for some VERY good time. We were two hours ahead of time by the time we got to Montana.

But Montana, ugh. While it was beautiful (we could see the mountains surrounding Yellowstone in the distance and got very excited for the second half of our trip), the going was slow. It was 75mph, but then we’d hit construction zones and we’d have to go down to 35mph. We went back and forth between 75 and 35mph for about five hours. Needless to say, we lost most of the time we had made up in North Dakota.

Once we passed Spokane, Washington, it became as flat and as arid as a desert! We watched the outside temperature gauge go from 75 degrees in Montana, to 97 degrees outside of Spokane! After passing over the Columbia River and part of the Columbia River Gorge, we found ourselves slowly climbing into the Cascade Mountain range. We watched the outside temperature sink back down from 97 degrees to 65 degrees. Glad we packed for all kinds of weather!

We headed into Mt. Rainier National Park from the east side, made our way 3 miles up a mountain road before seeing signs that the roads heading west from that entrance were closed! We had to head back down 3 miles, cut across south of the park, and then head back up into the west entrance. By this time it was getting very late and we were worried about making it to the lodge in time for dinner. We ended up stopping at a place called “Pete’s Inn.” I liked the name, but that was about it.

We finally made it to the lodge around 9pm. There was a presentation of mountain wildlife going on in the lobby, but we were just interested in going to bed. We got the kids settled (three double beds! SWEET!) and then Steve and I headed back to the car for a couple of extra items. We heard people talking about a small area where you could see flashlights on the mountain. Apparently there is a Base Camp on the mountain for hikers who are going to peak it the next day. We saw the lights way up there. It was so cool.

I am so glad we drove the entire way. We may not be hiking all the way up to the top, but we are definitely going to get part way up that mountain tomorrow!