Olympic Peninsula: Here We Come!

On Monday, we packed up, went grocery shopping, loaded up Dan and Jill's Prius (thank you, friends!), and drove west. We planned to spend five days exploring the Olympic Peninsula. Our first stop (and home base for the first three nights) was La Push, WA. The fastest route to get there included a ferry. It was so different to travel in a place where ferries are a part of everyday travel.

Water everywhere! See Mt. Baker in the background?

Hello, Mt. Rainier!

Getting all the sillies out before getting back in the car. The trip took most of the day, but it was so fun to see the changing landscape.

After a long day in the car, we rounded the corner and there was La Push. We settled in at our beachfront cabin at the Quileute Oceanside Resort on First Beach at La Push. The whole area belongs to the Quileute Nation, and the resort is the only thing happening on the beach, which made it feel really remote and private (just what we like!). (P.S. The term "resort" is used a bit loosely--more like tents, RVs, and cabins.) It was really fun talking with the Quileute owners in the office, picking up some children's books about legends of the tribe, and learning more about their culture and language.


It was foggy, chilly, moody, and mysterious--and completely different from any beach I've ever seen.

I was not used to all the rivers and streams feeding into the ocean, or the sea stacks and strange rock formations, or the piles of massive logs, or the salmon trying to jump back upstream to spawn, or the frigid water, or the tide pools and crazy sea creatures, or the importance of knowing the tide schedule. I love the smell of the ocean, and that was familiar, but the fog and chill were not. It reminded me of Scotland more than anything else. We even saw seals in the harbor.

Daniel has described scenes like this to me for years, from growing up in Vancouver. I have always loved his stories but I didn't really understand what he was talking about. Now I get it. Wild, fierce, untamed coastline. The perfect place to take my favorite Canadian for his 40th birthday!