Our not-so-sunny vacation

Joe decided to take some leave (vacation) this week and we headed to the coast of Washington and Oregon for a few days.

Unfortunately, the weather made the coast very gray, windy, and cold. Not exactly the beach weather I'd hoped for! But I'm beginning to know better in Washington now- you can NEVER count on good weather. I think it was the first time I've ever worn my winter coat on the beach.

Still, it was a great opportunity to get away for a little bit, enjoy a nice hotel room, eat some great food, and explore a new place.

One day we went to Long Beach, Washington (pictured) hoping to go to a kite festival, but it was too windy- 60 mph winds. The poor little kites just couldn't deal with so much wind. So instead, we drove around, rode go-carts, played pinball, and got Hawaiian shave ice. The next day we toured a historic home, the Captain Flavel House.

These photos are of the bridge leading from Astoria, Oregon to Washington, wooden posts sticking out of the water, and Long Beach.

Where animals come too close for comfort

Last Sunday Joe and I drove an hour north to Sequim, Washington (pronounced skwim). Some of our friends had told us about the Olympic Game Farm there where you could drive through and see the wild animals on their 90-acre plot of land.

We knew before we got there that the animals roam pretty freely, but when they actually start coming up to the car it made me a little nervous. I drove so Joe could take pictures of the elk, bears (thankfully behind electric fences), zebras, bison, llamas and more.

You are allowed to feed most of the animals with bread you can buy on the way in. We didn't take the bread, but we didn't need to! The animals know to approach the cars for a treat.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Hurricane Ridge

Last Saturday Joe & I took a day trip to see Hurricane Ridge, which has great views of the Olympic Mountains and is part of Olympic National Park. I had been there when my parents came to visit, but Joe had not. I was especially excited to go since Joe had his new camera in hand. He got great shots of both the sun setting and the moon!

Unlike last time I went with my parents (when the wind was 30mph and it was chilly), this day was great weather. 70 degrees and no wind!

As we drove up to the main lookout (this is about a two hour drive from our house), at the same time a guy who works with Joe on his boat and his wife had just pulled up too! So we all went hiking together. Fun!

The sunset was beautiful.
The mosquitoes were all over us.
But it was a great hike!

Hello Mr. Mountain!

I jokingly gave Mount Rainier the nickname "Mr. Mountain" when I started catching a glimpse of it on clear days. I think this mountain is deserving of my term of respect since he stands over 14,000 feet tall! (In case you are wondering where I got this silly tendency from, I had two roommates in Connecticut who named EVERYTHING including many inanimate objects- pillows, plants, slippers, etc.)

Anyways, Joe had just gotten his camera on August 8 and we headed out, hoping for good weather, to Mount Rainier National Park. This is about a two and a half hour drive from where we live. We got in a nice solid hike (getting us to less than 6,000 feet) before it started to get cloudy and rain.

Joe had a great time experimenting with his new camera, we saw a great waterfall and enjoyed beautiful views of the mountains, and we walked across snow on our hike (thankfully I brought my winter coat!) The wildflowers are beautiful and we saw a few creatures too, including a marmot (pictured).

A long awaited flight and a day at the lake

In late July we were invited by some nice new friends to go out on their boat.

I was looking forward to it because I had wanted to go out on a boat all summer!

Joe went waterskiing and we enjoyed the sunshine and some good company. The lake was pretty (surrounded by evergreen trees) and not too cold.

Then, Joe got to go flying with our friend Jeremy. He hasn't been flying in years, and being that he has his pilot's license he had really missed the chance to go flying since being in the Navy. He got to fly and see all the beautiful landscape- the Olympic Mountains, Puget Sound, Mount Baker, and the San Juan Islands.