Washington State: Mt. Erie Lookout, Roozengaard Festival and Heading Home

Day 6: Mt. Erie Lookout, Roozengaard Festival, Supper with Ayottes, Seattle Again

Our last day in Washington was a busy one! We were up fairly early, got ourselves packed, and then hit the road to check out the Roozengaard Festival in Skagit Valley. On the way, we stopped by one of THE most incredible places we visited the entire trip: the Mt. Eric Lookout. It was absolutely breathtaking!

Mt. Erie Lookout

Roozengaard Festival

We didn't know what to expect with the Roozengaard Festival. We hadn't ever heard of it before, and the drive there felt like a wild goose chase down back country roads. We were pleasantly surprised with all the beautiful flowers, however, and incredible mountain scenery in Skagit Valley. It was definitely worth the time (and small entrance fee) for a couple hours.

Dinner with the Ayottes

After Roozengaard, we parted ways and we made our way to Seattle for the night, as our flight was early the next morning. We met up with Kristin and Loren on our way home for supper at Scuttlebutt Brewing Co in Everett. I had been chatting with Kristin on a web forum for about 4 years and had never met her before, so it was fun to meet her and her hubby and catch up on things. So fun :)

After supper, we made our way to our hotel to check in for the night, and Mark returned the rental car (after only a little trouble finding the place). It was the end of our big trip, and we were blown away by all we had experienced in such a short amount of time. Yet, we were so, so, so very exhausted. It was a phenomenal trip, and we're SO glad to got to experience everything we did. I can honestly say there wasn't a day we'd have skipped, and there wasn't a single part of the trip we'd want to do over. (Well, okay, except for the time we wasted looking for my wallet...we could have done without that part) ;)

Washington State? Yeah, we'd go back!

Washington State: Whidbey Island

Overview

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Day 8 (Apr 14): Coffee at Whidbey Island Coffee, Being Complete Bums, Supper at home, Sofie's Soccer Practice

Day 9 (Apr 15): Coffee at Honeymoon Bay Roasters, Shopping in Oak Harbor, Deception Pass, Mexican Restaurant for Supper

Day 10 (Apr 16): Mt. Erie Lookout, Roozengaard Festival, Supper with Ayottes, Seattle Again

Day 5: Being Complete Bums

After the VERY busy first half of our trip, we were in dire need of a day of rest, and that's just what we did. While the rain and colder temps had been holding off for us the entire trip so far, the rain finally came, and we enjoyed snuggling up and staying cozy most of the day. I did make a short diaper/wipe run to Walmart and a coffee/scone run to Whidbey Island Coffee in the morning, but beyond that, this day was filled with a lot of catching up and a lot more resting.

Iryna had to get back to work, unfortunately, and Sofie had to get back to school, so it was just Mark, Daniel and I most of the day. Daniel made us lunch (hot dogs - YUM!!) and otherwise, like I said - we didn't do a lot. We did go on a tour of Iryna's workplace, and that evening all took a trip to Sofie's first soccer practice. (She has since become a soccer star!)

Daniel and Iryna also made us some DELICIOUS fresh fish for supper, which we really appreciated!

Day 6: Oak Harbor and Deception Pass

Our second day in Oak Harbor, I woke up, got myself and Cashel ready, and then left the boys in charge of the kiddo while I ventured out for coffee (at Honeymoon Bay Roasters) and a little shopping in downtown Oak Harbor.

After my little shopping trip, we all loaded up and after a quick lunch at [Carl's Jr.?], we made our way over to Deception Pass State Park for the afternoon.

That evening, we decided to check out a little hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant in downtown Oak Harbor, which proved to be pretty tasty.

After that, we did a lot of relaxing and catching up. It was so nice to have a home to come home to at the end of the day while in Oak Harbor. We couldn't believe our trip was coming to an end, but we still had one fun-filled day left before we headed home :)

Washington State: Port Angeles and Hurricane Ridge

Overview

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Day 4 (Apr 10): Marymere Falls, Hurricane Ridge, Ferry to Whidbey Island

Day 4: Marymere Falls, Hurricane Ridge and Ferry to Whidbey Island

We had such a late night getting into Port Angeles, but we had so much we wanted to do and see in the area, so we got our things packed up fairly early and set out to find a quick breakfast, settling on McDonald's. Then, we hit the road to Marymere Falls

Marymere Falls

It was a bit of a drive to Marymere Falls, and all backtracking, as we'd driven by there the night before, but we made it back by 10am and set out to explore, starting with the short hike to the falls. The falls were so beautiful, and we were glad we had gone back there.

Lake Crescent

At the end of our short hike to Marymere Falls, we wandered around the Lake Crescent area there, which was just breathtaking! I think on our next visit, it'd be fun to get a cabin in the area and stay for a night or two to just hang out.

Sofie and Cashel were such good sports during the trip, which made it so much fun :)

We wish we had more time that day in general, but we had to catch the last ferry over to Whidbey Island at 6pm, so we had to get back on the road shortly afterwards. But our next trip to visit Daniel and Iryna, we'll have to make sure to hit the hot springs that we missed this time around, as well as more of the other incredible hikes and such that we missed.

Hurricane Ridge

We weren't sure if we'd be able to make it to Hurricane Ridge, since we were behind in time, exhausted from the trip so far, and the road had been closed that morning for "unknown reasons". But alas, we waited for 10 minutes, and the road opened back up! We were wondering aloud if it was due to an avalanche, and it very well may have been, but we'll never know.

We initially were talking about taking a "short" 1 mile hike, and were throwing it back and forth in the car on the way up, but it was laughable once we reached the top. It was FREEZING cold, the wind was blowing so hard we had to hold on to each other to make sure we didn't get blown away, and with the wind blowing so hard, the snow piles were insane! We just passed the time in the visitor center for a while, taking in the incredible views!

This beast is what they use to clear snow up here in the mountains! It's hard to believe that there is THAT much snow up there, but I would imagine some of these avalanches would even give this machine a run for its money!

Port Townsend and the Ferry to Whidbey Island

We stopped quick for some Taco Bell for lunch and fuel before heading to Port Townsend to catch the Ferry over to Whidbey Island, where Daniel, Iryna and Sofie live in Oak Harbor. We were glad Daniel had warned us that there wasn't much to actually do in Port Townsend, as we had initially toyed with the idea of spending a good chunk of a day there. It was a nice little town alright, just not really our cup of tea. We were there about an hour before heading off on the ferry.

Sofie did such a great job with Cashel during the trip. They're bound to be best buds, I'm sure :)

After an incredible, but tiring and long first part of our trip, we sure enjoyed being at Daniel and Iryna's home, unpacking for more than one night, relaxing for the next few days and catching up with the family :)

Olympic Peninsula? Yeah, we did that!