Washington (Olympic NP) & Seattle Friends & Family: May 9 – 18, 2022

Our week in Washington took us back to a few areas of Olympic National Park that we had not gotten to visit the first time in 2018. We also spent a few days in Seattle seeing close friends from both high school and college as well as family. Don’t let the sunny photos fool you into thinking that it was warm and sunny…we exeperienced what everyone said about the weather this spring in the Pacific Northwest; cold and rainy, but just enough sun to remember how beautiful of an area it is.

May 9 – 11: Two nights and a full day in LaPush, WA (the home of the werewolves from the book and movie Twilight series) allowed for a few hikes on the beaches in that area, Rialto Beach, First Beach (where we actually camped) and Second Beach. We also took the hour drive over to the Hoh Rainforest for a Dr. Suess-like experience in the heavily moss covered trees.

First Beach-just across the dunes from our campground
Camping Quileute RV Park on First Beach, La Push
Fine dining in La Push, the only restaraunt
The Ocean
The ever present slug

Rialto Beach

Looking South towards La Push
Cobbles rolling in the ocean
Loved the color of the sea weed
Split Roc behind me
Tide was low enough to get through the Hole in the Wall on Rialto Beach
Split Rock in the Background
View looking North on Rialto Beach
Fascinating Contrails…we figured out that they were from the fighter jets who live off Whidbey Island just north of us

Second Beach

Erroded rocks that looked like beached seals
Another Hold in the Wall to hike to!
Second Beach looking North
Plover

Hoh Rainforest

Giant Doug Firs, Spruce & Hemlock…not sure what this one is!
Maple Tree Grove
A little poetic entertainment as we wandered through Hall of Mosses Trail
The Hoh River
Uprooted giant Doug Fir with smaller trees growing from the trunk and roots
New Growth on the Ferns

May 11 – 13: While we spent two nights camping on Crescent Beach just west of Port Angles, this is the only photo worthy of the blog! OK, we did see a lot of lovely areas, but it was really rainy and cold.

Seattle with Friends and Family (May 13 – 18)

We had exceptional visits with a few friends and family. I missed taking a photo of our visit with my brother, Jay and his wife Katharine and Kath’s sister, Alison and her boyfriend, John. Sorry! We also had some feathered visitors at our campground!

Tom, Jeanne, niece Hilary, boyfriend Jon and Grace
Tom, Jeanne, Beth’s husband, Steve, & Beth, close friend from high school
Tom, Grace, Jeanne & Sandi, great friend from Linfield College–view from the 39th floor of her apartment building
There were over 30 gosslings wandering around our camper!
Gosslings on the Move
Great Blue Heron in the pond behind our camper
The GBH moved to another part of the pond