WASHINGTON NATIONAL PARK TRIP

WASHINGTON NATIONAL PARK TRIP July 16 - July 30, 2015

3802 miles, 52 hours driving, 14 days, 7 states, 5 National Parks

Thursday July 16, 2015

As soon as Kevin got home from work, we set off for our trip! Wahoo! Road trip! Tonight we are only going as far as Lyman, WY. Kevin's parents are in Utah or Colorado so we won't be able to see them, but it will be nice to have a bed. The drive was nice. We talked, sang and also listened to some audio books to pass the time. Jadeyn really got interested in the Malcolm Gladwell book that I brought: Blink. He wanted us to keep listening because 'this is really interesting guys!' We rolled in around 11:30pm and got to chat with Jessica for a bit before hitting the hay.

Friday July 17th 2015
Up and at 'em at 6am. We headed to Evanston to have breakfast with Grandma Pete! She turned 90 this year and is an amazing woman. She welcomed us in with fresh baked poppy seed muffins and milk. We got to spend about an hour this morning catching up and telling stories. Nice morning. And we're back on the road again.
10 minutes outside of Evanston: "Well, this certainly isn't the rain forest yet!" Then a few minutes later "Hey guys, it's starting to get more Forest like. I saw some trees!" I think he is really anxious to get to Washington.

Saturday July 18th 2015

We continued on our trip today and drove and drove.  We traveled 5 states today: Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Whew!  We are so lucky that Jadeyn is such an amazing traveler.  We found a hotel to spend the night (Jadeyn was ecstatic that it had a swimming pool!)  For dinner, we found Mel's Diner, and nice little 50's themed restaurant.  Holy smokes: delicious milk shakes!!

Sunday July 19, 2015 MT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK

"Out of the forest at last there stood the mountain, 

wholly unveiled, awful in bulk and majesty..."  

--John Muir

Off to Mt Rainier National Park.  We really didn't know what to expect from this park except that we had heard that quite often people come and never get to see top of the mountain due to the clouds.  We were so hoping for nice weather and we really lucked out.  Clear skies on the horizon.  The first time we saw the massive volcano we were blown away!  Magnificent and rising straight up and capped with glaciers!  This is going to be a beautiful park!

Skyline Trail

Ambitious hike? Yup.  We got up before 6am compliments of Jadeyn and we got to practice our whispering skills in the campground for a whole hour somewhat successfully.  Pancakes and bacon for breakfast.  Delicious. We wanted to get to Paradise area nice and early and were so happy we did.  They say it gets so busy that the parking lot fills up by 10am.  We decided to do the Skyline Trail despite having a park ranger tell us that she didn't think that Jadeyn could do it.  We decided to prove her wrong!  The trail was so magnificent and varied.  We hiked through forest, fern, prairie, wildflower fields, over creeks and streams and climbed and climbed. Switchback after switchback with the reward of a grand view of Mt Rainier at each turn.  Wow! It is such a striking presence in the sky. 

As we climbed higher, the rest of the Pacific Ring of Fire came into view.  Mt Adams was the most prominent, Mt Hood way in the distance, and then the ghostly image of Mt St Helens.  Then the craggy range all in front of them.  Wow.  This year is the lowest recorded amount of precipitation in the park's existence, so the wildflowers had already passed their peak, but they were still lovely and plentiful.  Clustered around any stream in abundance and then they spread throughout the meadows.

Up and up we went stopping for an occasional break for water and pictures.  We were so impressed with our little hiker. He just kept on going and going and hardly complained.  We kept motivated with awesome homemade trail mix and lots of water!  At each trail split, we could have branched off and shortened our hike, but to quote Jadeyn: we were determined!

The halfway point of the hike was of course reaching the mountain.  We reached the glacier and were faced with the challenge of crossing the ice on a narrow 8 inch wide path on precariously slanted snow.  Wow.  Just Kevin and I would have been able to do it just fine, but add trying to hold Jadeyn's hand into the mix and wow:  too scary.  There was one other option: hike back a ways and go around.  It was one tough mile, switch backing all the way up.  But we have to say: we are so glad we weren't able to do the glacier.  The back way put us right at the edge of the massive mountain and it was beautiful!  Lunch up at Pinnacle Peak while Jadeyn constructed a snowman and then back down. 

"Going to the woods is going home."

--John Muir

The way back was shorter than the way up, but it was much steeper.  By the time we were nearing the bottom, our knees ached and we all had hot spots on our toes!  Ouch.  And we were wiped out.  All in all, we went 6 miles.  Down to the Visitor's Center and all we had the energy for was to sit and watch a beautiful film on the National Park.  So sweet, at the end of the film was a quote about how every National Park is different, but each one feels like home.  Jadeyn's voice pops up: That's exactly how I feel.  We got Jadeyn's Junior Ranger Badge and he enjoyed telling the Ranger about his accomplishment of hiking the whole Skyline Trail.  

