Olympic Peninsula, Part Two

I posted part one of our adventures here. And now for the sunny part. #wellkinda

You should have heard the boys chanting "rain rain go away come back when i say". And Buzz -- "Mommy, are we going EAST now?" Cause he was well aware that the West is Wet.

We traveled north-east to the northern coast of Washington, where we could look across the water to Vancouver Island. It felt kinda sweet to look across to my birth country...and of course, the water was so crystal clear and beautiful, just like other Canadian waters I remember.

Scroll down to the bottom for trip details...







We visited Clallam Bay and dug in the sand and dipped our toes and collected rocks. Then we broke for lunch and ate canteloupe until we started to feel raindrops. Time to head east again.

Salt Creek Recreation Area was beautiful, with sticks to build with and rocks to climb.






This was day three of our adventure and we were beginning to smell a bit like our salty, fishy surroundings. We had driven past a beautiful lake on our way to La Push and I knew I wanted to return, so we hopped back in the car and headed to Lake Crescent. Swimming at East Beach was spectacular, with warm water, and a sandy lake bottom that was shallow quite a ways out into the water!

We swam, we bathed, we played, we made it rain. Then we dried off and drove around to our campsite on the other side of the lake. Fairholme Campground and one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Huge trees, large sites with soft, flat places to pitch tents...and if you choose, you can park and carry your gear 200 ft or so down to the water's edge and camp there {they have several walk in sites}. I want to bring our kayaks next time and camp by the water.






The picture seen above is of the lake around six thirty in the morning. The boys woke early {of course} and to spare the other campers the wake up call I drove them over to the Marymere Falls trailhead. We hiked in about a mile to the waterfall. Part of the trail had stairs but most of it was flat. It was a fun short hike for kids. With a river that looked terrific for swimming, had we been in the mood. #wewerenot

And then...whether we liked it or not...it was time to book it home. We decided to take the ferry across to Seattle from Bainbridge island rather than drive around the sound. Good choice. It was a short ride, but very fun for me and the kids. A grand finale of sorts.













And the rest of the trip looked like this.

Thank you to our sponsors -- Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat AND Miss Frizzle and Liz. You take us to places we'd never see otherwise. Thank you to daddy for working hard while we were out adventuring. And thank you to our car for not throwing any fits.

Trip Details:
Salt Creek Recreation Area -- not that awesome, except when it's raining everywhere else and sunny here. Plenty of drift wood for building with and fun rocks to scramble over. We didn't see much sea life. The camping area here is basically just a grassy field with numbers pounded into it.
Fairholme Campground -- super nice secluded campsites with a canopy of high trees above to catch the rain. ;) This is on my list of top places to return to. Next time I want to grab a campsite right on the lake and bring our kayaks. $12/night first-come first-served
Marymere Falls -- nice, easy hike for the kids. We enjoyed the journey more than the destination.