Trip to the Olympic Pennisula- part 1

Late, last night we arrived home safely after a fabulous weekend on the Olympic Peninsula. We had such a great time exploring the wilderness and spending time as a family. A few weeks ago, Rob asked me what I wanted for my birthday and mother's day and I told him I wanted to just go away somewhere as a family for a few days. When we first moved to Seattle, Rob's sisters Kim and Kris came out to visit us and we made a quick drive up to Hurricane Ridge on our way home from Victoria BC, but we didn't have enough time to get a real hike in plus there was still tons of snow everywhere. After living in Seattle for four years, we still had not hiked in the Olympic National Park rain forest! So, that's where we decided to go for the weekend. We stayed the first night at the Lake Quinault lodge. The lodge is almost 100 years old and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There is this amazing grand room, with a gigantic fireplace and leather chairs

and the view from the lodge of Lake Quinault is breathtaking. I've decided that staying at this lodge every few years in going to be a family tradition.


We took a 2 mile hike Friday morning in the lake Quinault area and Jasper tried out his new hiking shoes. He did such a good time and hiked at least a mile on his own.




We found a rushing creek,


some licorice fern fiddle heads,


trillium,


and a couple of potty breaks




Friday afternoon, we headed towards Forks where we had rented a cabin for the next two nights with Jim's cabin rentals. We LOVED Jim's cabin rental #3 for the following reasons- we love a good deal (you can't beat $70 a night for a cabin of your own) and we don't mind staying in a single-wide "cabin" (especially if it's brand, spankin' new). This accommodation worked out perfectly for us because there was a separate room where we could put the boys down and the living room had a futon that we could sleep on. It was tucked away in the woods and the Rialto beach was only 10 minute drive away. We spent the evening at the beach, but didn't stay long since it was freezing! Rialto beach was spectacular (Rob said it was the most amazing place he thinks he's ever been) with the HUGE haystacks off the coast and a pebbly beach.

We tried to hide behind some of the huge pieces of drift wood to shield ourselves from the wind, but we still got really cold.