One thing that was pointed out is how rejuvenating and refreshing the national parks are. There is so little connection to the outside world, that you have to go let go of all your worries and concerns because there is nothing you can really do about them while immersed in the wilderness.

"Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people 

are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; 

that wildness is a necessity."  --John Muir

After the trail, we had about 2 hours before needing to get back for the 6:30 Junior Ranger program. So we went a little deeper into the park to see the old growth forest, the old patriarchs! Before we even got to the actual loop you could tell the truth. The trees were going to be amazing. Rooted trees exposed massive root systems, towering a good 20 feet above our heads, all recovered in mosses and ferns, mushrooms and flowers. Walking through the trees were Redwoods, hemlock,... Scattered all across the forest floor where tiny one and a half inch pine cones. Such massive trees come from the tiniest pine cones! Tearing so high and supported by enormous trunks, so peaceful and humbling.

To get to this area we got to traverse a substantially bridge where only one person was recommended to cross at a time. It was almost more than Jadeyn could handle having to wait in line to cross! He was so anxious to get to his Junior Ranger program! The bridge was so cool! We stopped at every bridge and waterfall on the way back to. All were beautiful but once stood out above the others. Christine Falls dropped in a series of for water falls on one side of the road before disappearing under the bridge. As you leaned over the bridge and look straight down the waterfall talk about vertigo. Another was a crashing River tumbling down a 180 foot deep slot canyon. The water was compressed into a slot about 15 feet across twisting back and forth.

Back at our camp ground, the Junior Ranger program was all about the animals in the National Park so we found out that the Marmots here are Hoary Marmot and they have a silvery white back. We saw quite a few of the cute little fellers. The evening program was on the wild life as well. Tortilla pizzas on the grill for dinner and then it was time to pile up in the tent to read and sleep! Throughout the day, we really only did about 8 miles, but when half of it is really climbing, it wiped out! We were happy to be off our feet.

At camp, Jadeyn had scavenged all sorts of small branches, determined to make a fire.  He even built it all up in a perfect TP.  He also created a critter trap with string and stretched branches weighed down by a few rocks.  He made himself a fishing pole and fished in the forest for piranha.  One last funny thing: his feet really stink and he completely cracked up when I helped him change his socks and I called his toes ten little toxic bombs!

Monday 20th 2015 OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK

 

Wow, the first portion of our trip is over! We are so glad that we had an extra day at Mount Rainier. We did not expect to have so much that we still wanted to do. We conquered a lot, but still lots of reasons to come back. We packed up camp, had hot chocolate and muffins for breakfast, and said goodbye to the beautiful mountain. The drive out of the park and beyond is still so amazing with the trees and ferns. Not quite as green as normal years since, believe it or not, the Northwest is experiencing a drought. I think Colorado has received all the rain Washington normally gets!

As we approached the Quinault Rainforest, the trees started getting bigger, ferns and blackberries multiplying and then the moss started covering everything! We only have a half a day at this end of the park so we did our best to see as much as we could as fast as we could and still keep our eyes open for Melanie and Mark's family. The ranger station wasn't much help on what not to miss. They told us: just go and explore and  there a waterfall a ways up, but its not marked.  So off we went. The waterfalls we found were beautiful. Every rock face and branch surrounding the Falls was dripping or draped in moss. If was so like another world! 

Along the river, we saw a mighty bald eagle flying over with something pretty big and its talons. He landed across the river. Later, driving under a full canopy, another bald eagle swooped in and followed the road under the trees. We stepped on the gas and followed along with him for a few hundred yards. Wow! Our favorite hikes, Maple Glade Nature Trail, felt just like we should be seeing Ewoks racing through on speeder bikes. Either Ewoks or Sasquatch! The soft earth under our feet muffled every sound.

 

Big Cedar Tree. This hike let us deep deep into the jungle. We were again immersed in so many shades of green and every texture imaginable. We climbed up and up until we finally came up on the massive hulking Cedar wow! It's base was so large, most likely 50 plus feet in diameter. There was a pretty good sized split in the base that got Jadeyn all intrigued. Suddenly, he disappeared into it and reappeared on the other side! We climbed inside too. There was room enough to stand up and walk around. Sections of the inside we're still attached above us, and hung down like stalactites! So cool.

