Myrtle Beach

Jeanette and I, flew with our cousin Kate ,to surprise our cousin/sister Erin and family in North Carolina. It was an awesome trip. On Saturday we all piled in cars and drove to the beach. It rained the whole day! We only were physically on the beach for maybe 15 minutes. We were drenched!
We thoroughly enjoyed those 15 minutes. I was determined to put my feet in the Atlantic Ocean. Something I had yet to do.
I could've stayed on that beach until I was soaked to the bone. It was almost like I never left Washington. It was chilly. Not as cold as it would've been at the Pacific beaches this time of year.
I can't wait to go back when it's sunny and warm!

Port Gamble

This was the first weekend in a very long time, that we had beautiful weather. It would've been a crime to not get out and enjoy it. We didn't really have a plan on where to go. It was to the mountains on the east or to the west. We love going to the Olympic mountains. There's something so mysterious about them.
We love this little town. It has a population of only 72. I don't even know where they would all live. It's so small. Every house has a white picket fence.


This little cafe, is our new favorite restaurant. We've been here twice and the food is amazing! It's cute, quaint, and the service is excellent. It's tucked in the back of the general store, with views of the water.
The general store is a really beautiful building. Very high ceilings and original wood everywhere. In business since 1916.

They have several vacation cottages to rent. These two are the closest to the water. Beautiful place to get away, any time of the year.

Mt St Helens

For Travis' birthday in AUGUST, we decided to drive down and pay a visit to Mt St Helen's. We've been a few times but there is something different to see each time. This year there we really noticed how much green there is. So much more vegetation than before.

This tree is in the Johnson Ridge Observatory. What's left of the top of it, stands at a 90 degree angle.
They play a 15-30 min slideshow. When it's over they raise the curtains that were behind the movie screen, to reveal the mountain. Very majestic.
In the center of the observatory they have this model. It lights up to show you the pyroclastic flow.The little green line in this picture is the road we took to get there.

These two hills were so bald looking the last time we saw them. You could really see the blown over trees then. If you look close, they still look like little match sticks.
This is the road back towards home. Isn't it gorgeous. Nature is amazing.

Across the state and back again

Trav, Jeanette, and I took off for a few days to pay another visit to the Dahle's! We stayed in Spokane just 2 1/2 days. But had a lot of fun while we could. Since they'd been there a little longer, they found more fun places to take us. Thursday Kate and girls took us to Manito Park to see the Rose and Japanese gardens.

Part of the Japanese garden

This part of the park reminded me so much of Alice in Wonderland. You could host the funnest theme party here. I think this is the Duncan Garden.

On Friday we decided to head to the country. Knapp's farm is one of 30ish farms of the Green Bluff community. Worth a trip for sure! We want to come back next year to pick flats and flats of berries so we can make jams, pies, syrup....

We arrived at this little barn, and they whisked us away in golf carts to the strawberry fields. I must tell you the best part! The wind came up several times and treated our noses to the most lovely sweet, scent of REAL berries. It was heaven. As if anything could top that, the berries themselves were out of this world. The literally melted in our mouths. Fresh, ripe, and nothing like we've ever had before!

This fancy barn was the neighbor's across the road.

Cambree was our best helper. Her job was to take the berries from our hands and gently place them in the flat, but throwing them in was much more fun.

Miss Mal

After saying Au revoir to our lovely family we took the long way home. Instead of going back on I-90, we went up through the middle of absolutely nowhere on Hwy 2. I don't know why we didn't take any pics. It was just nothing but fields and fields and fields.

We went through a "blink of an eye" town that had a huge statue of a pink pig with a big blue ribbon. "Oh that's cute" then maybe 15 min later Jeanette looked at the map and we realized that was the town of Wilbur. DANG! I wish we got out took a picture with him! Can't say we'll be back there anytime...ever.

Lake Chelan.

Another place I don't think any of us has been to.

