Blake and I decided that we wanted to travel to Washington State and Oregon plus see some of the Pacific West Coast. No real plans in place, we booked tickets a couple of days in advance. We decided that we would be traveling to a bunch of different destinations and that depending on the weather is when we would be able to do the things on our must do list. With the weather and the list of things we wanted to do in mind we decided to fly into the Seattle/Tacoma Airport and depart from Portland, Oregon. No hotels booked, we packed our tent and sleeping bags with us and we headed out. We did have a rental car booked.

To do list:

• Hike to Camp Muir
• Space Needle
• Tour Downtown Seattle
• Visit Pike Place Market
• Visit REI
• Take a ferry ride
• Hike in Olympic National Park
• Visit Portland
• Make Stops along the Oregon Coast

Day 1 – 8/22/2019

Blake and I arrived at his brother’s apartment in Richmond, VA, his brother drove us to the airport. On the pillows in the spare bedroom was a Pop-Tart for Blake and a Cosmic Brownie for myself. Once we arrived to the airport, we checked our bags, went through bag check and boarded the plane. The plane took off at 6:10 AM est. We landed in Houston and had about an hour layover. Next thing we know I am getting messages on my phone that our plane has been delayed. Everyone knows having your plane delayed is frustrating but what can you do? We watched a few episodes of LetterKenny, had breakfast and a drink and eventually boarded the plane. Next stop – Seattle. We landed in Seattle, got our luggage and headed to the rental car lot. We were given a free upgrade to an SUV. This proved very handy for later in the trip. Once we left the airport we set out on our first major unplanned vacation.

First stop: Walmart (because what trip isn’t complete without a Walmart stop). We picked up a cooler, food, chairs, drinks and some camping supplies.

Next stop: REI (or so we thought)…… I plugged the location into the GPS and started heading towards REI…..next thing we know we are at REI, however this REI is in an office park. I chose the wrong location and ended up at REI headquarters. This made for a very laughable experience. Next stop was the REI store in downtown Seattle. We picked up a couple of needed supplies for camping and headed out.

Space Needle: From the parking lot we could see the Space Needle, thinking to myself that doesn’t seem far and I convinced Blake to walk. After over a mile through the downtown streets we finally made it. Looking at the prices we decided that it would benefit us more if we purchased the Seattle CityPass https://www.citypass.com/seattle At the time the CityPass cost $99 each and included:

• 2 trips up the Space Needle
• Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour
• Seattle Aquarium
• Chihuly Garden and Glass or Pacific Science Center
• Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) or Woodland Park Zoo

This would be our first of 2 trips to the Space Needle. Once we got in line, your picture was taken to view later at no additional cost. Picture had a greenscreen background and when you view your pictures you could choose many different backgrounds. We took so many pictures during our first trip to the Space Needle. We went on a clear day and could see so much! We ventured down to The Loupe. The Loupe is a rotating glass floor.

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We stayed to watch the sunset over Seattle and were blown away at the sight of the city at night.

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After leaving the Space Needle we stopped at Shake Shack https://shakeshack.com/location/south-lake-union-wa for dinner. While waiting for dinner, I pulled up local hotels in the area because we still did not have a place to stay for the night. The cheapest hotel around with good reviews was the Renaissance by Marriott https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/seasm-renaissance-seattle-hotel/ Not cheap in the slightest and parking was 1/3 of the cost of the hotel for the night.

Day 2 – 8/23/2019

Blake realized his trail runners had see better days and decided after over a decade with them it was time to part ways.

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We then set off on our day long adventure self touring Seattle. Blake being a firefighter, went first went to Seattle Fire Station 10 and took a tour. The Captain of the station was happy to show us around the station and tell us about the apparatus housed in the station. Station 10 also responds to calls at the sports stadiums which was a neat fact to learn.

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After leaving the station, we signed up to do the Seattle Underground Tour http://www.undergroundtour.com/ We learned so much from this tour. The most interesting thing we learned is that the Seattle we see now is actually not the ground level. It would be considered the 2nd floor but due to the Great Seattle Fire of 1889. I would HIGHLY recommend taking this tour if you go to Seattle. You explore a lot of the underground and learn a lot about the history of Seattle. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and could answer any question thrown at him. The neat part was you toured Pioneer Square as you see it today and then go underground.

