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: Olympic Peninsula

Overview

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Day 2 (Apr 8): Arriving at Pacific Beach Resort, Pizza at hotel

Day 3 (Apr 9): Pacific Beach, Quinalt Rainforest, Ruby Beach, Forks, WA, First Beach, Second Beach, Supper in Forks, Long drive to Port Angeles

Day 2: Arriving in Pacific Beach

After a crazy end to our time in Seattle searching for my wallet and visiting the Museum of Flight, we hit the road on our way to Pacific Beach around 5pm. We made a quick stop for supper at Dairy Queen in Tacoma before making the long drive (which was even longer with a baby in tow) to our accommodations at Pacific Beach Resort.

It was a very trying day with all the commotion, so after arriving at the hotel, we grabbed a pizza at the only place left open at that time of night and ate it at the hotel room while getting ready for bed. Mark and the rest of the family went out to hang out for a while and check out the amenities, but I was just plum tuckered out and Cashel and I hit the hay earlier than the rest.

Day 3: Pacific Beach, Quinalt Rainforest, First & Second Beach to Port Angeles

We were up fairly early to be on our way for a very jam-packed day touring the Olympic Peninsula! We had a hearty breakfast in the hotel restaurant before getting loaded up and on our way around 10am, en-route to Quinalt Rainforest.

Pacific Beach

We made a quick stop at Pacific Beach first, however, and wandered the beach for a while. We sure wish we'd had more time to relax at many of the places we stopped this day. The views were so breathtaking!

Quinalt Rainforest

After our short stop at Pacific Beach, we hit the road to Quinalt Rainforest. We arrived around 10:30am and explored for a while one of the trails before deciding to make our way on over to the World's Largest Spruce Tree not too far off. We set out afterwards to find some lunch, only to find that nothing was open yet (too early in the season), so we hit the road again to try to find something to eat.

The Rainforest contained the World's Largest Spruce Tree - it was ENORMOUS!


Lake Quinalt

Ruby Beach

After a strange lunch of somewhat decent chicken tenders from a gas station we found leaving town, we hit the road again and made the trek over to Ruby Beach, which we had heard was beautiful! After a short, easy hike down the trail, we came upon this:

We spent more time here than any of the other beaches we stopped at, but we don't regret that - it was incredible! Mark found a couple starfish, which was cool.

Forks, WA

Our next "stop" was in Forks, which we thought was supposed to be really cool, except there really wasn't anything there to see or do. I suppose there would have been if any of us were Twilight fans, but alas, we weren't, so it was just a boring little town that was mostly passed through. Of course, we got a picture of the sign and by the fisherman's memorial, but beyond that, we headed on to find First Beach.

First Beach

First Beach was incredibly easy to find once we drove there - MUCH easier than the other beaches, as we just hopped out of the car and were there. It was beautiful, but after having been to Ruby Beach, we were only somewhat "wow"d by it.

I didn't dare chance taking little Cashel out with me on the branch there, but stayed behind to get pictures of everyone else.


Not bad for 8 weeks after having a baby!

Second Beach

Second beach was a different story as far as ease of reaching it, but WHOA was it ever worth the hike! There's something about an un-touched beach like this that just leaves you in awe. It makes you feel so small and powerless against the wonder of our God and his creation. It just makes your jaw drop and takes your breath away when you first see it.

We still had a bit of a trek that evening, after we stopped to eat at a little diner in Forks, but we made it to Port Angeles before it got too terribly late.

It was a very long day of traveling, hiking, and exploring, but one of the most memorable days of our trip. I know I'm quite the slave driver when it comes to travel planning and keeping to a schedule, but I think I speak for everyone when I say they're all glad I do it, because otherwise we would have missed out on all of the beauty and wonder of the Olympic Peninsula. Of course, we still have plenty to revisit some day, but we had enough :)