Our Life in Alaska and Beyond

Our last night on this trip we spent in Portland with my uncle and aunt. (Thanks so much Mark and Janice!) The next morning we got up early and drove all the way home. We made a quick stop at Multnomah Falls, (So pretty! I remembered stopping here many times growing up when we would go on vacation to the Oregon coast.) and then we pretty much just drove the rest of the day. Such a fun trip, and I can't wait to plan another one! We definitely want to take the girls to the Oregon coast, and I'd love to go on another couples trip with Scott! 

One of the last things Scott and I did on our couples trip to the PNW was go whale watching out of Port Townsend. I was really hoping to see orcas, and we did!! We saw a family of four, the T123s! This is a family of Transient (Bigg's) orcas, including 38 year old Mom T123 (Sidney), 23 year old son 123A (Stanley), 11 year old daughter T123C (Lucky), and 5 year old daughter T123D (Darcy). I love all the research being done, including how to protect these whales and their environment, and I love how this included our boat staff being able to recognize this group right away. We didn't see them do anything crazy like breaching, but it was still so fun to see them on this beautiful day. 

Our tour also included a stop at Friday Harbor for lunch. It was a really cute town where we walked and shopped for a bit. We got a NYC style pizza from the rudest chef/employee ever, but it was ended up being one of the best pizzas and salad we've ever had, haha. While here we also saw a group of three missionaries and I always laugh when I think about the first two easily riding their e-bikes up this pretty big hill, and then the third one huffing and puffing his way up on a regular bike, lol.

After lunch we got back on the boat for a bit and we saw some sea lions and a tufted puffin! It was a fun day, and luckily no one got seasick!

While on our trip to the PNW, Scott and I spent a day in Victoria, British Columbia. We took the morning ferry from Port Angeles, and then came back on the ferry that evening. We would have loved to spend more time here, but we managed to see quite a bit in just a day. Victoria is a beautiful city, and I loved exploring it with Scott. This was our first international trip together, (we both had to get our passports renewed before going, lol) and definitely made me want to plan more international travels. So fun!

Thunderbird Park at the Royal BC Museum.

After spending the morning in the Neah Bay area, we drove back to Olympic National Park and spent the afternoon at Lake Crescent. We took a few pics right along the shore of Lake Crescent, and then we hiked Mount Storm King. It was a pretty big, and a very steep hike. We gained 2,200 feet in 2 miles! 🥵 We also did a short hike to Marymere Falls. It was a gorgeous day, and I think Mount Storm King is one of my new favorite hikes. The views were amazing! Towards the end of the hike there is a rope to help with the super steep parts. It was kind of fun, but also a bit scary. It's not nearly as scary as Angels Landing, but I still wouldn't recommend taking kids to the top. Enjoy these beautiful pics!

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One of my favorite parts of this whole trip was hiking to Cape Flattery, the northwesternmost point in the contiguous United States, located on the Makah Indian Reservation. After driving to the end of the road, you hike down to the very most northwest point along the coast. It's a beautiful hike, and the big highlight was seeing a gray whale! Scott was absolutely ecstatic to see a whale, and he "already had a video going!" and he got a little clip of the gray whale spouting. Just past the edge of the coastline it was very foggy, so we didn't have great visibility, which made it extra special to see the whale. 

There are some cabins you can rent through the Makah Tribe, and I really wanted to stay there, but unfortunately they didn't have availability while we were there. I will plan to book earlier next time! There is also a Makah Museum/Makah Culture and Research Center that I really wanted to visit, but it was closed the day we were there. We will visit next time as well!

After spending the morning at the beach we drove into the Hoh Rain Forest and we did a few little hikes there. It was very crowded and we had to wait a bit to get in, but it was beautiful, and the sun was shining. The massive size of these trees, all the mosses and plants growing on other plants, and just all the green everywhere is truly amazing! 🌿

We saw several of these nurse logs, where long ago a tree falls, and then the fallen tree supports the seedlings of new growth, leading to the new trees all growing in a line. Eventually the nurse log decays away.

Scott and I partially planned this trip around low tide so we could go tidepooling. I love starfish and Olympic National Park is one of the best places to see them! We went to Beach 4 and Ruby Beach, and they did not disappoint! We saw so many beautiful and colorful starfish, as well as many other cool intertidal life forms. It was a beautiful morning exploring the beach!

My favorite bunch of starfish 🤩 This pic and the next 17 are from Beach 4.

The next day we spent in the Quinault area. We hiked trails and spent the night along the south shore of Lake Quinault, so we were actually in Olympic National Forest, not Olympic National Park this day. It was pretty rainy, but still so beautiful, and I loved staying right next to the lake. I would definitely recommend visiting this area. It was easy to get to and much less crowded than the Hoh Rain Forest area, with the scenery and trails being very similar. Here we hiked Gatton Creek Falls and the Rain Forest Nature Loop, and visited the world's largest Sitka Spruce and Merriman Falls. Before getting to the Quinault area we made a quick stop in Aberdeen and visited the Kurt Cobain Memorial Park. It was a fun day!

Hiking near Quinault. Loved this foxglove on the trail!

Scott and I got to spend about a week together exploring Mount Rainier National Park and Olympic National Park, and a few other spots along the way as well. I'm going to split it up over a few blog posts, but overall we had so much fun on this couples trip. It was so nice to spend time with just the two of us. 👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏻 We got to do some bigger hikes that we wouldn't have been able to do with the kids, and it was a little easier to fit more stuff in. Huge thanks to both sets of grandparents who watched our girls. They had so much fun together!

First up is Mount Rainier National Park. This was a bit early in the year to visit, and if we go again I'd definitely want to go later in the summer. We still got to do a few hikes, and we had a fun time, but later in the year would have been a better time to visit. Portions of the park are still closed this time of year due to snow coverage, and I would love to see more of the park. We got rained on pretty much the whole time (it is a rain forest, so that was expected, haha), and unfortunately it was cloudy with poor visibility so we never actually saw the mountain, but that was ok. Mount Rainier NP is beautiful, and I loved all the green and waterfalls! 🌿💧

Silver Falls Trail, 6/18/23