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Next we headed over to Pier 55 for the 1 hour, narrated Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour. The cruise offered a unique way to see Seattle and the surrounding Olympic Mountains and Mount Rainier. We also saw container ships, Seattle Seahawks Football Stadium and Seattle Fire/Rescue Boat.

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Since we were close by, next we went to Pike Place Public Market. This was always a favorite place of mine to visit when I was staying with my sister in the summers back in high school. This was also Blake’s first time visiting the market. The market offers so much. From food to fish to flowers, you name it, they have it. We went by the Wall of Gum, the 1st Starbucks (we wanted to stop but the line was out the door and down the building), we saw a shop advertising the “World’s best Mac n Cheese” https://beechershandmadecheese.com/ and given how much we love mac n cheese, it was a no brainer for us to stop. Well they were right. It was the most delicious Mac n cheese we have had. We also got sandwiches while we were there. These sandwiches were amazing. The cheese is made on site and they have a guard station outside to help with the traffic in and out of the building. If we go back to Pike Place Market, I don’t care how long the line is, we will stop.

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No stop to Pike Place Market is complete without stopping to see the fish throwing. This is always a sight to see and so many people gather to see the large fish thrown back and forth. #PikePlaceFish

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After taking in all that Pike Place Market had to offer, we headed to the Seattle Aquarium. This is included in the Seattle CityPass. The aquarium isn’t very big but it offers a lot and we really enjoyed touring. The Otters and Seals were a favorite. The entire Aquarium took about an hour to explore.

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Knowing we wanted to go back to the Space Needle, we decided to head there once we left the aquarium. We came across Lime Bicycles and decided this would be a fun way to travel to the Space Needle. Once at the space needle we took more pictures of Mount Rainer and the area below. We saw a concert going on in an open field.

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It was getting to be around 5pm and we knew the other attractions included in the CityPass would be closing soon. We headed to the area where 3 of the attractions were located. On the way there we came across a playground that was one of the coolest playgrounds we had ever seen and it was full of kids. It also had a giant maze painted on the ground. The playground was located right outside the Museum of Pop Culture.

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We were on the fence between going to the Science Center and the Chihuly Garden and Glass. We talked to an employee in the ticket box for the Science Center and she explained that the Science Center was a lot of fun but geared more towards kids and it also closed in about 2 minutes. That made the decision very easy. To the Chihuly Garden and Glass we went and we are very glad we did. This is one of the most unique Art experiences I have ever encountered. All of the pieces were incredible and we were very disappointed when we go to the end of the museum.

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Once we finished with Chihuly Garden and Glass we found the Seattle Center Monorail through part of the city. We thought this would be another neat way to see the city. We purchased our tickets ($3/person) and took the monorail back to a location in close proximity to the hotel. Once we got off the monorail we picked up another lime bike and biked the rest of the way to the hotel to get our car. We made 1 more stop at REI to get Blake a new pair of trail runners and a new pair of hiking boots. We also picked up trail food. This concluded our tour of downtown Seattle and the completion of what we could use from the CityPass. We didn’t have enough time to do the Museum of Pop Culture or the Zoo but it was okay. We got in the car and headed towards Oregon. I pulled up my Priceline app to find us a hotel for the night. We stayed at the Comfort Inn Keslo – Longview.

Day 3 – 8/24/2019

Day 3 brought us to Vancouver, WA. We really enjoy going to wine tastings and wanted to try to find a few while we were on vacation. We came across the Maryhill Tasting Room. The tasting room was located in the Waterfront Vancouver, USA. The tasting room just recently opened before our visit. Beautiful tasting room and a beautiful location overlooking the Columbia River. We enjoyed chatting with the employees and sampling wines. Blake also purchased a Shrimp appetizer to enjoy while we were sipping our wine on the patio.

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Following the winery, we took a tour of Waterfront Vancouver – USA. The entire area was being redeveloped at the time and everything was new and there were many vacant buildings. We enjoyed reading the signs about the history of the location as well as taking in the views of the Columbia river.

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Waterfront Vancouver – USA also had plenty of activities for kids to enjoy. To include small playgrounds, sandy beaches and a splash area. It was August and about 65 degrees outside (this is a big change for us being from Virginia where it is always very hot and humid during the month of August). We saw so many kids playing in the water. We were cold just seeing them play.

