Exploring some bits of Washington we didn't get to on the road trip

After spending Christmas with her family, Lia and I flew to my dad's in Issaquah, Washington, in the suburbs of Seattle, on Boxing Day. Our plane was only delayed about an hour, which all things considered, was about as good as you can hope for, travelling between Christmas and New Years. 

We spent our time out there relaxing, walking in nature and just generally trying to take in as much of the Pacific Northwest's incredible old, lush beauty as we could. Both of us find the area superbly calming and tranquil, and each new tree we passed by is likely the oldest thing either of us have ever seen.

We spend the first day slowly, the extent of our physical exertion being a walk down the trails behind Dad and Gina's house to the town of Issaquah, at the bottom of the hill. As soon as we stepped outside the front door to leave though, it started pissing rain. Winter in the PNW.

I also got a new camera lens from Dad for Christmas, which I was excited to take for a soggy spin.

Day two, Lia and I took Dad's Range Rover to take a drive around the peninsula on the edge of Washington, where Olympic National Park lives. We stopped midway along the journey to check out the Ludlow Falls, near Port Ludlow. 

The forest we walked through to find the falls was just fantastical. The moss-covered tree limbs made them look as furry as an animal, and they stretched out in the spookiest way. Lia said they looked like coral, or something growing out of the sea bed, which I think is the best analogy, and mind boggling to realise the symmetry of life on Earth.

We've also been watching Planet Earth, so were pretty awestruck wondering around such an amazing part of the world. 

We stopped in Port Townsend at the tip of the peninsula for lunch, and checked out the cute little coastal town. Lia did her usual trick of finding the coolest place in town for lunch, and we wandered down the main strip to get some oxygen to our brains afterwards. I loved driving the Range Rover all around, but it was nice to stop sitting for a bit.

I didn't really get many good photos of the town itself, as I was trying to save my camera battery which I'd forgotten to charge. I did however become quite taken with a little beach that extended between two businesses. 

Lunch had, we headed for the park, to see what we could do on the Easternmost edge, as it would've almost doubled our drive time to head for the West coast. We desperately wanted to see Rialto beach, but it would've been a 4 hour drive home, in addition to the further two hours it would've taken to reach it from where we were.

Lia asked if we could pull off to a little lake she'd spotted on the map, which was off a residential backroad. It turned out to be the most spectacularly beautiful sight we'd see all day.

We weren't able to drive up the mountain we'd found, as it was closed for the season because of the ice. We were bummed, but didn't feel like a four hour hike. We pressed on, driving through the edge of Olympic National Park, played some good music, and just enjoyed the scenery along the drive.

This was a little convenience store we stopped at, where they very kindly allowed us to empty our bladders.

Having made it back unscathed, the next day we went for another hike in the pouring rain! 

We made it about halfway up the mountain before realising we weren't properly equipped or prepared for the several mile hike. So we turned around. Hardly a wasted trip when the journey is so beautiful though.

I've also never seen anybody rock a bucket hat quite as well as Lia.

We'll be back in the summer to celebrate my graduation, and we're planning on staying at a lake on the coast with Dad and Gina, so we'll definitely do Rialto Beach and Olympic National Park that time. But we were spent this time, and couldn't wait to get back to our treehouse in Boston.

Until next time, Washington.