Day 7 - Olympic National Park

 Olympic National Park, WA

It was a long day in the car.

We started out earlyish to head to Olympia:

There's literally a road here named Sleater-Kinny. Amazing. 

And then began the Hwy 101 experience. And I even let this kid drive some of it, rediscovering where the "oh shit" handle is on some of the turns.

About 10 minutes into the drive, the road was closed - one lane only. So we sat in traffic for awhile. Perfect time for Hayden to drive haha.

We took the wrong road and ended up checking out Hurricane Ridge:

Then backtracked and headed to Lake Crescent to do the Marymere Falls hike:

Totally worth the 1.5ish miles to get to it!

Then we booked it over to the Hon Rainforest for the Hall of Mosses hike:

We also saw some elk hanging out on the side of the road. I wasn't able to get a pic, because I was driving.

After that short hike, we finished out Olympic NP at Ruby Beach.

Well worth it.

And after sunset we had 3.5 hrs to drive to get to our campsite, where we would just sleep in the car. We didn't make it. We got as far as Aberdeen, got some food, and found a hotel. I think we were pushing 12-13 hrs in the car, plus some hiking, and I was ready to call it a night. 

Today's Totals

$280

395 miles

1 National Park

1 Capital Building

Today's Lessons:

1. Still trying to find that balance between planning ahead and winging it.

2. Pacific sunsets. No words.

3. Washington has made Hayden's top 10 states. Probably mine as well.

4. There are little drive-thru coffee stands everywhere here in the parking lots. Wish Wisconsin had this!

5. Paradise Inn in Forks, WA has a Twilight room...

Today/tomorrow we had planned on camping and exploring the dunes. And as I was trying to determine where to camp tonight, I discovered it is Dunefest. Not sure what Dunefest is, but everything is booked. So... hotel in Eugene it is (I had a freebie(ish)). Should be starting off the day with coffee, donuts, and a Goonies tour! Then lots of time to explore the Oregon coast!

🎈