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We now have our GPS set for Portland, OR. No better way to kick off our Portland experience than to visit the iconic Old Town Pizza (Portland’s Haunted Pizzeria). The pizza was amazing and you got a lot for the price.

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No stop to Portland would be complete without a stop to the famous VooDoo Donuts. The line for the shop was crazy. We waited in line for about 1/2 hour – totally worth it.

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Once we got back to the car we left Portland, OR and headed to the coast. I want to give a huge shout out to my friend Cryst’l – as she provided us with a list of must do spots along our tour of the coast and a must do waterfall. Cryst’l is from Astoria, OR. During our travel to the coast we could see Mount Adams from the interstate and it was breathtaking.

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We were headed towards Multnomah Falls and came across a parking lot and looked to the left and there stood Horsetail Falls. These falls were the biggest I have ever seen and to be roadside was amazing.

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We made it to Multnomah Falls. If you plan to come here, plan in advance extra time to find parking. The parking lots fill up fast. We got very lucky and someone pulled out as we were pulling in. Visitors can view the falls from the ground level or take a small hike to the footbridge that crosses over the lower falls. The trail continues past the foot bridge and viewing platform to the top of the falls. We started hiking the trail and came across others that appeared to be avid hikes like ourselves and we asked them if it was worth it to hike all the way to the top of the falls. They told us, from the top there is not really a view and it is almost impossible to see the falls from the top. They did provide us with a few other places to check out in the area and since we had limited time we took their advise and headed back to the car.

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We stopped at the Latourell Falls Trailhead. Latourell Falls is one of the places the couple we meet on the Multnomah Falls Trail recommended. The falls are not that far from the roadway and are worth the stop.

We continued along the Historic Columbia River Highway and reached the Crown Point State Scenic Corridor. We stopped to take pictures (along with everyone else). This spot offered panoramic views of the Colombia River Gorge.

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Once we left the overlook we continued towards the Oregon Cost. Our first stop would be Tillamook, OR, this is also were we decided to stay for the night. We needed a place to stay and tried several campgrounds on the way to Tillamook but they were all full (the campgrounds are all first come first serve). We found a tent site at Twin’s Ranch. This campground is very interesting. It is a mom and pop campground that offers tent sites in a large open field as well as covered wagon camping. Tonight was our first time camping during our trip and we were very excited. We got our tent set up and then went to explore a little of the Tillamook Creamery.

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For dinner we stopped at La Mexicana. We were both feeling Mexican for dinner and the restaurant got decent reviews and there were not too many other options in the area that were open. The food was okay, nothing that would make me want to eat there again if I was ever in the area. We ordered their fried ice cream for dessert. It looked better than it tasted but overall we were satisfied.

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Day 4 – 8/25/2019

We got up and packed our tent up. Something happened to the tent during the night because when we woke up we were soaked, the tent was soaked. This was not a fun way to start our day, however it proved to be a great laugh when we look back on this morning. After drying off we headed back to the Tillamook Creamery. They were about to close the night before when we went and we needed dinner, therefore we didn’t stay long. We did notice they serve breakfast and had breakfast as soon as we got there. I had the cheese biscuits and sausage gravy and Blake had an open face omelet.

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After we finished our breakfast we took a self guided tour around them creamery. There are large glass windows that allow visitors to view the manufacturing process. We watched for a little while. Plenty of cheese samples were available (*disclaimer, we went in 2019 before the pandemic, I do not know if the cheese samples are available). Of course before we left we HAD to try their ice cream!! Yes it was 9:15 in the morning……. If you are in Oregon, especially the west coast, Tillamook Creamery should be at the top of your list of things to do! A little over a year ago, our local grocery stores started selling Tillamook cheese and ice cream and that is our go to every time.

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Next Stop: Blue Heron French Cheese Co. Can we just say GOATS!!!!! I love goats and they had them around their building!! We did not buy anything while we were here but we did do a wine tasting. The server was very polite and informative. We thoroughly enjoyed the wine tasting. Blue Heron offers all types of cheeses and specialty candy and you can pet goats!

