Vacationing in the Northwest

Recently, Dustin switched companies that he worked for.  This meant that he had a couple of weeks off, which worked out perfectly for a family reunion in Seattle that my family had planned months before.  Because of his extra time off, we took our family up to the Northwest a few days before to see some new things in that area.

We generally try to avoid too much electronic time while we are in the car.  I've convinced myself that this will create fun memories for my kids (hopefully all the really crazy, annoying times will be forgotten) There have been a few things that have saved us on these long days of driving.  One is bubble gum.  The other is mustaches.  We discovered another one this time--Jelly Belly Bean Boozled jelly beans.  They might taste like Tutti Fruitti, or they might taste like Stinky Socks.  Buttered popcorn--or rotten egg.  And our least favorite: peach--or barf.  Of course I got that one.  And not only did it taste just like barf, but it nearly made me do the same.

We stopped at my Grandpa's farm on the first night.  The next morning we were up and picking raspberries and cherries, riding in the farm truck and getting a tour of the farm from Uncle Bert.  We rode (and wrecked) the go-cart, petted a pot bellied pig, and generally had an awesome time at The Farm.  I sure love that place and those people.

Dustin went to the Twin Falls Temple early that morning, and got home just in time to help pull the go-cart out of the ditch that the girls drove it into.  The steering went out and apparently there are no brakes.  I'm just glad they didn't drive it into the opposite side of the ditch (that pond side over there).

That afternoon we drove on to Redmond, Oregon, where Dustin's old missionary companion lives.  Kevin and Courtney have 4 acres and a little farm, and the kids had fun seeing the pigs, chickens, horses and peacock.  It was a great visit and so nice of them to put us up for the night!  Dustin and Kevin were companions 4 times on the mission!  And they both named their oldest daughter Avery.  A little strange, I know.

Kevin is a police officer, and the kids all took a turn talking on the intercom thingy and making the lights do their thing (I am obviously not a police officer).

Oh, and Dustin took a turn, too.  I guess he counts as one of the kids when it comes to fast cars, sirens and intercom thingy's.

From there we drove to Portland and met Monica and James.  They joined us for a few days of camping and sightseeing.  Yay!

And then on to the beach in Washington.  The drive was long and isolated, but so beautiful.  We got to the beach with just enough time to let the kids run down to the water before dark.  And then we ate and set up tents in the pitch black.  That's generally how my family camped all growing up, so Monica and I don't know how to do it any other way.  On a side note, the stars were so bright and amazing!

Just a short walk from our tent to the beach.

Look at us!  Camping all by ourselves like big people!  Dustin and I always camp with my family at a family reunion.  So, we always have a trailer for bathrooms, a sink and a stove, and my mom does most of the cooking.  We were pretty proud of ourselves for doing it on our own!  Technically we didn't actually cook anything...

Look at the beautiful trees!  And the beautiful Monica!

Look at that same Monica setting that example!

See?

Lots of dead crabs to find at the beach.

That afternoon we headed further north to the Olympic National Park.  And I saw Big Foot!  (He was a happy Sasquatch)

The Hoh Rain forest was so beautiful!  The trees!  The moss!  The green everywhere you looked!

World Record trees.

See?

We camped again that night (seriously, you should be so proud of us!), and then we went to another part of the Rain forest for more hiking and tree watching.

I think this hike was called The Hall of Mosses.  It was really amazing.  

Some cute, mini mushrooms.  It was like a little fairy garden.

Us and the Noonans, camping and hiking like champs.

Not only do they have Sasquatches, they have giant slugs.

We ate in a small town that I forget the name of, but if you have read Twilight (I haven't), you would probably be jealous of me because apparently this is where it all went down.  Although we saw no vampires.  Just Sasquatches.

This was a beach on the Olympic Coast.  It was so beautiful!

Don't be surprised if you get matching Christmas cards from the Noonans and Wibergs...

It was like looking at a live postcard!  So amazing!

Do you see a theme with Monica, here?

We were able to see the tide pools and find sea urchins, little crabs and other fun sea creatures.  We also saw sea lions swimming out a little way in the ocean.  It was so fun.

Do I need to say it again?  Beautiful!

I love my sister.

We ditched the Noonans at this point (but only for a few hours) and we drove to the Sol Duc Forest to see the waterfall there.  Another hike, but it was worth it. (the kids may have complained the whole drive over to the trail head, and then for a good portion of the hike, but it was still totally worth it) 

Ahh, those ferns.  Love them!

And, by the time we were done with that, it was definitely time to break out the mustaches.  The fun is in trying to get other cars to notice you.  And, taking selfies.

Whoa, we also apparently broke out the ring pops.  That shows our desperation for distraction.

Maren liked hers so much she hung out in it for long after every one else was done.

We took a ferry ride over to Seattle area.

And we arrived that night to a huge house, lovingly called the mansion, where we stayed with my entire family for another 5 days.