The Pacific Northwest…with Vampires, Indians, Lewis & Clark, & the Goonies!!

We’ve had our days, many in fact, where we struggle with being a bit homesick, even in the midst of this beautiful country. We’d been struggling as we approached this leg of our trip…and then, as we drove toward the west coast, the excitement hit! WE MADE IT…all the way across!! Woohooooo!!!! What a huge milestone for us to have come all the way from Florida!

First stop, Seattle! We had SO MUCH FUN touring the city. We visited the Space Needle, rode the monorail, walked all over the place & spent plenty of time at the Public Market. Man, I was wishing for my kitchen at home after viewing all the gorgeous seafood, produce & specialty items!

We loved the Gum Wall…the kids stood, mouths open, like “what the heck??!!” It was so cool! Seattle didn’t have that overwhelming feeling, like other big cities. It felt doable…& after our day in the city, we felt like we had conquered it. My only regret was not making enough time to visit the Chihuly exhibit….ughhhhh…still wishing for just a couple more hours to have walked through his botanical gardens. Next time, I guess!:)

Rylie’s favorite stop, the very FIRST Starbucks!!

After Seattle, we ventured over to Gig Harbor for a few days & hit the Washington State Fair in Puyallup before immersing ourselves into the mystical Olympic Peninsula.

Port Angeles, WA is a town you may not have heard of…but it was definitely on my radar when planning this trip a year ago. For those of you who don’t know, I was a huge Twilight fan when the books were released. Tampa girls, you know who you are….we had some serious parties & made some great memories!!

Well girls, don’t be jealous, but the VERY weekend I was in town, just happened to the the weekend of Bella’s annual birthday celebration in Forks…& this was all unplanned!! Not only that, but it was also the 10 year anniversary of the book!! Not only that, but Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight Saga was planning a book signing that Saturday!! And best of all, my dear friend Sara Maurer, my Tampa neighbor & biggest Twilight fan of our group, had since moved to Seattle, so we got to go experience “Twilight in Forks” TOGETHER!!! I couldn’t believe it!! It felt like we were 10 years younger as we got to relive our Twilight obsession together with all the other fans right in Edward & Bella’s home town. It was AWESOME!!!

…don’t want to forget about Team-Jacob…because we just love him too!!…Visiting the Treaty Line in LaPush, meeting BooBoo Stewart (Seth in movies) & ending our day with a Quileute Indian Salmon Bake!!

In downtown Port Angeles with the family enjoying Bella’s mushroom ravioli at Bella Italia

Our campground, Elwha Dam RV Park was very nice with cool carved trunks scattered around. Even a garden of veggies to pick & enjoy…not to mention the apple trees! We made cinnamon apples with whipped cream one evening!

Amazing hike right from our campground through the enchanted forest!!

Venturing along the coast of the Strait of Juan de Fuca (Hwy 112), we watched as the thick clouds rolled in and instantly covered the area. You could almost grab the fog in your hands & it gave everything an mystical feel…excited and even spooky at times!

If you look at your map & point the the northwestern most point of America, you will see Neah Bay & Cape Flattery. We’ve been there!! It’s a heck of a drive, about a 30 minutes PAST Mile ZERO on the Makah Indian tribal lands. Totally car sick, we were rewarded with one of the best hikes we’d had in a while…& the views at the end…well….see for yourself!

Olympic National Park & the Hurricane Ridge

Overall, we couldn’t rank our time in Washington any higher. We felt refreshed when we left…maybe it was how CLEAN everything felt, especially the air, the excitement of making it this far on our trip, sharing time with more friends, the peacefulness of the surroundings, who knows…but regardless the reason, we absolutely LOVED our time in the Olympic Peninsula!

Heading south on the 101, we drove over the Columbia River into Astoria, OR. I don’t know if that rings any bells for you, but for us, it was all about the land of The Goonies!! Wait, I’m a homeschool mom…what I meant to say was that it was all about Lewis & Clark at Ft. Clatsop!!

We first began seeing signs for Tsunami Evacuation Routes as we drove south from Forks, WA…but they are posted every few miles along the Oregon coast & it’s gotta make you wonder. Caden couldn’t get over it. Talk of Tsunami’s was constant!

Recognize that rock??? It’s Haystack Rock at Ecola State Park by Cannon Beach & it’s been a famous landmark for us since childhood as the beach in The Goonies!! Aside from that cool fact, it happens to be a gorgeous beach. Ken & I decided that we would love to visit again alone sometime. Cannon Beach was such a quaint town, we loved it!…did I mention that the LaPush beach scene from Twilight was also filmed here? Just sayin’…

Wild bunnies at Cannon Beach

We did make this part of the trip historically educational as well, it wasn’t all about the movies…Astoria is where Ft. Clatsop is located! We got to hike the same grounds & explore the fort replica of Capt. William Clark & Capt. Meriwether Lewis! After numerous audiobooks during our drives, we felt as if we knew them personally so it was surreal to see where they spent such a hard, wet winter before trekking home. One little fact…before The Goonies & before Twilight…Lewis, Clark & Sacagawea walked Ecola Beach as well, where they discovered the skeleton of “monstrous fish”, the blue whale.

Shipwreck ruins at Fort Stevens

Ken & Caden went to the Kite Museum & returned with some fun!

Southbound on the 101 again, we stayed in Lincoln City as well as Coos Bay. What can we say about Oregon? It ranks TOPS for most beautiful places we’ve seen. That coast line is a gift from God…and that ocean…it shows just a hint of God’s power & while beautiful, it’s something to be feared for sure!

Tide Pools, Spouting Horn & Thor’s Well at Cape Perpetua

The waves & the fierce tides aren’t anything to turn your back on! We actually learned this the hard way. While enjoying a day at Bandon Beach, we were hit by a “sneaker wave” out of no where. Google “sneaker waves in Oregon” & some of the footage will scare you. Ken was reading in his chair, I was walking down the beach & the kids were playing on the beach. Out of nowhere, a wave crashed 20 feet up the sand. Not a tidal wave, but a low, fast, powerful wave. Everything we had was covered in water & thick sand instantly!! Not 5 minutes earlier, the kids were picnicking on a rock, which was now covered & the force of the water could have easily taken them away. Thank you Jesus for protecting our family!! Ken dove to grab our most valuable item that day, my MacBook. He wasn’t fast enough. He was covered in as much water & sand as was the computer. Can you say SMART MOVE RACHEL??!! Who takes a laptop to the beach? Well, I had to learn the hard way! Thankfully, 3 weeks later, I received it back from Apple, refurbished like new…but the thought of losing all of our pictures was a very real & scary thought during that time. Again, thankful, humbled & now completely backed up on iCloud! 🙂

All of this amazing coastline, but still at times I found myself longing for the days of gentle rafting on the gulf at Anna Maria Island. Boy there’s nothing like that!! I was actually afraid to put my toes in the Pacific!….but there’s also nothing like those rocky Oregon beaches either. Makes us once again thankful & humbled that we can experience all of this…& cautious to never turn our backs on that ocean again!!