We didn't get that much sleep at the airport last night or during our flight this morning. Even though we were half asleep and super sore and wanted to take the day off, we decided to push on and head to our next stop.
Our flight landed and we went to pick up our faithful Yaris, Honu. As the airport parking service people retrieved our car for us some of the other staff told us how much they enjoyed reading our blog! Apparently our windshield billboard did the trick. They were all very friendly and wished us luck on the remainder of our trip which made us very happy!
As soon as the car pulled up, Evan grabbed another pair of shoes and said farewell to his hiking boots. :( We will need to get a new pair of boots, but unfortunately it will have to wait until after the trip.
Our flight landed and we went to pick up our faithful Yaris, Honu. As the airport parking service people retrieved our car for us some of the other staff told us how much they enjoyed reading our blog! Apparently our windshield billboard did the trick. They were all very friendly and wished us luck on the remainder of our trip which made us very happy!
As soon as the car pulled up, Evan grabbed another pair of shoes and said farewell to his hiking boots. :( We will need to get a new pair of boots, but unfortunately it will have to wait until after the trip.
We arrived at the north entrance visitor center early afternoon not knowing much about the park other than we knew it had a rainforest and we needed to see it.
A ranger informed us how big the park was and that there was no road that went through the middle. Instead, we had to drive all the way from the North entrance to the West side of the park before turning back East towards the Hoh Rainforest. On the way there, we decided to make a stop along the coast to see Second Beach. The hike out was through a beautiful green forest with trees of unique shapes and erratic roots that sometimes wove many trees into what seemed like one.
Once we arrived at the beach the views were absolutely breathtaking! There was also the added bonus of being the only people there! We watched the waves, soaked in the beauty, and made sure to feel the cold North Pacific waters.
Somebody wanted to be a little more adventurous and get a different view of the crashing waves
Just as we were about to head back up the trail another hiker joined us on the beach and kindly offered to take our picture.
We had about an hour drive to the rainforest so we snapped a few final pictures and hit the road. On the drive we marveled at the lush forests and various shades of green that were all around us!
Once we arrived to the Hoh Rainforest we decided to do the Hall of Mosses trail which was a 0.8 mile loop. Immediately as we started the trail we were once again surprised by the magnificence that surrounded us. There were giant trees towering overhead and the moss covered almost everything.
So much green! I'm surprised I blend in so well!
We even got to see an elk grazing!
Recently, we realized we could use the selfie stick like a tripod. We set it up to capture this flag picture since nobody else was around.
As we continued to walk through the forest we learned about the 3 types of conifers that made up the rainforest. They were Sitka spruce, Douglas fir, and western hemlock.
After a few (actually several) more photo stops we finished up our rainforest adventure. Next stop, Mount Rainier National Park.
Word of the Day: Privy