Kalaloch Lodge. We were so lucky to have been able to get a cabin at the lodge since they are booked all summer. We arrived and we're so excited. Our cabin is the closest to the cliff overlooking the ocean. A perfect setting, little gazebo overlook as well. So nice. Jadeyn began practically bouncing off the walls with excitement to get to the ocean! But first dinner. We dined at the lodge against the window overlooking the rocky beach. Kevin had the salmon, Jadeyn had golden fish and chips, & I got to try out ratatouille. We each loved our food. And crab cakes for appetizer at which I actually enjoyed too!

Off to find the cousins. Melanie's family is staying in the camp ground beside the lodge. So great to see them again. They took us to Ruby Beach. Beautiful windswept Northwest beach with huge piles of driftwood to explore, rocks to examine and mighty waves to catch us off guard every few minutes. We rolled up Jadeyn's pant legs in the hopes that he would stay relatively dry. Um, no. At one point I saw him fall in up to his shoulders. Another time I asked him how his hair got wet and he dramatically brought his hands from his feet all the way up to his body and whispered: Whoosh!! My favorite part was reliving my childhood at the Oregon coast when I saw him so excited to rescue every jellyfish he could get his hands on.  Jadeyn, Brendan and Alisha piles of their hands full of them and touch them into the waves hollering and shouting! Save the Jellies!!  Then came to driftwood battles. Jedi vs Sith. Up and down the beach. The weather was overcast and misty and at times it drizzled on us. As we started to head back, the tide had started to recede. Tide pool time! 

So exciting to search from rock to rock trying to discover a bigger sea anemone or brighter starfish.  The sea anemone would lightly tug at your finger when you gently touched their tentacles while the starfish really held their ground when you tried to disturb them. Jadeyn was in heaven and Kevin and I felt like kids again. It was so wonderful to share this experience with him.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

 In the middle of the night, Jayden must have still been floating on the ocean waves in his sleep. He shouted out: Help! We jumped up asking if he was okay. He mumbled: I can't keep the tide from coming up any higher! Wonderful night sleep, wonderful to get a shower and to get clean! Jadeyn remembered his treasures collected from last night, a few mussels. He worked his little tail off trying to crack and pry them open. He succeeded and yes, he was disgusted! The second one, we cheated, plopped one in a cup of water, microwaved it for a few seconds and pop it came right open. He was still disgusted.

We checked out of our lodge after enjoying a hot chocolate and looking over the ocean and headed to Ruby beach for a ranger nature walk through the tide pools. We were so glad we went to learn about all the details of the tide pool creatures. Some of the coolest parts we learned were about the little hole in the top of the starfish where they suck in the water to siphon through their bodies and out through their tentacles. Sea snails that are carnivorous, brown barnacles, mussels, etc. We studied the layers of the tide pools and where each creature is able to live and survive during low tide. One of the coolest things was too lean in close to the barnacles and other creatures and listen. Jadeyn described it as a Yumming noise. It was the sound like rice krispies. The ocean is so full of amazing creatures and life.

On the way to our campsite in Mora, we got to drive through the notorious Forks, Washington. You know, the one famous from the Twilight books. So funny! There was even a Twilight gift shop, and after we passed through the town towards La Push, there were signs saying: Treaty Line, No vampires beyond this point! Oh my!

Off to hole in the rocks. Melanie's family was already there so when we arrived at Rialto beach,we headed to Hole in the Rock. There is something so beautiful about the beaches of the Northwest. So rugged, tree bones scattered and piled up, and amazing smooth rocks. I loved the rocks! It was so hard to go 20 steps without picking up one. All three of us couldn't resist their beauty. 

We walked about one and a half miles before we found the family and got to explore the tide pools. Sweet! Sea anemones and barnacles a-plenty! The sea stacks(giant rocks) we're so picturesque. The coolest part was the tiny hermit crab pools, small rockfish, and sea anemones dwarfing the other creatures and pink algae and sea weed growing! Jadeyn cracked up when he was determined to feed a hermit crab to sea anemone. He wanted to see what would happen. He held the little crab up above it and watching it as the "suckers shot out there harpoons and tasered the crab and then sucked him in!" He held onto the shell and the anemone had a nice meal of a nice little naked crab! We didn't get nearly as much time as he wanted with a tide pools. Funny, I got a blister on the bottom of each foot from my Keens from walking in so much wet sand, ouch. I found the most comforting thing was to find a nice sized jellyfish and rest my foot on the top of him. Perfect, cool and comforting!

We set up camp at Mora campground just across from Melanie's site. The campground is in the middle of a forest wonderland. Ancient trees, moss, ferns. Wow again. Tent up, lunch eaten and off again. This time to check out the Hoh rain forest area. It is about an hour away and yes, was just as amazing as we expected! When we first got there, Jadeyn got his Junior Ranger badge. An awesome Ranger sat down with him and talked with him for a good 15 minutes going page by page and discussing it and letting Jadeyn explain to him everything he learned. It was impressive.