We really didn't know where to go to play on the Lake. There's always a state park of course. Man, was it crowded. It's probably one of THE most popular parks to camp. So many people, so little space. We didn't stay very long. But we definately got in! Ooooh was it cold! GLACIAL. I was the biggest chicken. Jeanette and Trav got in no problem. It took alot of coaxing to get me to go in to my neck.

We were good and waited till after we were done swimming to eat. We found this yummy place, that I highly recommend! Local Myth Pizza. A fun Mom and Pop.

We LOVED this pizza place. It really hit the spot. No Cheddar here. They have wonderful ingredients like, pinenuts, chirizo, chevre, kalamata olives... I could go on. The crust was thin crisp, and delicious.

After Chelan we drove down through orchards and hills to get to our hotel in Wenatchee. Although we have been to Wenatchee before. It was the middle of the day and too hot to walk around and explore. We just wanted to be in our A/C hotel, with a WARM pool.

Hanging out and relaxing was so nice. The next morning we took our time going home. We stopped in Leavenworth, just 20 min away from Wenatchee.

I love having a bit of Bavaria here in Washington. I really feel like I'm somewhere far far away. If only they would slowly build more "old" buildings, and branch more out from just the main street or two!

I've only been here when it's either bitter cold or boiling hot. I love them both. Especially when there's snow in the mountains and Christmas lights everywhere.

We kept on going through the mountains after Leavenworth. We'd never been through the north Cascades. The mountains were different than the ones I'm used to seeing down here. We were in awe.

The mountains through Steven's Pass were gorgeous. These, I think, are Washington's cousins to the Tetons. One of those peaks is Mt. Index. I should've done my homework and found out which one. Can't wait to visit them again. Very majestic!

There is still SO much more of Washington to explore. Everyone should be an expert about their home state!

Happy Birthday to ME

Where on earth did we go to find snow in the middle of July? Well, the forcast for my birthday was rain, rain, and somemore rain! Since we hadn't had anything over 75ish and rain for a while I wanted some HEAT. I thought we might go to Yakima and pick up some produce or something. We decided to take the scenic route, which led us over what is probably my favorite pass. Chinook Pass is at about 5400 feet (according to my GPS). At the top it still had about 10-12 feet of snow in places.

When your birthday is in the middle of July, you never dream of putting your feet in SNOW. It was crazy! I love how the snow curves around the top of the bathrooms.

Over the other side of the mountain, still in the hills, was this old friend. He was fun to follow for a while. We saw another little old car on the way. We thought maybe they were headed to a car show.

Miner's is the new Benedict family place to eat when going through Yakima. They are pretty darn fast and yummy!

Unfortunately, I'm sorry to say, there is not much to say for Yakima. The scenery, hills, and river are BEAUTIFUL. But the town....mmm. I won't be going back anytime soon.

Ellensburg!! Is just so pretty. I love the heat and the wind. It is so different from Western Washington.

Going either to or from Eastern Washington, we like to stop and get out here at this fruit stand. I remember going here with my Grandma and Grandpa Huntington to get some peaches and cherries for our trip home.

Port & Fort

Father's Day we went on a trip to one of my dad's favorite "out of town" places to go. Port Townsend. It's a little gem at the top of the Puget Sound. Everything seems so laid back there. Lots of shopping and restaurants on Water St., and old Bed & Breakfasts to stay in.

Before heading into town we stopped at the Chimicum farmstand, which was also having a farmer's market that day. Yummy local deliciousness.

We always have to stop and take a picture of Benedict St.

Captain T aboard his mighty vessel.

We were hoping and wishing for sun but it drizzled all morning until 5 or so in the evening. It made for some pretty cool boat shots, so I can't complain.

While I was standing at the harbor I was thinking how glad I am to be born in an area with all this water.

Fort Worden is probably my most favorite part about visiting Port Townsend. It's right in the backyard of town. It was built in the 1890's to fortify the Puget Sound against attack. The best part is the bunker which is about 3 stories underground just above the beach. The passages inside are pitch black. It's a photographer's heaven. Most of the HUGE guns were taken out and shipped to Europe during World War I. Until the 1950's it was used for training.