everything is bigger in the west.

The view from Cape Alava

The view from Sand Point.

Tom and I just got back from a whirlwind road trip around the Olympic Peninsula. We took a ferry from Seattle onto the peninsula, then drove the northern section to Port Angeles, where we got a camping permit for the Olympic National Park. Then we headed west to Lake Ozette where we hiked on a nice trail to the shore- Cape Alava, the western-most point in the contiguous United States. It was absolutely gorgeous. We walked the beach, set up camp, made some dinner and sat on driftwood, watching the tide come in and listening to tons of sea lions on a nearby island. The next day we hiked down the shore to Sand Point. It was a slow hike, in some pretty soft sand and over some pretty big fallen trees.

It was really sunny, and we got pretty burned faces (woops). We set up camp at Sand Point, did some beach walks, and encountered perhaps the largest bird I have ever seen in my life (I maintain that we dont have these huge, mystery, mutant birds on the east coast). The next day we hiked out early (completing the equalateral triangle), and stopped at a little diner in a nearby town for breakfast (during our few days in the national park we saw otters, elk, deer, eagles, and many sea creatures). Then we headed back into the Olympic National Park, to see the Hoh Rainforest (a temperate rainforest). We did some hikes and explored the mossy area, then continued our trip down the western coast, eventually heading back inland.

We got to drive through the town of Forks, as well. A small, rather economically depressed old logging town, it has recently been rocketed to fame by its inclusion in the highly popular Twilight book series. It has turned into a tourist destination for teenage girls the world over- and aparently there are more than 200 visitors each day (what they do there, I still dont quite grasp). But the whole town has taken advantage of this monetary oportunity (even things that dont make sense...like a small handwritten sign on the side of the road advertising "Twilight Firewood").

The view from Tom's beach house in Lakebay, Washington. A gorgeous day with a great view of Mount Rainier.

It was a great trip though, and we just got back to Lakebay, Washington...where Tom has a beach house on the Puget Sound. Today we took the kayaks out, and enjoyed the first day we have been above 75 degrees since we have been out here (actually, the first day above 75 degrees since September 23rd, 2009).