West Coast Trip-Day 3

 When we left Ocean Shores this morning we drove down the beach for a little while before heading out. Our first stop was at Grays Harbor Lighthouse, which is,

 the tallest lighthouse in Washington State

 After leaving there we drove to the fishing village in the town of Westpoint. 

 Our next stop was at Cape Disappointment Light. It was quite a hike to get to it, but the views were well worth it.

 Just a few miles north, was North Head Light. It was an easy walk to it. They are restoring this one, so we couldn't go in it.

 These were the Light Keepers houses, which today are now set up more like hotel rooms where you can stay.

 This is actually a river, which looks more like the ocean, with the mountains of Oregon in the background.

 It was 4 miles across the bridge to get into Astoria, Oregon. This was a Lightship that you can now tour.

 Astoria is a major Coast Guard Hub also.

 Large ship out in the River.

 Here are some pics of Sea Lions we saw at the fishing village. They were so funny to watch. There were probably 25 or more laid out on 2 small docks. 

Now time to figure out where we are heading next.

West Coast Trip-Day 2

We left Port Orchard this morning and headed north to Olympic National Park. It is 922,650 acres. We drove to Port Angles and went into Hurricane Ridge. There were 3 tunnels real close together that went under parts of the mountain.

 The Glacier's are slowly melting away.

 Looking north you see the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Canada's Vancouver Island

 This is looking toward the south side.

 Coming back down the mountain you could see the Bay with Canada in the background

 We ate lunch at a Waterfront Restaurant that looked out over the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

 Our next stop was at Ruby Beach on the Pacific Ocean. It is known for the Sea Stacks and large driftwood.

 This is one of the Sea Stacks up close to show how big they are

 Our next stop in the park was at Quinault Rain Forest. It is called the Valley of the Rain forest giants, because of the record size tree species located there. There were lots of beautiful ferns

 The largest tree there was a Douglas Fir. That small area that we walked in had 5 of the largest Douglas Fir trees anywhere.

 This was where a tree had fallen and another tree grew over it.

 The Forest receives 12 feet of rain per year. 

 We are staying in Ocean Shores, Washington tonight. This was our sunset before we left to go eat a great meal for our 40th anniversary. I'm so thankful that Buddy loves to travel like I do. There are so many great places to see in our own good ole USA

I still have no clue where we will be going tomorrow. So stay tuned.

West Coast Trip Day 1

We left today for our 40th anniversary trip. I'm finally going to get to see two states that I haven't been to. Washington & Oregon. We flew into Seattle, rented a car and headed into the city. This is the stadium where the Seattle Seahawks play.

 A view of Seattle's waterfront.

 This is like a huge farmer's market with all kinds of fresh produce and fresh caught fish. Lot's of restaurants and shops.

 These pictures were taken at the Fish Market, which is famous for throwing their fish. Quite entertaining. I didn't get a picture of them throwing them, but these are some pics of the huge King Crab.

 And lobster

The Space Needle. We didn't go up in it, because it was so crowded. They were having some kind of music festival here this weekend.  

We are not so much big city people, so we took the ferry and headed across the water to our hotel in a quaint little town called Port Orchard. (Plus it was $200 cheaper to stay) 

 Seattle from the ferry

 There was a small lighthouse at the end of this point.

 This is Bainbridge Island, with lots of big houses on it.

 Another view of the city of Seattle with a large vessel and tiny little canoes going across.

 We saw several sea lions along the way resting on buoys.

 The blue house would be my pick, it has it's own lighthouse attached to it.

 This is the Pugent Sound Naval Shipyard that is across from where we are staying tonight. It was built in 1891 and in 1901 during WW1 they constructed 25 sub chasers, 7 submarines, 2 mine sweepers, 7 sea tugs, and 2 ammunition ships, and 1700 small boats. During WW 2 their job was to repair damaged battle ships. 

I'm loving the cool weather out here. We have had to wear jackets all day.