Day 31

The night before I told the kids we would be getting up early to hike Hurricane Ridge. This was a very popular spot so I wanted to make sure to get up there early enough to be able to stay for the morning. I dragged them out of bed and we were on the road before 8am - maybe a record for this trip! As these kids are in and approaching the teenage years their sleep requirements have increased dramatically!

It takes us about 20 minutes just to get to the main road from our campground then we slowly go around Lake Crescent with some added construction stops. I would rather go slow to admire the water and mountains surrounding it though!

Once we made it through the gate for Hurricane Ridge the real drive began! We went up for a gorgeous 17 miles to finally be able to see the glacier-covered mountains we had been searching for during our whole stay!

The programming and store opened a little later so we hit the trail to get acclimated to what all trails we wanted make sure to hike. I was planning on spending the whole morning here to enjoy the view. We decided to first do the half mile meadow trail that meandered along the lower meadow near the visitors center. We spotted a little robin searching for breakfast in the meadow but he was too quick for a good picture.

The first program of the day was all about glaciers. We had a bit of an expert ranger talking to us this morning having spent a few years in Glacier National Park before coming to Olympic. We learned about the process of forming and clasifying glaciers as well as the rock formations left behind when they melt for good. She had loads of photographs of the changes of the glaciers over the last century. One set of photos was especially interesting illustrating the complete disappearance of the Anderson Glacier.

The ranger had a scope set on Kerry Glacier so we all took a second to see it up close. She mentioned we could always do the 18-mile hike up to Blue Glacier. As tempting as it sounded I decided to save that one for a backpacking trip.



We had a quick visit to the gift shop before grabbing our backpacks for the trail. The kids think it's fun to overhear people talking about all the stickers on our roof cargo box. I kinda wish we'd had it from the beginning instead of 4 years into our travels!

The first trail we picked for our hikes was the High Point trail. It was a short, steep trail to a lovely point overlooking the meadow below and far off mountains. You can see the parking lot and tiny cars below!

We continued on to sunrise point and I heard the kids saying they were thankful I didn't get them up to come here for sunrise! I'll put that on my list for me and Dave I suppose. The 360 degree view was absolutely breathtaking.











The next trail was Klahhane Ridge which extended through the mountains for about 6 miles. We decided to do part of it which meant about 2 miles before I could tell Laney wasn't feeling it anymore. I guess I will also have to put that on my list for Dave. We grabbed a feast for lunch from the car and enjoyed the best lunch view we've ever had!

We stopped in Port Angeles for some ice cream before picking up Lola from the RV. She was so happy to see us but kept looking for Grammie to show up too. We sat outside for a little while while I updated the blog and downloaded a few more podcast episodes. Depending on who is in the car we are currently enjoying Forever Ago, Pants on Fire, 6 Minutes, and Smash Boom Best. We haven't listened to a single episode of last year's hit Wow in the World!

We lucked into some prime parking for our evening at the City Pier and walked to grab Grammie from the ferry. She wasn't too thrilled with us making her take a picture with the girls. But she was surprised to see Grammie walk around the corner! The kids were hungry so we spotted a pizza spot with outdoor seating so we could have Lola with us.

We shared a giant cheese pizza while we caught Grammie up with our events of the day and us with her stops around Victoria Island. We hadn't found the Sasquatch in all our hiking so the kids decided they needed to take this picture instead!

We made it back to the city pier just in time for the start of the music of a Summerfest concert. The band was defined as a classic rock band but they ended up playing mostly oldies which I enjoyed much more. The kids even knew some of the Beatles songs. We enjoyed cupcakes the girls had made in Oregon while we watched the band and the people dancing. Ryan decided at some point she wanted a better vantage point and climbed the tree behind us. 

After about an hour we decided go drop Grammie off at her spot and head back to ours. We spotted a little library on the way out so Laney grabbed another book. Hopefully she won't read it in one day like she has the last 5!

Once we made it back to our campground we stopped by the Sol Duc Falls. I was nervous about trying to fit it in before dark so we put it on our agenda for in the morning. Instead the kids helped organize things for our travels tomorrow. It's funny how things get spread out around our site the longer we stay in a campground. It's all little things that have to be tucked back where they belong but all that reorganization adds up if I'm doing it all by myself in the morning!