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Cryst’l told us we needed to stop by her favorite Winery while we were on the coast. Making the next stop: Nehalem Bay Winery. Very quaint winery that had a lot of wines available. Tasting are free and you can try as many as you want (this was in August 2019). We enjoyed our tasting and conversation.

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We continued our trip along the Oregon Coast Highway and pulled over at the first spot we could get a really good picture of the PACIFIC OCEAN! This was the first time we have seen the Pacific Ocean and it did not disappoint.

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Next on Cryst’l’s list of must stops: Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, OR. Not a lot of parking available, visitors must find a place to park along the road or in the neighborhood but be mindful of the no parking signs. They mean it! Haystack Rock is massive and an incredible sight to see. This was our first time putting our feet in the Pacific Ocean (of course we had to take a picture). We stayed here about an hour, taking in the sights and enjoying the surrounding nature.

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We drove approximately 10 miles to our next destination: Seaside, OR. Per Cryst’l’s recommendations – Stop by the Seaside Aquarium http://www.seasideaquarium.com/ to feed the seals. Blake and I weren’t sure what to expect with this and we thankfully found parking. The wind when we got to the beach was whipping. We went into the Aquarium and paid $2 to feed to seals fish. They were adorable. We also opted to go into the very small aquarium and see what it had to offer. Admission is $9 for an adult. We stayed about 20 minutes and enjoyed seeing the marine life.

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Next we drove to Gearhart and started driving on the beach. (This is when the upgrade to the SUV really came in handy). We parked and decided that we needed to submerge ourselves in the Pacific Ocean. The temperature was 56 degrees. To us it was cold but to all of the Oregon beachgoers it was a perfect and beautiful beach day. We both fully submerged ourselves and then ran back to the car to take a picture of proof that we did it.

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Once we dried off and turned the heat on in the car, we continued driving along the beach until we got to were we had to exit. At the exit is the remains of the Wreck of the Peter Iredale. The Peter Iredale was a sailing vessel that ran ashore towards the end of 1906 while enroute to the Columbia River.

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Back on real road we drove to Fort Stevens and began to explore. We found an old bunker and watched ships come in and out. We spent about 40 minutes exploring the area and reading all of the signs.

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Around 5:30 we made it to our last town on the Oregon Coast trek – Astoria (this is where Cryst’l grew up).

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One of the things I loved about the time I spent in Washington State when I was in High School was the drive thru coffee stands. I am not a coffee drinker. Weird I know but it just isn’t my thing and thankfully for me it isn’t Blake’s thing either. But I do love these coffee stands for their flavored drinks. I remember getting them all the time when I would visit my sister. I would either get a raspberry or root beer drink (more of a cream style/milkshake drink) but none the less, amazing! I tried so many local coffee shops around my area and nobody makes these and they look at me as if I am weird when I try to request these drinks. We stopped at Kick Ass Koffee and both had the root beer drinks. Blake was thoroughly impressed.

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We drove around Astoria for a while and figured it was time for dinner and not knowing the area, we stopped at the local Fire Station (Blake being a Firefighter, wanted to stop anyways) and ask what they recommend in the area. We were invited inside and swapped stories with the guys for well over and hour. Blake left with an Astoria Fire Department patch and lots of memories. They recommended a restaurant called Buoy Beer Company. Buoy Bear Company is a restaurant located on the Columbia River that offers a simple food menu and a drink menu fit for everyone. Our 1st anniversary was August 20th and this what we considered our Anniversary dinner. Blake started with the Oysters and I had cheese curds. Followed by a seafood dish for Blake and a chicken dish for myself (I do not like seafood and yes I have tried it). We had the PERFECT table that overlooked the Columbia River and we picked the PERFECT time to have dinner as we watched the sunset over the river. Buoy also offers a very unique experience. Being on the river, seals frequent the area and they have an area in the floor that is glass and you can view the seals as they sleep under the restaurant. We also had some seals poke their head up from the water while we were eating. Blake and I highly recommend Buoy Beer Company!

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Once we left our Anniversary dinner we were contemplating where to stay for the night. Knowing the next day we would be hiking in Olympic National Park, we didn’t know if we wanted to head back into Washington and stay closer to the park or if we should stay in Astoria, OR. Needless to say were drove back and forth across the bridge and decided to stay in Astoria.