Hall of Mosses Hike. We felt like we were walking through a forest of moss covered Ents. Giants loomed above us covered with long shaggy moss. We totally expected them to just start walking! Everything was covered.  One of our favorite parts was the nurse logs. Ancient trees that had fallen long ago decayed and provided a soft nutritious bed for new seedlings to take root and enough sunshine for them to thrive. As a result, a perfect straight row of more giant trees grew, taking advantage of the ancient tree! The Maple trees that grow here had every horizontal branch covered with moss, but the moss couldn't attach to the young vertical ones yet. But they're perfect light green leaves practically glowed in the sunlight. And the creek flowing through? Oh my. It was absolutely perfectly crystal clear. All the sentiment and particles filtered out through the mosses.  Through the vines and greenery floating so picturesquely on the surface, we could see very every rock and pebble and minute fish darting around. It was mesmerizing. Along the road back we saw the world's largest spruce tree. We pulled up to see a massive splintered trunk and debris everywhere, and a park ranger there with his lights flashing. From everything we saw, it looked like the giant had just fallen. It had happened December 9th 2014, just a few short months ago. It's kind of strange to realize that things that have withstood the ages can actually come down in our lifetime. Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, and this massive spruce tree. Back at camp we build a fire, had hotdogs and s'mores. Awesome time talking around the campfire about our favorite trips and places we have been. Off to bed.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

 Not so smooth of a night last night. For some reason we tossed and turned a bit. By about 5:30 a.m. the crows started and then at 6 they quieted but the songbirds started their trills, and chipmunks began to chew us out! Pancakes and bacon for breakfast and then Jadeyn disappeared into the forest with Brendan. They build up two bases and two outpost fully stocked with weapons of sticks, moss and pine cones. So the plan today is to head to La Push to beach #2. We had heard some good tidepool reports and today at 11 a.m. is another pretty low tide. This beach is in the middle of the Indian Reservation. We started on the trail, expecting the beach to be pretty close. Instead, it was about a mile but it went through another lovely must cover too, giant tree, fern filled forest that we have come to love. 

As we climbed down to the beach, we discovered it to be a perfect North West Beach, sea stacks, moderate driftwood and wide open dark sandy beach. We hit low tide perfectly. One of the massive sea stacks was literally covered with mussels all so tightly snuggle together interspersed with the gooseneck creatures. We ventured out farther on the rocks and began to discover the starfish. So many starfish! Sea Anemones everywhere as well. Luckily, I had thought ahead and simply changed Jadeyn into swim bottoms, because there was no stopping him from getting wet! He was on cloud nine again! One of our favorite discoveries showed up as perfectly round marble sized jellies rolling back down the beach with each wave. Examining them closely, they were perfect spheres with ridges running across them like hot air balloons or cantelope. Suspended inside there were two small dark hairs, guts maybe? We collected them and Jadeyn had the brilliant plan to feed them to the sea anemones. Drop one in the center, all the little tentacle start to grab it and contracted in on it and yummy, he just had a nice meal. It was cool to drop a little jellies in the water and watch them float. The little ridges became opaque and they floated perfectly in the tide pool.

In another section, we found dark reddish seaweed or kelp that had strands of only about one fourth of an inch wide. It was moving pretty consistently. Looking closer, we saw there was a small reddish crab in there reaching out his arms and clamping down on supper. Once the tide started filling up the tidepools, the kids began constructing a mighty castle, complete with a moat and barricade wall to defend against the surf. They worked hard and loved it even more when the waves would get close enough to reach the wall and force them to build again! It was a perfect day on a Northwest beach: chilly and misty at times, cloudy and sunny, and just pure fun. Melanie's family headed back while we enjoyed lunch on the drift logs and then had the challenge of getting enough sand off of Jadeyn and our feet to hike back out.

Back at camp we had a nice leisurely afternoon taking walks around the campground several times, sitting and listening to the sounds of the forest and listening to Jadeyn's chatter about sea urchin catapults and giants tempest causing sea anemones that could suck down ships! Melanie's family had headed into town for showers and laundry so Jadeyn was anxiously awaiting the return. We started reading the third Harry Potter book to him and he is totally into it! One funny: He discovered the coolest lizard and was frozen in place to make sure he didn't scare it away waiting for us to come see it. We surrounded it to give Jadeyn the best chance to catch it. He pounced, only to find out it was plastic!! We have no idea how it got in our campground, but it was totally fooled all of us. Jadeyn hid it on a tree in the cousins campground to surprise them too! Campfire tonight and s'mores!

