Day 11, Olympic NP

Today was a relatively easy-going day. For the first time so far this vacation we enjoyed the pleasure of sleeping in. Then, after eating a delicious continental breakfast we went to the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park. Here we stopped at the Visitor Center for info and to get our map stamped. Then, after dowsing ourselves in sun block, we walked along a couple trails through the thick, mossy woods. There were tons of flies and bees that kept swarming around our faces, and even after swatting at them a million times they still seemed resilient to go away.
The rain forest was beautiful. All the trees were covered in blankets of thick moss and the streams that flowed through the forest were incredibly clear. After hiking up Mt. Saint Helens the other day we choose to stick to the shorter trails in Olympic and give ourselves a well deserved break. Still, with the reduced length of our hikes, we still took lots of pictures among the trees and fallen stumps.

With no other major plans for the day we headed over to Ruby Beach. This was actually one of my favorite places so far on our vacations. The shorelines were completely covered in fallen logs and smooth, flat rocks, which we all took turns trying to skip across the water. The weather was a bit cloudy and cool, but Jessie and I still enjoyed searching through the tide pools for little critters and chasing seagulls up and down the beach. The low tide was still higher than usual, but we managed to find some huge starfish and some anemones, which stuck to your fingers whenever you tried to pet them. We didn’t stay here for too long, because our hotel (which turned out to be our own private cabin) was right by the ocean too and had a beach of its own.

Once at our cabin, Jessie and Dad went down to the beach while I stayed in the cabin and continued to catch up on our blog entries and postcards. We then ended the night with a “home cooked meal” which consisted of unbuttered stuffing, noodle soup, a hot pocket, and some chicken wings. We also played some card games before finally calling it a night and retiring to our comfy cabin beds.