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We checked prices for hotels in Astoria and decided to stay at the Astoria Riverwalk Inn. I was very hesitant to stay at this location because I am not a fan of staying in hotels with the doors on the outside. I am however, very happy we stayed here. Upon arrival we were welcomed with a firepit burning. I checked in and the front desk attendant was very welcoming and explained the features the Inn had to offer to include premade bags of smores kits to roast on the firepit out front. We received our key and headed to our room. The room was impeccable, one of the cleanest rooms I have stayed in. We laid out our wet tent for it to dry overnight and went to bed. The next morning we woke up early enough to catch the sunrise from our balcony. The views we were met with were incredible.

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Day 5 – 8/26/2019

Blake and I stopped at 3 Cups Coffee House for hot chocolate (another recommendation by Cryst’l). We love getting hot chocolate at coffee houses because most of the time they use milk and real chocolate and not just a powder.

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Leaving Astoria and Oregon behind, we drive back across the bridge and head to Washington and Olympic National Park.

We make a detour to Cape Disappointment to hike to the lighthouse. We did the 1.2 mile Cape Disappointment Lighthouse trail which begins at the Coast Guard Station and passes by Dead Mans Cove. (unfortunately this trail is now closed). The views from the trail are beautiful. The lighthouse is rundown but still a neat sight to see.

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Olympic National Park

We made it! Our first stop in the park was Ruby Beach. The parking area was very busy and parking was hard to find. We eventually found a parking space and got ready to head down to the beach. Bears are prone to frequent the area and therefore all trash must be placed in a bearproof trashcan. To get to the beach it is about 0.5 mile descent. The beach had a mix of people like ourselves visiting for a few minutes and beachgoers there for the day.

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On the road again…..next stop Sully’s Burgers for a quick bite to eat and we also made a stop at Beaver Fire Department.

Our next major stop was Sol Duc Falls. Sol Duc Falls is a 1.6 mile out and back hike that passes by a creek and ends with 3 waterfalls lined next to each other. This is an easy hike and great for kids and all skill levels. The hike is a must do in Olympic National Park.

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Continuing on our journey of Olympic National Park, we arrived at Hurricane Ridge visitors center. We unfortunately got there too late and the visitors center was closed for the day. We explored the area around the visitors center and saw a doe.

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The other disappointment about this area is the trail we planned on hiking was closed due to the removal of mountain goats. Yes mountain goats! We ended up hiking up the Big Meadow Nature Trail to the Sunrise Viewpoint Nature Trail. The entire hike was about 1.5 miles. Beautiful views all around. We came across the Hurricane Ridge ski area. Their ski area is a lot different from what we see at home. At first we thought it was abandoned until later on we googled the area and found out that it is in fact an active ski resort. We reached the Sunrise viewpoint and all of a sudden our phones buzzed and we received a message saying “Welcome to Canada”. We finished our hike and headed back to the car.

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Once we left Olympic National Park we headed towards the Bainbridge Island Ferry to get back to Seattle. After a chilly and windy but beautiful ferry ride, we arrived back in Seattle.

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Once we got off the ferry we took the 1.5 hour drive to Mount Rainier National Park. I feel asleep on the car ride over. Blake claims to have seen an Elk while I was sleeping. We pull up to our campsite around 1:30 Am. Finished setting up around 2:15 and went to bed. After about 6 hours of sleep we got up, packed up our tent, had some breakfast, got ready for our hike and chatted with our neighbor for a few. Off we went…..

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Day 6 – 8/27/2019

We arrived at the Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitors Center at Paradise – Mount Rainier. We browsed the visitors center for a few and got before hiking pictures.

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We began our hike at 10:35 from the Paradise parking lot and headed up the paved part of the trail with a goal of hiking to Camp Muir. The trail eventually turned into packed dirt. We passed a lot of wildlife along the way.

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We made it to the Pebble Creek crossing with an elevation of 7200 feet at 12:19. Once you cross this point you are no longer on a trail and you step into the snowfield and are left to choose your own way.

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We hike onward and continue to ascend the snowfield on our way to Camp Muir. During our hike we came across a gentleman carrying skis. He said he comes once a week and hikes to Camp Muir just to ski back down. He later skied past us while we were continuing our hike.

