2018 Yearly Return to the Northwest Part 1, Olympic Peninsula

 2018 Trip back to the Washington Coast, So much to tell and so little time while preparing for our KICK STARTER!! 

We made a great circle and made time for our favorite spots along with a few new discoveries. We visited our secret sand dollar spot, Ocean Shores Coastal Museum,   Hoh Rain forest,   Rialto Beach,  Crescent Lake,  Olympic Game Park, San Juan’s,

Mom is in heaven when she gets to walk along the beach and collect sand dollars.

Gathering “special rocks”

Stopped for Lunch and found a adventure at Crescent Lake. I always try and plan lunch somewhere that will also provide a little activity. Today we were going to like to a waterfall, however we saw the lake. It was such a fun spontaneous activity. Rented two Canoes for an hours and everyone had a turn around the lake. The water was so clear you say the reflection of the canoe in 50 foot deep water. After our Canoe trip we did some swimming and skipped our sand dollars. Someone might just find a few sand dollars on their canoe trip.

Early Morning walk on Rialto Beach to Hole in the rock. We love the Northwest and especially the cool coastal weather.

 

Making a Fairy House at #Seabrook   Another Accidental/planned find.  As usual before the trip I had reviewed all the Geo Caches in the area.  This one looked fun so one day while driving to Ocean Shores we stopped.  We loved exploring the old forest the stumps, caves and crevasse.  Everyone enjoyed using the natural material around to create a beautiful fairy house, complete with a garden and well.

Fairy House at #Seabrook

The Olympic Game Farm in Sequim was a rather expensive (for us) stop. but ended up being worth it. First, plan plenty of time, you can drive through again and again. In the summer there is a small petting zoo but for us the best part was seeing the animals.  We loved feeding them! But also liked observing their behavior and talking about the differences.  It was really exciting to have the Elk and Buffalo eating right out of your hand and sticking their snouts in the van.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

Capitol Reef

Got off the beaten path a bid, almost got ourselves in trouble, but saw some majestic views!

Working on the Ranch

 

 

4 Corners

The four corners of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado meet together. We spent a week down there and had endless adventures. We visited Bluff Fort and learned about early settlers. We hiked and explored Indian ruins in the area. I chose geo cashes that would ask the kids questions about the Indians or the geography of the area. We just wander with a curious mind and have so many questions that promote learning. How did the Indians get there? What do they eat. Why would they choose this canyon? How were these canyons made. Then of course there are all the fun walks along any stream that we can find. Exploring trails on feet and with our trusty pathfinder.

We found the best oasis by wandering. We were up of the cliffs looking down, down, down at the river and notices a dirt road down there. I studied the map and found the way there. Pretty soon we were driving on the narrow dirt road along the canyon wall. We talked about how the canyon was created, why some rocks eroded and others did not. We wandered and wandered and pretty soon found a stream running through the red rock. We all got out and started exploring again, erosion, plant life, minerals, so much fun.

Cape Disapointment

One of our summer trips took up in the tent trailer to Cape Disappointment WA. It is located at the mouth of the mighty Columbia river.

 

 

 

While there we visited several WWII armaments. It was a great chance for the kids to explore and learn about history and how the country all pulled together.

 

 

 

 

Another spot was that we visited was the spot where Lewis and Clark spent the winter. It is a great spot, beautiful woods, nice visitor center, junior ranger books and cool reproductions. The whole fort has been rebuilt. You can walk through and see how they lived. There were also fun educational presentations.

A favorite fascinating spot was the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria. We learned about the graveyard of the Pacific. Just as you enter there is a huge map with all the shipwreck’s on it. They have full size boats, life boats, fishing boats, and so much. Outside there is a boat that you get to walk around. It explained why the Columbia river was such an important shipping highway and why it was so dangerous. It was neat to understand the history of the mighty river. We also were able to learn about the Bar and every time we drove over the bridge back to WA we could observe and talk about what we learned.

Out front is a spot for the local train. We were all excited to get a ride. Again my husband was wonderful because the kids and I got a train ride and he tried to follow along in the car and guess where the stops would be.

 

There is a tall Column in Astoria OR it tells the history of the town and why it was build. This stop was a highlight because we climbed the stairs and flew paper airplanes off the top, up and down up and down. great exercise. From that vantage point we were able to see the whole area, we could see the river and all the huge ocean going ships.

We could also see the bridge over the Columbia river. It was really fun to see the coastal fog. Inland it was a clear and nice day but we could distinctly see the fog right along the coast. This again lead to another great discussion about weather. There was also a huge grass hill that we ran and rolled down.

Again dad was willing to forgo the fun and drive the van down so we did not have to climb back up.