Thursday, July 23, 2015 OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK

 Bright and early we all packed up camp to set off for the next part of our journey Olympic National Park. The weather is looking pretty poorly at the Hurricane Ridge area, so we thought if we get there early, we would have a better chance of having clear skies. It was about an hour travel to the ridge and as we got closer, the clouds and fog rolled in. We found two camp sites and then went straight up to the ridge. It felt like we were in with the clouds. Huge mountains and fantastic evergreens with white clouds drifting in amongst them. Our first hike we took climbed all the way up, but it was evident what the lack of rain had done! In past years, the mountainside would be overflowing with wild flowers. This year there were fire weed and little white blossoms but not very many. As we hiked higher to the mist, we saw several of the Olympic Marmot which can only be found here in the National Park. All three marmot kinds have been different. These guys had a motley black brown on their backs. There were also sweet blacktail deer everywhere and they were not shy. Right alongside the trail they posed perfectly for photos. Their coats were beautiful and antlers still in velvet. When we arrived at the end of the trail, we were completely enveloped in clouds. There were signs naming each of the peaks supposedly surrounding  us and we laughed as always saw with white!

Back down at the visitor center, we discovered the sign it leading to the Hurricane Hills hike. Oh, that's the one we want! Now, this hike had just as many clouds and obstructed views, but it was beautiful. Hiking up, we went into the clouds. We were met by more deer and Marmots. The scenery breaking through the clouds was really breathtaking. Afterward, we headed down a dirt road to find Obstruction Point. Now this hike can be only described as unique. The trail was skree and the tiny shrubs and bushes on either side of the narrow path were minute and struggling to survive like Alpine education. Then the clouds enveloped us. It seriously felt like we were walking into a foreign world. So strange. We hiked and climbed over a few peaks until we saw a beautiful white mountain goat cross the ridge. And then a large bird which turned out to be a blue grouse camouflaged in the undergrowth. It was a strange feeling hiking through such a wide expanse of clouds.

Back at camp, Jadeyn Alisha and Brendan quickly made a home out of the forest. Our camp was surrounded by giant logs and it became their highway leading them deeper into their home base. It was so impressive. Running along the logs and gathering supplies, they constructed a fort of logs and branches and covered it with bark and twigs! It had escape routes and emergency supplies.

We decided on an evening drive to see if we could spot any animals and headed back to Hurricane Ridge Hill. We arrived just as it was dusk and began climbing up the same trail from morning. This time, the clouds were gone and we could see the beautiful mountains caught in the glare of the setting sun. Lots of fun conversations and laughter. This time we saw different animals. We saw a whole family of ptarmigans.  A mom and six beautiful babies. She kept calling to get them closer and they were going in every direction including down the hill towards us! We saw dark brown snowshoe hare and a few youngsters. They were a beautiful deep brown, the color of rich earth. We heard Marmot whistling, saw a big antlered black tail buck on the ridge. The most humorous part came on the way back when we separated into three groups. Suddenly in the distance ahead of us we heard Melanie start yelling: Mark! Mark! She sounded really scared. We took off down the trail running to see what had happened. Melanie, Kierra and Alisha were coming up towards us with a pretty large seven point buck following them. He wouldn't let them pass! They had hollered at it and yelled and even threw stuff and it just looked at them like he thought it was food. It took a bit of yelling from all of us to get him to finally step off the trail. It was pretty hilarious in a fun way to end a hike! 

 

On the drive back, Jadeyn and Brendan entertained themselves by listening to the songs from Cats! Back at camp, we had a campfire, s'mores, roasted marshmallows for EL Smudges and roasted Starbursts. That was a new experience but they were really tasty.

Friday, July 24, 2015

 We woke up to the trails of song birds, ratatat of woodpeckers and the light drizzle of rain. So for a summer of drought, the rainy days are finally here. There is rain in the forecast for the next few days. So this morning we huddled under the rain shield and had a toasty breakfast and a leisurely morning. Next to Crescent Lake Lodge to check it out and to hike to Miramar Falls. We happened to arrive at the same time as a ranger guided hike there. We jumped at the chance and again we're so happy we did. The Ranger leading the discussion had such a passion for trees and was so pleased to share his excitement with us. John Muir quote "Thousands of tired, nerve shaken, over civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home. That wildness is a necessity." We learned more about the great oak, Douglas fir, spruce and the other amazing giants of the forest. The most fascinating to me was the question of does the moss hurt or help the trees. I had assumed that it wasn't good for them, but they have discovered that digging into the most clusters, they found tree roots in them! The trees are sending out roots to take advantage of the extra nutrients and water stored in the moss. The waterfall was incredibly beautiful and so picture perfect. We all hiked through an ancient grove and to Sol Duc Falls. Both trails lined with immense trees, ferns, moss etc. The kids enjoyed themselves running up and down the trails getting it energy out, playing prisoner and capturing one of us at a time, so much fun. We had planned to take a dip in the Sol Duc Hot Springs, but when we took a look at it, it was really crowded and was pretty much a glorified hot pool. We decided to pass.