Day 24

I was up for the before the sunrise this morning so I had plenty of time to get to my rock to watch. All the birds and woodpeckers were waking up making so much noise it sounded like a symphony warming up!

Emily and Evey had packed up the bottom section of their tent and the screen tent the day before since it was dry so they were ready to go before we were this morning! We got on the road early to be able to set up  and come back to ride horses. We made it to Linville Falls by 10:30 to set up and discovered we were again in full sun.

I spotted a site on the river across the meadow so we moved there before the kids had too much set up. My favorite spots are on the water and it was tucked up under some trees so at least we would be able to have shade most of the day for all of us. Emily and Evey don't have much of a choice when they set up as their tent is attached to her car. It is a very cool setup but it definitely had some disadvantages too.

After a quick lunch we got on the road to meet our horses. The kids were beyond excited. I followed my crazy GPS again so it was a good thing we'd left a little early. Ever since the kids changed the voice to the Garmin guy it wasn't to route me off the parkway to go places. He does have a few funny things to say along the way and often tells me how amazing I am so I left him guiding us. Once I spend a day somewhere I'm usually pretty good with getting us around.

After a quick stop at the post office we made it to our spot to meet the guide. We should have known something was up when I'd noticed the parking area on the way in didn't have his red truck and trailer parked there. I had a few voice mails so I called him to check to see if we were maybe in the wrong area. When he answered he apologized and said one of his horses had kicked the trailer door that morning and he'd been at the vet's office the whole day. Needless to say our ride was canceled. We were all very disappointed.

The kids were even more disappointed when I announced this would be the perfect opportunity to do our laundry! Emily found us a spot a few miles away and I promised everyone we would try to find another guide while we were there. This laundry place was probably the least maintained place I'd ever been in and did not seem to have any kind of ventilation at all. We were sweating just walking in the door. The next place was about 10 miles away so we got to work trying to spend the least amount of time there.

I found another place we could go horseback riding near our next campground so we booked it for the day before Dave arrived. It was too far away for the kids to get excited yet but at least my kids had a bunch to look forward to in the next week!

My kids were the most helpful with laundry than ever since they knew the quick it was finished the quicker we could leave. I have to admit it is pretty nice to get through 4 loads of laundry in an hour.

We walked out all red-faced from the temperature inside and decided the last thing we wanted to do was to cook so we headed to a local grill - the Come Back Shack. It is a burger joint but they also had tuna steaks and veggie burgers so we thought it would be perfect. The kids enjoyed filling out an order form to have their burgers exactly the way they wanted. And they were delicious with fresh hand-cut fries too!

The kids all sat together and enjoyed their food while Emily and I googled all the questions they'd had since we'd had service. They were most intrigued by the pictures of the blue ghost fireflies. We grabbed everyone milkshakes and headed to the grocery store for a quick stock up for bread, fruits & veggies. The water at our campground was tinted a little yellow so we each also bought several 3 gallon jugs of water. It all barely fit in my car with all of us!

Once we unloaded Emily's stuff and reorganized ours, Brayden and I made an extra trip for ice. The girls played in the river making a pool for clams and other tiny fish they caught. Ryan spotted a newt too - a first for all of us!














We were looking forward to sleeping in our tent tonight as the rushing water next door was a lovely constant white noise. We read a few chapters of our latest book - Schooled - and were all out within seconds.

Day 13

I had a little bit of a restless night in the hammock with trying to keep my ears open for calls from the tent. Several times I woke up in pitch black darkness listening to the night sounds. No wildlife, but I did hear coyotes way far off. While I was comfortable all night, sleeping in the hammock was much easier after backpacking 15 miles!

I woke up and decided to catch up on writing as I'd discovered we had limited 3G in the campground - yay! Without being too connected I could definitely upload entries to the blog and text Dave occasionally. Weather updates might be necessary as well as we were expecting rain for the next few days.

