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Tim and I visited Cama Beach State Park and Camano Island Inn on another perfect PNW Saturday. Even though it’s high tourist season here, both places were uncrowded, and we soaked up the peace and quiet, sunshine and sea breezes. The natural surroundings, cool temperatures, and wonderful Washington State wines restored our souls and spirits.
Ferried from Edmonds to Kingston and drove around Hood Canal and back to Kingston. First time touring that route. We stopped at Rocky Brook Falls, which was spectacular. We tried to visit two more waterfalls in the area, but their access roads were closed. The Canal waters were a beautiful turquoise color. Low tide and oyster season brought out the locals digging for dinner. Beautiful day in the PNW!
On a picture perfect Mother’s Day, we visited one of our favorite waterfalls, Deception Falls. It’s an easy drive along Hwy 2 between Skykomish and Stevens Pass. The Falls are just off the highway and accessible via an easy hike. Snow melt into the Tye River was feeding the Falls all the way down. The Falls were pumping harder than we’ve ever seen before. The thundering sound of the water was deafening! We took stills and video of the Upper, Middle, and Lower Falls. Enjoy the stills and scroll through to see the four videos.
Yippee! It may be dark and rainy today, but Tim and I are busy planning our summer adventures. These books arrived on our doorstep today to help us choose our destinations.
What a spectacularly diverse state we live in! Tim and I made our way from Spokane to Grand Coulee through the Channeled Scablands of WA. These were formed by repeated catastrophic floods caused by Glacial Lake Missoula, which was a glacial lake held in place by an ice dam - until it wasn't. Floods with the force of 10x the flow of all the rivers in the world (yes!) scoured the terrain of Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon all the way to the Pacific Ocean. These floods carved the coulees and the Columbia River Gorge, and left huge chunks of basalt (called erratics) littering fields far from any modern body of water. Today was a geologist's dream road trip, and these formations rival those in the Grand Canyon! I've been obsessed with the story of Glacial Lake Missoula and the catastrophic floods that formed these scablands and am soooo excited to finally see them!
Started in Walla Walla. Visited Palouse Falls SP, drove through the WA Palouse, then saw the Palouse from above at the top of Steptoe Butte. Looped through ID to see Coeur d'Alene then settled in for the night at Spokane Valley. Spectacular scenery!
After viewing the total solar eclipse from Prineville OR together as a family, our adult children headed off on their own adventures. Tim and I pointed the car East to see some of the regions of Oregon and Washington that we haven't seen yet.
Another beautiful summer day in the PNW, so Tim and I drove to see one of our favorite waterfalls, Deception Falls - about 1.5 hours from home. When we were here last spring, the falls were pumping much more vigorously, so much so that we couldn't hear each other over the roar. Captions on each photo tell about the Tye River and its path from the falls. They're still spectacular, as you can tell.
Explored Paradise Inn in Mt. Rainier NP and hiked the surroundings with visiting friend Phyllis. The day was picture perfect and Mt. Rainier flaunted its magnificence, as these highlights show. The wildflowers were in full bloom and added interest along the way. We saw waterfalls and even Mt. Adams to the south. Enjoy!
July 2017. We made it! Lessons learned: 1) Oregon is our new must-see state - absolutely spectacular! 2) Next time we explore the west coast - and we will - we'll allow three times the travel time we allowed on this trip. The scenery was so breathtakingly beautiful that we wanted to stop at every opportunity. Next time we will. Enjoy the highlights of northern Oregon, Long Beach WA, and the Kitsap Peninsula in WA. We approached home in Edmonds via the ferry from Kingston to Edmonds. The mountains (Rainier and Baker) were out to welcome us home.
July 2017. It took us 11 hours to drive 350 miles from northern CA to Lincoln City OR because we couldn't resist stopping to admire and explore the huge redwood forests and the breathtaking coastline. We took a short hike in Redwood Nat'l and State Parks, then headed for the Oregon coast where the marine cloud layer persisted into midday. Still, the scenery was beautiful, and the OR beaches were more accessible than those at the bottom of cliffs in CA. We managed to whittle our 1075 photos to 39 of our favorites. We'll be back to explore this coastline again, and we'll allow much more time to linger and let these natural wonders feed our souls. Enjoy these as you cue Peter, Paul and Mary singing "This Land is Your Land" in your head.
July 2017. Picked up Hwy 1 just outside of San Francisco and drove up the coast to Arcata, CA. Followed the Sonoma Coast State Park through Bodega Bay, Mill Valley, Tomalas, and Mendocino. Enjoy the highlights of the coast and countryside. Breathtaking!!
Tim and I headed to Canada to Peace Arch Park, where we skipped back and forth across the US-Canada border. Afterward we followed the coast to Birch Bay State Park where we lunched al fresco with a bald eagle. Then we drove up the Mt. Baker Scenic Highway as far as we could go before we were stopped by a 10 ft high wall of snow. Notice the two pics of Picture Lake - one taken last August and the other taken in May. What a difference a summer makes! We'll be back to see the sights around Mt. Baker when the area thaws out.
After Tim and I left Skamania Lodge in southern Washington, we decided to take advantage of the clearing sky and see Mt. Hood. We drove through Hood River up to Timberline Lodge, where we saw the top of Mt. Hood and many skiers enjoying many feet of snow on the slopes. After spending the night in Portland, we headed up to Mt. St. Helens where the views were stunning. I threw in a double rainbow photo from Skamania Lodge just because it was spectacular and I like rainbows. Enjoy!
At RoozenGaarde.
Took advantage of pleasant weather to see the tulip and daffodil fields north of Edmonds. Blooms were at their peak, as were the crowds. My friend Cheryl and I arrived early in the morning, found parking easily, and got right in. As we left two hours later, we saw traffic approaching the farm that stretched all the way back to I-5. The easy access and colorful views were worth waking up early on a Sunday. Enjoy!