The last area to explore with Elwah area where we hiked to yet another beautiful waterfall. The rocks surrounding it were coated completely in green life. Well. There was a dam on the river here that they tore up last year to allow the salmon to continue on their journey up the river. It was pretty amazing process and accomplishment.

Finally on our way back to camp. Still drizzling but light enough to get dinner of hot soup and for the kids to play out in there fort.  It is quite the creative process. And they are loving building it. Guess what, the banana slugs finally appeared today with the rain. We came across a few during the day, but they really came out around the campsite tonight. Green, yellow, brown and albino. There was a lot of teasing and challenging and threatening to roast one over the fire, lots of fun. It took quite a bit of effort to get the fire started with all the rain and the air filled with mist, but Kevin finally got it. I think we will get to bed early.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

As a result of the rain and cold, we ended up having a free day today. The rain had tapered off at morning, but was supposed to start up again around 9 a.m. We took advantage of the break and took down camp in relatively dry weather taking a few minutes to investigate Jadeyn's fort and banana slugs. Melanie's family took off to explore one of the Washington islands and we took off towards the North Cascades National Park for the next leg of your trip.

We got to have the adventure of taking a ferry across the water and it was pretty exciting.  We stood out on the deck and got whipped by the wind as the waves crashed underneath us.  Wow.  Once across, we enjoyed the beauty of the island, eating lunch on a sweet little beach and watching guys with stunt kites do tricks.  There were a few absolutely incredible bridges connecting us to the mainland way above the water.  Overhead we saw two huge bald eagles soaring on the wind.   

 Due to leaving one day earlier than expected, our hotel reservations for a bit off. We cancelled one with a very grumpy manager and added and day on to another and then focused on finding a place for tonight. Considering we were headed to civilization we didn't think there would be a problem. Um, a little bit hard. All the major chains were completely booked from Seattle to Burlington. We could have gone into the park to sleep in 90% chance of rain. Instead, we just kept going north until we hit Bellingham and stayed in home2 suites. Brand new place that was totally cool. They even had a saline pool which Jadeyn played in for about an hour and a half to him practice his swimming and we had so much fun. Absolutely hilarious to see him try to swim deep to the bottom of the pool. It just didn't happen! Dinner was chili and Fritos and noodles cooked in our room and we actually got to watch TV. Jadeyn was introduced to the original Batman and Robin complete with Bam! Crash! and Pow! And a bit of Wonder Woman with her baby blues and truth lasso! Then to top off the evening BattleBots! Jadeyn was in heaven.

Sunday, July 26, 2015 NORTH CASCADES NATIONAL PARK

 Nice to sleep in a bit in a nice soft bed. As a result, we made it down to breakfast a bit later than we wanted. Just in time to join an entire boys baseball team. Huge tournament going on. That's why all the hotels were booked! Crazy to fight for our food until they left. We got a nice compliment from a fellow diner who said she was so happy to see a family totally engage with their child and not buried in our phones. She said he was such a well behaved child and was very impressed!

Onto North Cascades National Park. The last park on our list this trip. We really didn't know what to expect for this part. There isn't a lot of information out there about it, so we thought we would simply explore! We picked up a Junior Ranger book for Jadeyn too. Our first hike, Trail of the Cedars, took us through a grove of amazing trees with informational signs about their differences, how big they can grow. etc. It was like walking through green wonderland with an amazing canopy over head. This area has a few dams gathering electricity and it was fascinating to learn about the process and to see them.


Our next hike was up to a lake over view and was interesting because it began in lush green moss forest and the higher we climbed, the more it begins resemble a 'regular' drier forest. I did catch a lizard for Jadeyn and got bit and peed on. Eew! At the top, the wind whipped around us, but the lake was that beautiful glacier turquoise blue. Wow, simply amazing. We began talking to a family who had camped from Florida, across country, up to Alaska and now they are on their way back! Wow, what an experience, but can you imagine how many pictures they will have to go through when they get home? They told us all sorts of awesome tidbits and advice on visiting Alaska and made us even more excited to go someday.

Our last hike was another mountain lake, Rainy Lake, but this one was very moderate hike. There signs along the way too. Interesting note, trees growing on slopes with the curve at the base of their trunk is caused by snow creep. As the tree is growing, it is being pushed every winter by heavy snow sliding down the mountain.

