We spent an amazing week exploring Olympic National Park and a few of its surrounding cities. The Olympic Peninsula is a beautiful place and it’s huge. It takes about 7 hours non-stop to drive around the whole park! Coming from Mt. St. Helens we started on the Southwest corner and went around clockwise.
We went through a quaint port/ logging town of Aberdeen, where we saw the most amazing Star Wars Store! We got lucky and just happened to pass by. We had no idea this place was here, but we are so glad we found it. Seriously, this place is a must-see for any Star Wars Fan. We even met the owner who proudly showed off his Carrie Fischer autograph that he turned into a tattoo. Check out the Website … http://sucherandsonsstarwarsshop.com/
Here are a few photos from the Star Wars Shop
Ok, Onwards to see the Ocean! This is Camrin’s first time stepping foot in the Ocean! It was a hazy evening due to nearby forest fires, but who doesn’t love seeing the awesome sight of the Pacific Ocean!
Getting closer!Ahh! It’s Cold!Chasing some birds.There’s Laura!Lots of dead stuff on the beaches in the PNW. It can get stinky.
🙂
Heading further North to Forks, Washington. This will be our home base for the next couple of Days. Forks is an odd town. Its claim to fame is being the setting and filming location for the Twilight movies. It’s also an old logging town that has seen better days. It seems like Forks doesn’t like the park because the park can’t be logged, so it’s not really inviting to tourists. Forks is also surrounded by lots of clearcut timber stands making for a rather depressing place to be. None the less, it was a place to do laundry, use the library, and with the National forest on the outskirts of town, free camping.
Here are a few photos from Forks, WA
See that Twilight poster in the window?
Memorial for all those who perished in the logging industry.HahaI think they like logging here.At the local grocery store.Saw this sign at the visitor center. Warning to Camrin who likes to touch everything she sees.
At our campsite, we saw rain! We were excited! We’ve had too many of our trips covered in smoke and we hoped this would clear some of it up.
The next morning. We had a rare treat, eggs and bagels. P.S. Don’t look at Laura’s hair… it was the morning 😉Healthy?
Off to do some exploring. Starting with a beach walk that didn’t last long since the fog was so bad.
That is about all we can see for our view 🙁But there was a sweet log fort to hide in.
Time to explore the Rainforests of Olympic NP. Some of the lushest and beautiful forests to see in the world. We felt like we were in the Jungles of the Amazon… sort of. We also got to see lots of mushrooms! Several were edible, which stinks because National Park law says nothing can be picked or foraged. So photos will have to do.
Camrin getting excited about finding wild mushrooms!
Chicken of the woods! Super tasty, but we left it be.This tree was covered in them.Huge Rishi mushroom! This type can be used to make a medicinal tea.So much green!Dream House?Beautiful Waterfall!Love the light coming through the trees.
Tree on a tree. Treeception!Where there is death, there is life.
Back at our campsite outside of Forks.Found another huge Rishi mushroom.
Walking around our campground we see another site with all of their food left out. The campers weren’t even there. They just left a mess while they went out for the day. There are bears here!
I think camrin likes it here!
We planned for a night of backcountry camping during our time here. We ended up choosing to camp on the beach since we ran into fog the other day and it was Camrin’s first time seeing the ocean. We walked a mile down the beach to a sweet spot we found tucked up on a hill in front of an amazing rock feature. We watched the tide go out, discovered the tide pools, watched the sunset, and the stars come out. It was an amazing night. Unfortunately, the next morning was a steady rain and we got soaked to the bone walking back to the Jeep.
Tide Chart. Have to keep an eye on the tide. Don’t want to get trapped by the high tide and low tide is when to search the tide pools.About to hike a mile up to our site.Lots of old logs line the beaches of the PNW.
After setting up camp. Time to take a break and wait for the tide to go out.Not a bad way to relax.View from a nearby cliff side that Laura scrambled up.Getting ready to explore some tide pools!Barnacles.Giant Anemone!If it doesn’t come easily loose don’t pick it up. Otherwise, the park allows one to gently handle sea creatures.
Washed up Jelly Fish, with some seaweed on it!Think it ate something.
Camrin made art!Split Rock!Time for Dinner!!! This is our tiny camp stove.
Our dinner for the night! It’s a new age Meal Ready to Eat (MRE) like the army uses. Just add hot water and let it sit. This brand makes pretty delicious meals.We had to rent a bear canister from the Park to camp on the beach. It’s not so much for bears, but for the raccoons that like to get into everything.It’s a large hard plastic bin that secures on the top by twisting the metal screws.This is our amazing setup! Couldn’t ask for a better campsite!Getting ready for the sunset 🙂
We love this rock feature. It’s in a lot of our photos. Deal with it 😉We attempted a night shot. It’s not great. F-22 is apparently not the right f-stop to use. Oh well, we’ll include the photo anyways.
The next morning was miserable. It rained and rained. It was low tide in the morning so we still took a little time to explore a few more tide pools before heading out.
Careful! The rocks are slippery when wet.Sweet! Sea Star!Six-legged sea star!
In case you were wondering what an Anemone eats. It’s pretty much anything that gets in its way.Purple!You can only get through this hole in the wall at low tide.
Off to another section of the park!
A little more mountainous on this side and not so much rainforest.Being a good samaritan and clearing the road of a downed tree.A tree that fell over and got hung up on another tree.
Beattle infested!
Banana Slug!These things are huge! And they’re all over the PNW. EW!!We can’t have campfires because it is so dry… even in the Northwest. So we spend our nights sitting, listening to podcasts, and drinking hot cocoa and rum 😉
Before heading to our next WWOOFing farm we did a little day trip up to Port Townsend. It’s a charming Victorian-inspired town and we just happened to be there for the wooden boat festival.
WE WANT!!!Pirate ship playground.
There was a shellfish stand where we learned all about clams and oysters and other odd sea creatures.
Uh GROSS!!!I guess its a Moonsnail.UGH! Even grosser. No wonder we don’t like swimming in the ocean.Back to boats. We like the name of this one 😉
That’s it for now. Stay tuned for our next post about our stay at the Gentle Giant Meadows Ranch. Thanks for reading out blog!
We enjoyed watching this adventure too….looking forward to the Gentle Giant Meadows ranch blog !! Who knows what you saw that we don’t see !! You sure will have a story to tell when you get old Love from us xxx
We enjoyed watching this adventure too….looking forward to the Gentle Giant Meadows ranch blog !! Who knows what you saw that we don’t see !! You sure will have a story to tell when you get old Love from us xxx