In Toutle, Washington.
It's been a long, dark winter and I've been itching to resume exploring on the weekends. Despite the low clouds and rain, I set out to visit Mt. St. Helens for the first time. Surely the clouds will break or I'll drive above them, I thought. As I stopped at "scenic overlooks" in rain, fog, and snow, I had no idea if or where there was a mountain in the distance. Nature rewarded my optimism and persistence, as you'll see in the photos from the Science and Learning Center at Coldwater. And if I hadn't seen anything at the viewing center, I could console myself with having seen a giant wooden statue of Bigfoot on the way.
August 2016. Headed north to Mt. Baker Scenic Byway via the Chuckanut Scenic Byway to see Mts. Baker and Shuksan. Stayed overnight in Bellingham and caught an amazing sunset. Headed to the US-Canadian Border and Peace Arch State Park via Birch Bay State Park and Semiahmoo County Park the next day. Album includes Bellingham sunset sequence and dahlia sequence from Peach Arch SP. Will repeat this adventure for sure!
Tim and I took Steve and Teri on a whirlwind greatest hits tour of the sights around Seattle: Mt. Rainier National Park, a whale watch in the San Juan Islands followed by Deception Pass, and Lake Crescent, Madison Falls, and Hurricane Ridge on the Olympic Peninsula - all in three days! We hope they'll be back to choose where to spend more time exploring.
Today's adventure found me. I was on my way down the hill to my gym on Puget Sound and noticed these amazing clouds settled in the Edmonds "Bowl." I've included an old pic of Edmonds Bowl taken on a clear day from the ferry to show the geography. The bottom of the bowl is the Sound, and the city rises up from that. We live up the hill on the southern "rim." I took the cloud photos from sites on the rim that were under bright sunshine. Click through each photo for a description and to read about how I met my new friend Marilyn, who shared with me her great view of the bottom of Edmonds Bowl.
July 2016. We took Scott and Leanne on a 2.5 day whirlwind tour of the Olympic Peninsula. On day 1, we ferried from Edmonds to Kingston, then visited Madison Falls in the Elwha Valley, Lake Crescent in Olympic Nat'l Park, and watched the sun set at First Beach in La Push. On day 2, we explored Ruby Beach, then Beach 1 at Kalaloch. From there, we drove to Lake Quinault, where we explored the lake's surroundings, including the world's largest Sitka spruce tree and Merriman Falls. We dined at Lake Quinault Lodge (excellent!), then Tim and Scott explored the tide pools at La Push's Second Beach while Leanne and I watched the sunset. On day 3, we visited Hurricane Ridge in Olympic Nat'l Park on the way back to Edmonds. Enjoy the highlights in this super sized album.
July 2016 weekend adventure to see Mt. Rainier from new vistas, along with nearby lakes and waterfalls. We drove 535 miles from Edmonds, through Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park, on to Yakima, then back to Edmonds. The diversity of geology, topography, and vegetation in Washington - shown in the last few photos - is amazing!
We revisited Crystal Mtn. and rode the gondola to the summit on a day when ALL the mountains were out - Mts. Rainier, Adams, St. Helens, Baker, and Glacier Peak. Saw a couple of waterfalls on the way, too. The scenic drive from Edmonds to Crystal Mtn. and Mt. Rainier takes just two hours and is one of my favorite drives. We enjoyed an al fresco lunch with a stunning view at the Summit Restaurant.
We explored venues close to our Edmonds home in this weekend's adventure. Began the day walking Edmonds Beach where we saw the Olympic Mountains, an eagle looking for a meal, and a CA sea lion cruising the coast. Then we drove down the coast to Ray's Cafe for lunch, our favorite eatery on Shilshole Bay. Since the mountains were out, we ended the day at UW and took in the spectacular view of Mt. Rainier from campus.
Lower Deception Falls. Notice the rainbow.
This weekend's adventure: Deception Falls and Lake Chelan. The weather was perfect and all the mountains were out! Spectacular scenery the whole way - rivers, mountains, farmland, desert. A sun pillar at sunset provided a fascinating astronomical treat. We explored the state parks, community parks, wineries, and waterways. More reasons to love Washington state!
Tim and I took a day trip to see two waterfalls: Snoqualmie Falls and Twin Falls. We also viewed Mt. Baker and Mt. Si from Snoqualmie Point Park. Beautiful!
This weekend's adventure: We explored the scenic Oregon Coast from Hwy 101 at the Washington border to halfway down the Oregon Coast at Lincoln City. We drove back up along the Cascade Mountain range where all four major mountains were out! Pardon my geo-crush, but I LOVE living where we can visit breathtaking ocean coastline and see majestic mountains in the same weekend trip!
Our weekend adventure: Tim and I visited the charming town of Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula for the first time. Even at the end of January, this place was delightful! Spectacular scenery, fun and interesting shops, and terrific restaurants. We'll be back!
Scott's first long weekend visiting our new home here: Woodinville wine tasting, then off to the Olympic Peninsula to experience a few of Olympic Nat'l Park's greatest hits: Lake Crescent; Rialto Beach, First and Second Beaches on the Pacific Coast; Hoh Rainforest; Hurricane Ridge.
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Upper Deception Falls
Lower Deception Falls
Middle Deception Falls looking toward Upper Deception Falls
Upper Deception Falls. It’s really pumping and the sound is deafening!
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The photo albums we post here show our explorations of the Pacific Northwest since we moved here in 2014. We find it amazing that so many natural wonders are located within a half-day drive or an easy overnight trip from our home just north of Seattle. Come along with us as we show you these beautiful and inspiring places. Please comment on what you like, and let us know what else you’d like to see. We’re always up for an adventure!