Beautiful park and I'm sure there was a lot more to do, and we went through it pretty quickly. But there was one last viewpoint, Washington Pass, outside the part that rivaled a lot of the views we have seen in the past. Panorama of the jagged peaks. It was outstanding.

We were planning on staying the night in Winthrop Washington, and had no idea what to expect. Turns out it is an old western town recreated, complete with boardwalks and store fronts. Our place was nice, really old but you could tell they really took good care of it. So, where to go for dinner in an old western town? The Old Schoolhouse Pub for massive juicy burgers. Finger licking good! While sitting at dinner by the window, we saw a beautiful deer run by followed by twin fawns. It was getting pretty chilly but we couldn't pass up Shari's Sweet Shop. Most of their ice creams were handmade too. Jadeyn had the richest chocolate we have ever tasted. Kevin had butter pecan and I had homemade blackberry. So funny though, at the last hotel Jadeyn had so enjoyed watching BattleBots. Just so happens that tonight with the tournament championship! So he got to see Bite Force finish off Tombstone!

Monday, July 26, 2015 RATHDRUM, IDAHO

 Quite a nice stay at Abbey in. They provided breakfast for us of homemade muffins, bagels and Eggos! We packed up and hit the road again, this time towards Idaho. As we drove yesterday, we really contemplated our options with being one day ahead of schedule. Looking at the map, it was kind of a lightbulb moment. We could go pretty much right by Yellowstone! How can we pass up an opportunity like that and a chance to use our annual pass one more time before it expires on Friday? That's settled it! The drive was a nice pleasant one as we worked our way into Idaho. We arrived in Coeur d'Alene with a little bit of time to explore, we walked down by the lake for a snack and watch the boats and jet skiers and sea planes, then we found a bench and read Harry Potter to  Jayden. At 4:30, we arrived at Brian and Kasi Miller's house. They are our good friends from optometry school days. We were able to hook up with them a few years ago in Florida at Busch Gardens. There are some friendships that are so easy that you can instantly pick up right where you left off. Peyton is now 9 and is quite grown up. Bennett is 3, and a ball of energy. He is quite the hilarious challenge for Kasi. It took just a few minutes for Jadeyn to figure out how he would fit in but after that, he disappeared with the boys. In the basement, the backyard, on the trampoline, and then finally discovering Minecraft! Oh boy. He loved it!
Delicious dinner and conversation catching up on all the optometry classmates and life in general One funny at dinner was saying the prayer right before eating.  Brian and Kasi are such good people and we have so enjoyed our friendship with them. We ended up staying awake until around 11:30 p.m., boys and all. They were pretty excited about that and then to bed.

Tuesday, July 27, 2015  YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK AND TETON NATIONAL PARK

 Up at 5 a.m. We actually could have gotten up earlier because I think we were so anxious to get going on the road. We were on the road by 5:30 a.m. Our destination and goal: make it to Yellowstone National Park early enough to get a campsite. Well, after a few hours of driving, the realization hit us, we were sabotaged by the time change. Oh no! That means it's even an hour later than we had hoped for. Along the way, we kept checking the website and calling Yellowstone to keep track of which campground still had sites. It wasn't looking good. We listened to quite a bit of The River of Doubt and we read quite a bit of Harry Potter.
Yellowstone! By the time we arrived and wound our way slowly behind the traffic until we got cell coverage, all nine campgrounds were full! Dang it. Next plan, Teton National Park. There was still one campground that had availability, clear the southernmost part of the park. Jadeyn was a little upset because he wanted so badly to get a Junior Ranger badge of both parks and now it looks like he can only do it at Teton. But driving through, he did get to be amazed at seeing the mass of steam plumes of the various geysers in hot pots. We will have to plan a specific trip back to spend more time here. The last time he was here he was only 4 months old.
We found a campsite at Gros Ventura campground in an RV site, but it's actually quite lovely! Set up camp and headed into Jackson Hole for dinner. While we were on the waitlist for Merry Piglets Mexican Cantina (how's that for a conglomeration of words!) we went to an art gallery and were blown away by and fell in love with a few artists, so much so, that we even requested a quote on some of the paintings and one sculpture specifically. The sculpture was a freestanding eagle and fish. Expensive but beautiful! Dinner was very tasty, good food and nice not to have to cook it. We got back to camp around 10:00 p.m. and just went straight to bed!

Wednesday, July 28, 2015. TETON NATIONAL PARK

Brrr! Cold morning, but way warmer than we would have been at Yellowstone. It was 34 degrees. Up and at 'em, chop chop according to Kevin. Quickly got dressed, hot chocolate and we were off. We made it to Jenny Lake ferry by 8:30 a.m. to make our way across the lake for our hike. Beautiful, perfectly smoothly! With magnificent Tetons in the background! Wow.