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We continued our ascent and encountered a mountain goat. It was really neat to see the mountain goat walking around and enjoying the sunshine. We stopped to have a snack and reapply sunscreen. At this high of an elevation sunscreen is needed almost every hour.

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We continued our ascent, pausing to take in the views of neighboring mountains. We got to about 9500 feet of elevation about about a 1/2 mile from Camp Muir and I couldn’t go on anymore. I would hike a few feet and have to keep stopping. The terrain became very sketchy at this point and we did not have crampons. Blake kept reassuring me that it is okay that we didn’t make it to Camp Muir. I was very disappointed in myself but it was better to be safe than sorry. I then had an overwhelming fear of the descent. We took our time and headed down the mountain. I received a FaceTime call from my kids and I got to show them around the snowfield and the area. The kids stayed with my parents while we were our on trip. We were very thankful for that! Continuing our descent, we glissaded a few times, this was my first time glissading down a mountain.

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After taking our time, we made it back on the trail around 5:20. We continued our hike towards the parking lot. We went a different way to take in different views. We passed a waterfall and more wildlife and wildflowers. We arrived back in the parking lot around 6:55 and unfortunately the visitors center was closed at this time.

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Once leaving Paradise parking area we headed out of Mount Rainier National Park. Before leaving the park we saw a sign for Narada Falls and decided to stop. We parked in the parking area off Longmire to Paradise Rd. The entire out and back trail is approximately 0.3 miles. It is a steep hike down to the falls, however totally worth it. There is a viewpoint from the top but to really take in all the falls have to offer, you really need to hike down. (Note: we did the hike in flip flops)

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We said our good byes to Mount Rainier National Park and stopped for one last picture. We tried to stop at a restaurant near the park for dinner but they had a long wait and another restaurant we tried to stop at had already closed for the day.

We found an open restaurant called the Pioneer Bar and Grill and decided to stop because we were hungry and we didn’t pass many other open restaurants. This restaurant received really good ratings, I’m assuming from locals because it was definitely a locals bar and we felt really out of place. We ate our meal as quickly as we could and and headed out of there. We had firewood remaining from camping and found a campground that was willing to take it from us. We ended up staying at the Comfort Inn Keslo – Longview again. It was a quiet and clean hotel the first time we stayed. Blake also left his glasses here during our first stay and to our surprise when we got there this time they had them! Before bed we organized all of our luggage.

Day 7 – 8/28/2019

We got up and headed towards the airport. Our boarding time was 11:55. We had to drive back to Portland, OR to catch out flight. (in the beginning we thought we would start the trip in Washington and hike Mount Rainier earlier in the trip and finish in Oregon but once we arrived in Seattle the first day we checked the weather and it turned out the hike would be better for day 6). We didn’t mind the drive back to Oregon. We stopped at a 7-11 to fill the gas tank on the rental. An employee pumped the gas for us and this was a big change from back home. We had a lot of unopened snacks and drinks left and it just so happened that a UPS driver was parked in the parking lot and we offered the food and cooler to him and he was very grateful. We headed for the airport, returned our car, checked our bags and waited in the long line to get through the TSA security check. We had a little bit of time to kill before boarding the plane and saw a sign for wine tastings. We stopped, did a wine tasting and then went and grabbed a beer cheese pretzel.

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We boarded the plane and off we went. Next stop…..Denver, CO. Little did we know, we would see Denver again very soon.

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Once we landed in Denver, we grabbed dinner at Aviator’s Sports Bar & Bar-B-Que. We got ice cream before we needed to board and during the time we were getting ice cream they bumped up our boarding time and we had to run to make our flight. Got to keep the end of the trip as interesting as the beginning.

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We finally landed back in Richmond, VA around midnight. 3 planes landed at the same time and we were the unfortunate plane to have our luggage unloaded last. Our first real and very unplanned vacation together was in the books. We hit a few bumps along the way but overall it turned out better than we could have hoped for. Until next time West Coast……

During the trip I was feeling off, stomach ache, nauseous etc. Not thinking much of it, and chalking it up to the time change and altitude changes…….Not!!! One week after the trip I was still feeling the same way and decided to take a pregnancy test. SURPRISE!!!! It was positive. What a surprise this was. It also explained the uneasy feeling I had on Mount Rainier. So begins our adventures with our plus 1 on board.