Seattle & Bothell (August 23-31) - Abby`s brother, Matt, and his girlfriend, Morgan, were living near Woodland Park in Seattle, which was not an area of the city to bring the trailer into, so we were able to drop it off in Bothell, which was about 30 minutes away, at a 'Boondocker`s Welcome' site. Matt & Morgan were in the middle of moving out of their apartment and into a Sprinter Van. They were heading out of town for a short trip on the 31st so timing worked out perfectly to see them for about a week before they left. The first night we made dinner out of all our "stuff to get rid of" and then grabbed an ice cream from Dick`s Drive-In (cheap+delicious=a must stop). In the remaining days we met up with Abby`s Aunt Cindi & Uncle Jon (+Scout the pup) and our friends Katie & Mike, who were coincidentally in Seattle at the same time! It was a short visit with Katie & Mike, we went for a quick lunch at Kiss Cafe before they had to catch their flight. This was Nelly`s first time sitting inside a restaurant (she`s only done patio dining). When we got up to leave everyone around us looked puzzled, like they had no idea she was under the table the whole time...just the way we wanted it! If you read Alaska Pt.3, you know we went Halibut fishing. The charter we went with charged $1/per bag to pack up the fish, so we tried fitting as much fish in a single bag as we could. Didn`t really take into consideration that we cant eat one bag just the two of us, so we`ve been waiting to be with more people to enjoy it again. With Cindi, Jon, Morgan, Matt & ourselves, we still had leftovers. Scout (the pup) got lucky! AND we finally used the blueberries we picked in Denali to make a blueberry crisp :) We explored a few places while we were in the city: Discovery Park - We headed over to the park to meet Cindi & Scout for the first time since getting into the city. The park is situated on the Magnolia Bluff and overlooks the Puget Sound while also offering views of the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges. It was a beautiful hike and the dogs were great together! Magnolia Park - We went out for a nice dinner with Cindi & Jon at Ray`s Boathouse. This place has one of the best views over the Shilshole Bay. We even caught the end of a wedding ceremony as we left. After dinner we grabbed the pups for a walk in Magnolia Park. It was a beautiful sunset with Mt. Rainier in the background. It looked like a painting.
Pike`s Place Market - Abby had already been but it`s one of those places that`s different every time. We went on a Saturday when we knew it would be crazy because that`s always more fun! We walked around looking at all of the unique booths and grabbed a day old bakery for half price on our way out. Being total tourists we wanted to get our photo in front of the 'Public Market' sign so looked around to find someone who looked capable of snapping a shot, which sounds easy but I tell ya, it`s just too much for some people. They got us in the photo, so that`s good, but cut off the sign... come on! From now on we make a point to say "can you get us WITH THE WHOLE SIGN?". Our last three nights we went back to our camper at Jill & Thayer`s house, in Bothell. We were at Matt & Morgan`s prior to then, loving all of the extra room! After living in a camper for almost 4 months it`s a weird feeling moving back into a house for awhile. You flush the toilet and cant help but think that was enough water to wash dishes for two days. And doing the dishes are fun again! While staying with Jill & Thayer we tackled a few projects in the camper. We added peg board to the kitchen walls to make more room in our cupboards and added dividers in our storage area above the bed. Their neighbor, Rick, was so generous with helping us. Before we left for Home Depot he stopped us and said his garage is even better, and boy was it! He had bulk of everything and every tool imaginable. We had a nice dinner with Jill, Thayer and Rick on our last night and it was fun to hear about the adventures that they`ve had. Thayer had been trying out different blackberry cobbler recipes that week and made one for us to enjoy. He nailed it! Port Angeles (August 31-September 4) - Our friend Alec lives in Tacoma so we planned to explore Olympic National Park with him. Nelly had to learn to share the camper with his dog Peetri, a Maltese Yorkie Mix. It was pretty hilarious, these two became pretty close. Never saw them cuddle, not to say they didn't. We left Bothell around lunch time and got to Tacoma with some time to kill before Alec got off work. Made a visit to Walmart naturally and then headed to his place. We freshened up, ate a sub from MSM (Magical Sandwich Makers) Deli, packed the car, and were bound for Port Angeles which is in the north part of the Olympic peninsula offering views of Victoria Island and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We were staying with Randy and his Scottish Terrier, Scotty, through Boondocker's Welcome. We got in really late but met them in the morning along with his other guests, Nicole & Keaten (+pup Vida). Check out their adventure so far and the amazing work they did on their '98 Blue Bird bus!! (@allbusnofuss). It was a great group we had! Daily happy hours and non-stop fetch for the pups. Randy's house was a perfect home base for us to explore Olympic National Park. He was right next to the visitor center, so we grabbed our maps the first day and planned to hit as much as we could. The dogs had nap time in the camper while we went out for hikes. We like to think the cuddling happened then, but it remains a mystery. What did we see in Olympic National Park?Hurricane Ridge Area- We first did the Big Meadow Loop which was short and gave us great views of the Olympics. Then we drove a mile and a half down to access Hurricane Hill Trail which leads you to the top of Hurricane Hill, 5,757 ft high. We ended up hiking 6.4 miles total and it was a hot one, but we got some amazing views! Mt. Storm King Trail- Ok people, this one was killer. The type of hike that you pass by someone and encourage them to not give up! By the top, we knew everyone on the mountain. It was 4.2 miles round trip with steep switchbacks, but the views...oh the views! SO worth it. At the "pretty much summit" there is a section that requires you to use ropes to get to the very tallest point, Sam was the only one to do that. Yeah I (Abby) regret not doing it...but I had a full belly of PBJ and was content at the "pretty much summit", so...next time. Marymere Falls- As if the Storm King Trail wasn't enough we decided to fit one more in for the day. But falls meant water, which meant refreshing, so it didn't take much convincing. It felt so nice to throw water on our faces! Elwha Area & Madison Falls- On our way into the Elwha area we stopped for a quick hike to Madison Falls. From there we went down the one lane Whiskey Bend Road to hike for a bit more around Goblin Gates. HOH Rainforest- We saved this section of the park to hit on our way out of the peninsula. We started where we always do, the visitor center. We hiked down the Hall of Moses and Spruce Nature trails and everywhere we looked, it was green. Or brown I guess if you looked at the path. This place got busy quick though! We went early to assure we'd get a parking spot with the trailer and were just fine, but by the time we were done hiking, it would have been impossible. Ruby Beach- This beach was Nelly's favorite spot of the trip. We lucked out getting a parking spot here as well. Once you get down to the beach you cross a quarter mile of driftwood before hitting the sand. It was fun having to balance and make our way out. We walked further down the shore to let Nelly and Peetri off-leash so they could run around. Nelly wanted to play fetch in the water the entire time and Peetri just chased her, making sure to never go further than a 1/2" in the water. We searched for cool rocks, shells and wood pieces for awhile just enjoying the sound of the waves and being on the beach. The Forgotten River- So I made up the name of this river because I'm not quite sure where it was that we stopped. I just could see it in Nelly's eyes...she wanted to swim more! So we made one more stop before heading into Tacoma and enjoyed a cold one by the river.
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