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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Pacific Northwest - Day 1

Janda and I were invited to a wedding in Portland, OR that took place last weekend and since neither of us had been to the Pacific Northwest, we decided to make a trip of it.  Originally we had wanted it to be longer and to see more places, but ultimately we decided that the time and prices were best for 6 days.  We concentrated our visit on the area between Seattle and Portland, specifically the National Parks and Forests.

We arrived at noon on Monday and immediately stocked up on food, ice and fuel and started driving to the Olympic National Park and Forest.  We made a lot of stops- we got frozen food and snacks at Trader Joe's, ice, cooler and fuel at Walmart, and water and Gummi candies at Win-Co.  We were ready to go!

We decided to start north and work our way down the coast, so Monday afternoon we drove all the way to the northernmost coast of the Olympic Peninsula to get a view of the Canadian shoreline across the way.  We took a scenic route that led us right along the Washington coast and through some rural areas.  It was a long drive, but totally worth it for the views.

 A seagull resting on a sign at a little park looking towards Canada

The coastline, with Canada in the distance

Looking across to Canada 

After we took in the coast, we decided that we should try to get to a campsite before it was too late.  We drove along Crescent Lake, stopping several times to enjoy the view as the sun was setting.


Looking at Lake Crescent through the trees

Mountains along the edge of Lake Crescent

At the very tip of the lake, we spotted a sign for camping and ended up in a delightful campsite that was basically right on the lake.  As it was late, the prime spots on the lake were taken, but we did find a relatively secluded site set into the mossy forest.  We set up camp, cooked up some Chinese stir-fry from Trader Joe's and had a pretty good night of sleep after all that travelling.

Our campsite and crappy Hyundai Accent in the background

All the trees around us were covered in moss

It was a little chilly

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