the coast

Jake and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on June 3rd, so we sent the kids off with Aunty Tiagh and spent a week at Ocean Park, WA. It was a glorious time - beautiful beaches, fun tourist towns, sleeping in, napping whenever we wanted, eating out at nice restaurants, watching movies, and driving for hours without any crying or interruptions from the backseat. Not that we didn't miss the kids, but this is the first time we've ever had time away like this, and it was so relaxing and rejuvenating! Thank you Tiagh and Caleb for gifting us with your timeshare and for keeping the kids - we could never repay you for how valuable this time was to us.

we started the trip by ferrying across the puget sound from Edmonds to Kingston, so that we could start the drive at the tip of the penninsula

at twilight we drove by Lake Crescent, a glacial lake in Olympic National Park. the water is known for it's brilliant blue waters, due to a lack of nitrogen which apparently inhibits the growth of algae. the fog was hanging very low on the mountainside, capturing the reflected silvery blue light of the water. we had to pull over and really take it in. it was absolutely breathtaking. i only wished i had a camera that would do it better justice
this shot was taken in Forks - yes, we drove through Forks. it happened to be on our route : )

we also drove into the rainforest for a short hike

again, i wish i had a camera that could do this place justice, because the colors were so vivid, and the moss that hung over anything that stood still gave it such a soft, ethereal quality. gorgeous!

finally we made it to the coastal part of our drive, wich was also awesome. this was at Ruby Beach - a short break we took to stretch our legs again and take in the salty air

another short stop we took, at Cape Disappointment

we took a little hike through these trees. you can't tell in this shot, but beyond these trees the ocean stretches as far as the eye can see

and once beyond the trees the trail bends to the right, and this is the reward for such little toil

so pretty!

we finally arrived at Ocean Park and spent a day or two getting settled into our condo - which looked out on this beach and doing the tourist thing in Long Beach - eating pricey seafood, ice cream and candies, shopping in tacky little stores, and getting our picture taken then we drove into Oregon to watch some movies and see more beaches

the bridge into Astoria was the longest bridge i think i have ever been on!

and the very end of it has this huge elevation for ships and barges to pass under. it was crazy!

this is Cannon beach - again, just amazing

it was a wonderful trip. now we realize what we've been missing all this time and we're hoping to get another one in before our 20th!