Majestical part 2

If you missed it, here's Part 1!

The plan of attack for day two was nothing but hiking at the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park. Normally a 4 hour drive from home and as many miles as you can hike in a day, it was much better to stay the night close by and start early in the morning. We'd gotten back from Neah Bay at around 11pm and plopped straight into bed, waking the next morning at 7. With Hot Pockets filling our bellies for breakfast, we checked out of our hotel and started the 1 hour drive down to the Rain Forest.


Our first stop was at one of the biggest Sitka Spruce Trees in the US. ->
Yeah, I needed to use the panorama feature on my camera for that.
















It was the perfect day for a hike. Catching the rain forest on a non-rainy day is tough, especially when you're four hours away. The day was more than perfect.

It was like walking though Jurassic Park. The trees were massive, and there were ferns covering every inch of forest floor. 

I even found a creek that resembled something like that which Norman slid down while trying to avoid the Dilophosaurus. 

There were a couple of water falls, but the real spectacle was the Hoh River. Although it was probably at its lowest point of the year, it was still quite beautiful. 

Once Justin and I reached Mt. Tom's Creek 2.9 miles in, we trekked to the river and I pulled out the smoked salmon and smoked trout I'd made a couple days prior. It was the perfect lunch while sitting on a log and watching the river. 

The hike itself wasn't difficult at all. It was mostly flat and fairly easy to traverse, although my trekking poles did come in handy a couple of times. I was also wearing my brand new hiking boots; a pair of Keen Gypsum mid-highs, which I hadn't even had a chance to break in. So far, I absolutely love them. I'll be doing a review on Amazon once I test them out a bit more (aka, Pinnacle Peak), but I believe they're quite good for the price. (REI is selling them for $140 but shhh, I got them for $84!)

After the hike, we went straight home, since it was a 4 hour drive. I was so glad I could do this on a Friday/Saturday so that I could have Sunday to relax! Luckily, I didn't get sore at all. 6 miles, in any terrain, is usually my limit!

I'll leave you now with a couple more pics!

Majestical part 1

Did I grab the attention of all the grammar nazis? Good, because I made that word up on purpose! Ha :P It's a mix of magical and majestic, and that's what my recent vacation was. It required a one night stay in the town known as Forks. Yes, that Forks.

My plan was to get off early at work and drive down to Forks. I got the cheapest motel in the area, and I do mean cheap. At $60 a night, it didn't even have a phone or a clock radio. But it did have a fridge, microwave, and a TV with dish network, plus free wifi, so good enough! I wasn't planning on spending any time in there anyway! It's a 3 hour drive to Forks, and we got there just in time for dinner. We tried to eat at this place called the Smoke House Restaurant but it was closed, sadly. We needed to drive up to Neah Bay anyway because I wanted to see Cape Flattery, so we decided to try and find a place to eat up there.

For those unfamiliar with Neah Bay and the surrounding area, it is at the tip of the most northwest point in the continental U.S, and owned by the Makah tribe. I don't know much of anything about spending time in a Reservation, but I do know this: I immediately felt unwelcome. Justin and I stopped at the first restaurant in town: The Warmhouse. It was a typical homey place. I was looking forward to some clam strips. We walked in, and there were about 5 people (yes, everyone inside were Natives) standing at a desk looking like they were waiting to pay. We stood around for a couple minutes and noticed the sign saying "please seat yourself", so we scooted past them and started looking for a place to sit. Then we heard, rudely, "Excuse me, we're waiting." I turned, and politely answered "Oh. The sign said please seat yourself," but started walking back anyway. I'm one to always avoid conflict when possible. They looked at it, didn't apologize or anything, and found a place to sit, and so did we. Within a couple of minutes we got our menus. But then we waited, and waited. And as we waited, I felt the stares. We were the only white people in there that I noticed, and I was starting to feel very uncomfortable. We were ready to order by the time the waitress brought us our water, but she never asked if we were ready and walked off without a word. I was beginning to feel as if we were being purposefully ignored. I told Justin to try to get the attention of the waitress, and as he was putting his hand up, so did the table behind us. She walked over to them instead of us, and by then I'd had it. We'd waited probably 10-15 minutes to get our order taken and she just didn't care. We walked out. And I could swear that group behind Justin had laughed as we left.

Luckily, that was the worst of the whole trip, though. We stopped at the very next place, called Linda's Wood-fired Kitchen and Motel. A motel was a good spot to feel more welcomed, as there were other races besides Native Americans there. Now, I have absolutely no problem with any race, least of all the Native Americans. And I have never gone out of my way to act as if they were any different than anyone else. Being on the receiving end of this deep-rooted hatred, or malice, or whatever you want to call it, was very unpleasant and I never hope to feel that way again. Linda's was perfect. We ordered a pizza and it was absolutely delicious. I was much happier giving my money to someone who showed no ill-will towards anyone, no matter what their race or ethnicity. 

After we ate, the sun was beginning to set, and we needed to get up to Cape Flattery in time to get some good pictures before and during sunset. But first we had to find out where to buy this so-called "Recreation Permit". On our drive around this tiny town, something was "happening", and we had no idea what the hub-bub was. The road down to the beaches were blocked, people parked beyond with surfing gear. We drove into the residential part of town where the road was stuffed with cars and tents littered everywhere, on everyone's lawn and beyond. It was the strangest sight. We found the town's store and paid for our permit, and headed up the road to the cape. It was a 3/4 of a mile walk, but they had made it very nice, adding a boardwalk similar to Lake Ozette. 

The walk up to the Cape was littered with very interesting trees, and a couple stops along the way to view the ocean. The sights were magnificent. I wanted to stay to see the sunset, and got a couple of good shots of Tatoosh Island.



This was a very popular spot, even for the locals apparently. It was easy to access and private. And the sunset was beautiful.
Afterwards, we headed back to our car in the dark, along with everybody else. There had probably been 15 people up there with us to watch the sunset. On our way out of town back to our motel in Forks, we noticed that their Gym, which looked huge and brand new, was surrounded with people. Hundreds of them were standing right inside/outside and in the parking lot. All we could think was "oookay" and move on. We never did find out what was going on down there!

Well, that was day one! Tomorrow, we travel to the Hoh Rain Forest!