We planned first to head into the town this morning to check out the farmer's market. After I made a pile of pancakes we got ready and headed into town. The market was just about the smallest we'd ever seen, but we picked up some beautiful produce! The strawberries were the deepest red I have ever seen and boy were they sweet! I had to buy and extra carton because the kids ate them standing right there!

When we'd parked all the kids spotted an tiny chocolate shop that also happened to be open so of course we had to go there. The man gave all of us tiny samples of their hot chocolate and even though it was warm out it was delicious!! I bought everyone a truffle and they were gone practically before we could share. I tried the Mayan with deep dark chocolate and a kick of cayenne at the end, salted caramel for Laney of course, and mint for the others. We vowed to try to make it back for their homemade chocolate popsicles before we left the area.

We got the scoop on a few local places from the chocolate guy so we headed to one store but got sucked into a bookstore for the better part of an hour. I'd finished one of my books and was looking for another one to read before Dave joined us. I had a Dean Koontz book but was thinking I might save it for when he joins us so I don't get too spooked. We ended up with a tiny book for me, a book for Laney and a comic for Brayden.

On our way back to the campsite we stopped at the Rocky Knob overlook to check out the view. The smog had settled in quite a bit but it did still look beautiful with mountains forever. The kids and I decided to hike up the next morning to see if the view was better from the trail.

Ryan and I started lunch while listening to thunder and watch a storm roll by. Every time I looked up the storm seemed to be moving past us but the thunder was definitely getting closer. We cooked and cleaned up as fast as we could expecting a downpour at any minute. The wind was starting to whip around us so we made the kids run around and play while they still could. We were thinking it was one of those afternoon showers that only last about an hour but we weren't really sure.

Once the drops started falling all the kids and I ducked in our tent and Emily retired into hers. We read and read and played until the rain finally slowed a couple hours later.

We tried scalloped potatoes to replace Ryan's favorite baked potatoes for dinner but they were underwhelming. We're definitely missing the freshest meals in the woods! The mini lettuce we'd bought at the farmer's market however was divine!!

It was supposed to rain for the next 2 nights so we walked the whole campground tonight to continue our tradition. No crazy wildlife this time around though!

Day 9

It was quite chilly this morning so I snuck out of the tent and made hot chocolate for us to warm up. The morning of Day 9 we celebrated our first day without rain! Only to discover as I was getting cool weather clothes out from the bottom of our bags that we'd had a breach in the cargo bag that holds all our duffel bags on the back of the car. All our shorts & t-shirts were packaged in ziploc bags so I pulled out all our jeans, leggings, and long sleeve shirts to go straight to the laundry bag. They all smelled like they'd been wet for a few days so there's no telling which storm they soaked up the rain - if not all of them!

After breakfast I covered my head with the cargo bag and spotted quite a few tiny holes and a few about the size of an eraser. They were holes all the way through but I would imagine they were enough to invite the water inside. Luckily on a previous trip I had purchased waterproof seam sealer so I got to work doctoring all the holes. It was supposed to dry overnight but after about an hour in the sun all seemed better. I don't think I'll really know for sure until the next storm though!

Fortunately the closest town was only 10 miles away so we headed there to get all our errands knocked out in one morning - post office, grocery store, and laundry. While we were running around the little town I noticed the D-Day Memorial our hosts had mentioned at our last site. I made a mental note to check with Brayden to see if he wanted to go.

After laundry we were all starving so our next stop was Azul - a local made-to-order Mexican stop. My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach but we all enjoyed our meals and I found a delicious local beer too! Our grocery stop wasn't quite as fruitful but I grabbed a couple things that would last us until our next big stop.

On our way into town we saw several peach and blackberry farms and even saw a place with peach ice cream. We were planning to stop on the way back but Emily and I were chatting and I apparently missed a turn. Once I noticed nothing looked familiar I turned on my GPS and we ended up taking some serious back roads to the campground. No peach ice cream today.

Evey had been begging to go to the creek nearby so once we got back and the kids grabbed their water shoes we headed down to the picnic area with a lovely creek running through it. The kids of course had a blast exploring and taking Ryan's spy class entitled "Stealth".

