Washington and Oregon, USA
Here it is, Day 40 of Quarantine. Weird, it kind of feels like a reverse Lent. But hey, it’s still the Easter Season so let’s be happy and celebrate!
We’re going to skip back a post and hike on with the Washington-Oregon 2017 trip. Although I have not mentioned it much in these blogs, it was definitely one of my favorite trips.
Since it’s the end of the semester and probably one of my last passion blogs for this class, I figure I can try to describe my favorite parts of the trip instead of just one park.
As I’ve mentioned before this trip was amazing! We flew into Seattle and took a long car ride down to Oregon. We traveled along the Columbia River Gorge and visited Portland.
Portland is a super green city and has two of the coolest buildings.
I know what you’re thinking: cool architecture? Cool history?… NOPE
A Waffle Window
Let that sink in
There is to go waffles!
To pick up at your convenience!
At a window!
Mine had fruit, granola, and a bunch of whipped cream!
Portland is also home to Powell’s City of Books, one of the largest bookstores in the world! Each floor is color coded and you can find any book there!
We also went up the Washington coast. We met up with our cousins, the McConaughys, at a camp/RV site on a Native American Reservation. We loved playing with the huge hard rubbery pieces Seaweed that looked like Indiana Jones whips.
The next morning we went on a really cool hike and saw banana slugs which are gross, green/yellow slugs that are all over the pacific northwest. On our way to the beach we had to hang onto a rope as we slid vertically down a dirt cliff.
When we got to the bottom we were on a gray sand beach filled with driftwood. We kept hiking and were able to find tide pools filled with brightly colored starfish, anemones, and all sorts of cool tidal creatures.
My family also travelled to Cape Flattery and Cape Disappointment. No worries, it was in no way a disappointment. It is a beautiful lookout over rocks and blue waters. It is the northern-most point of the continental US.
We also got to see Olympic National Park (specifically the Ho rainforest) where we recreated pictures of me as a kid walking through the giant trees and leaves.
We also visited some lighthouses near the Lewis and Clark Museum. The museum was really cool because it is built at the point where they reached the Pacific.
We also got to visit Mount Rainer and Mount St. Helens. Mount Rainer was beautiful and filled with greenery and flowers (unlike the last time I was there when the visitor center was surrounded by snow that reached the roof)!
Mount St. Helens is also gorgeous but less green. It is a volcano and the 1980 eruption wiped out the surrounding area.
It is a national monument which allows scientist to research the eruption. While at the visitor center, we could see groups of tents/flags on the mountain marking areas that were significant locations.
Of course, we also got to visit Seattle which is a cool modern city and nothing like Philadelphia. The public library is amazing and full of glass and the buildings are so cool and colorful, especially the museums!
If you ever get a chance to go to the pacific northwest, take it!