So our plan is to hike to the Three Forks 4.5 miles up, and if Jadeyn still has energy, to continue as far as we could to Lake Solitude. Beginning the hike, we noticed this yesterday, but today it was even more evident, the park is so incredibly green for the end of July. In fact, the open areas, prairies and some Alpine areas were much more greener than the Washington parks. And the wildflowers, spectacular! In the first 100 yards of the trail, we came across monkshood or Wolfsbane and were so excited. This is what we needed while we were in werewolf territory earlier in the trip. Then we went further and it was everywhere! Huckleberry bushes line both sides of the trail interspersed with blackberry and raspberry bushes. Then the tall chiming bells, cascading daisies, even gentian violet, yellow Columbine, and tiny white and yellow blossoms.

We climbed up the steep path, soaking in the beauty of the place. Now this is what summer time is all about, fresh pine scent, crisp air, tiny birds flitting around, burst of color along the trail and bubbling brooks and waterfalls. We are so happy to Jadeyn is such a happy and willing hiker. He bounced along rocks happy as can be. We told stories and played our favorite game, what is your favorite: camping trip, amusement park ride, food etc. We reach the Three Forks and Jadeyn was all gun ho to continue on. So on and up we went!


It is a pretty strenuous and steep trail. The kind that if you took your eyes off it for too long, you would definitely stumble on the rocks. It seems that every twist in the past and corner we would turn would astound us with yet another breathtaking view the peaks.

As we hiked along, we were going through a canyon of sorts, between the peaks until we were eventually on the other side! We met so many friendly people and it seems everyone had something complementary to say about our little hiker.  Some loved his hat, others praised his energy. One guy in his twenties who is resting even said, "here I was feeling so good about myself and how far I've hiked and then this little guy blazes past me!"  Once we passed the forks area, we didn't see a single person under 18. Just Jadeyn. He started to wear out around six miles in and so we stopped for lunch. He laid back with his boots off and we all got a breather. Then on again. Just one really steep miles to go and we were finally rewarded. Set in a deep bowl amongst  the cliffs was a perfectly pristine alpine lake. We made it! The first thing Jadeyn did to reward himself was to pull office boots and socks and splash his feet into the icy water! Well, such a beautiful setting. Totally worth the hike! We took some really nice pictures of the lake and Jadeyn soaking his feet. By now it was 1:30 p.m. and we knew we had better turn back so we could be sure to get on a boat back across Jenny Lake.


On our way back we sang songs, made vacation plans for next summer and enjoyed going downhill!  On the way up, we had spotted and nice sized moose in the brush by the river and saw another smaller one on the way back. Magnificent creatures. So many tiny pikas, a few more marmots, one yellow and black songbird. His head almost look like it was on fire it was so orange red.

Then, there was a couple on the trail with their cameras aimed into the bushes. They said it was a bear! It took us a bit to find her since she was really moving through the underbrush, but then we saw her two perfectly fuzzy cubs ambling after her. Wow! What a treat. They traveled quite a ways parallel to the path about 30 feet into the brush. Then the mama suddenly turned up to the path. We all backed away, and she kept coming. Kevin shooed Jadeyn up the path and then the mama stepped on to the path! Instead of crossing, she started flooding her way straight toward us! That's when we took off rather quickly, but not before getting one amazing picture of her. It got our hearts racing that's for sure.

Back to the hike. We all did really well until about the last until about mile 12 and then we really started to feel it. We sang and tried to distract ourselves from our sore feet, but the last mile, we'll admit was really really hard and painful! But we made it! As Jadeyn said, there isn't any other choice but to make it down! We had to wait for the ferry and Jadeyn announced to some people waiting with us that he had hiked 14 miles all by himself without even being carried! We are so proud of his determination. Up to the visitor center and Jadeyn got his Junior Ranger badge, bought firewood, back to camp and we limped around as we made dinner. We were just so grateful to be off our feet. Great to have a campfire and s'mores tonight. In a 10 by 10 p.m.

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air..."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thursday, July 29, 2015 BACK HOME

 Wow what an epic trip what a fantastic memory we have created. We broke camp and said goodbye to the Tetons and were on the road by 8:15am. Our trip home was pretty uneventful. One highlight midway through Wyoming: we stopped at an ice cream place that Kevin remembers from his high school days. They are famous for the big scoop. We had three very large scoops, and that was our lunch. We made good time and were home by 4:30. Nice to be home. It was evident that Newt really missed us. He was so anxious to see us, meowing, meowing, meowing, and boy was he shedding! I think two weeks was a lot for him to be left alone. Grateful to be home, grateful for the wonderful memories that we made. Can't wait for the next trip!