I enjoyed the quiet sounds of the water and watching the kids while Emily dug around the rocks releasing trapped sticks and leaves. I definitely have decided I want to end up near water with lots of sound. I always say a solution to grumpy kids is to get them to water, but it might be for me too!

Once we made it back to the campsite the kids had a quick snack dinner and we made a fire. Emily had a stash of peanut butter cups so the kids made s'mores with them while we ate them straight up! Then Evey brought out the Oreos and we were all on a bit of a sugar high right before bed! Brayden crashed pretty quickly so it felt like he and I were taking care of two drunk Clarke girls until they finally fell asleep!

Day 10

So we all know Brayden has some issues when it comes to following through with responsibility. I'm hoping that's a tween boy thing and not a Brayden thing, but only time will tell I suppose. Apparently he did a terrible job cleaning up the dropped snacks as our site was visited by a little bit of wildlife in the night. I was woken up at 2am with long animal sniffs searching for food very close to my head. I laid there as still as possible listening to the direction it/they/the herd were moving with no clue what it was. My heart was pounding in my throat and my hand was on my pepper spray I've been carrying for 5 years I thought I wouldn't need (thanks Ashley!).

Once it sounded like the noise was at least as far as the picnic table from our tent, I ninja sat up and peeked out of the window to see just what it was. I silently gasped and had a half moment of melting when I saw a little teenage bear eating dropped apple sticks and grapes from the ground. I wanted to go hug on him and bring him home but thought a little wiser option would be to make noise. I rustled the tent and slid the window zipper loudly and he was gone. I'd wished I'd brought my laptop in the tent with me that night as I don't think I slept again until 4am, listening to every teeny, tiny noise. There was no way I was getting out of the tent to go get it!

After a quick shower in the morning, I started packing up with my early bird girl. She literally jumped on the opportunity to wake up her brother and sister. They were not as thrilled, but everyone helped out a little bit and we were out of the campground in 30 minutes. A new record? I can't remember what our last one was, but I'll take it.

We had a 2 1/2 hour drive to the science museum so the kids enjoyed watching A Series of Unfortunate Events while I listened to music on the winding backroads. And we made it to Pennsylvania!

We hadn't seen a town bigger than a handful of buildings in days so once we made it to State College it was a little strange and overwhelming for everyone. Right across from the parking area we found a little library!  We had some issues with ours before we left so it's not quite up yet so the kids were excited to see this one.

Then we put our Mess Hall membership to work and entered the science museum. The exhibits were all jammed together in a small room but there were tons of them. Unfortunately, there was also a ton of kids with a day camp arriving just before us. We are absolutely spoiled usually getting to do these things when other kids are in school!  The kids managed though and I witnessed several acts of consideration and kindness offered by my kids as the others pushed and took over activities. If only they could act that way with their sibilings!!

We stuck it out until they left and all breathed a little relief when we had space to really explore and tinker. The kids even managed to make a few friends to play with which helped with me not being stretched three different directions.

Once everyone was ready to go, we walked around the city a little bit checking out the stores and restaurants. We usually try to eat a local places and ended up settling on a restaurant called The Corner. We made a point to call Dave as it was the first time in days I'd had cell service. As the phone made it around the table, we got our food and by the time I'd finished talking to him we had a table full of empty plates! The food was delicious!

On the way back to the car we stopped in a toy store to let the kids dream and look around. So if I don't become a park ranger when I grow up I think I'll open a book/game store. There are so many fun games out! And our poor game cabinet at home is crammed full with games we all love and can't give up!  Just like the rise in kids books it seems like there are so many more fun games being created and we want them all!

We took a few minutes to drive around the college buildings then headed out of town to our campground. We were headed to the World's End which sounds a little foreboding, but we went anyway. By the time we made it the park office was closed so we set up and decided to hang out at the campsite for the rest of the evening. The kids worked on their travel journals and we played checkers until the sky started to darken. Brayden has been loving one of the books I got him from Aunt Kelly drawing different buildings and houses. He's probably our least confident kid when it comes to drawing, but his ideas and drawings in this book are wonderful!

We settled into the tent early again this night as the kids wanted to get on the road early again in the morning. Their excitement to see Grammie increases exponentially each day and getting closer to Massachusetts isn't helping!