Lake Chelan, WA

Marc, the kids and I drove over to Lake Chelan, WA on April 9th (a Saturday). I have been there once, when we first moved here, and Marc had never been. It was a sunny day, so we hopped in the car and made the drive. We drove out I-90, turning off at Cle Elum and driving through Wenatchee (I thought it was faster). It was 214 miles and about 4 hours. By the time we got to Wenatchee, it was time for lunch. We stopped at an Applebee's and ordered food. Another quick stop for some Starbucks (I'm an addict) and we were on our way.

Because it's not summer, Lake Chelan was very quiet. It was a little colder than I would have hoped for, but it was beautiful. There was snow on the mountains and a great view of the Lake from this park in front of the Best Western. I would love to come back out and stay the night here, some day. The kids were thrilled to play at the park and even more excited to put their feet in the oh-so-cold water. 

We finished up at the park and drove through the town of Chelan and to the end of the road in Manson. We had some pizza for dinner. We drove back into Chelan and got some soft serve ice cream. These things were huge. And Miss R learned all about centrifugal force (she spun around and her ice cream went splat!). Luckily, mom is nice and after a few licks, I gave her mine. We left town driving down the other side of Lake Entiat (Hwy 97) into Wenatchee and then followed Hwy 2 home via Leavenworth (which was 184 miles). We got home around 10 pm, exhausted but happy. It was a fun day with the family.

 

Me and Miss R playing on the swings (I spared you the photo of me swinging)

Marc teaching Miss R how to skip rocks in the water

Mr N thinks tossing the rock is the same as skipping it

Miss M was being my little mermaid of the sea (and tempting the little ones to climb the rocks out to the end)

Miss M and Marc had to put their feet in the snow melt water

So, every one else did it too (except me, are you crazy. It's snow melt water). - Mr. C

Miss R, who claimed it wasn't so bad

Mr. N trying to get back to the rocks quickly

 

The view from the park at the beginning of the dock. I can't wait to see the difference this summer.

Forks, WA

We decided to go to the Washington coast before our anniversary and our weekends got crazy busy. We last visited Forks, WA 10 years ago. I had just finished reading the Twilight books, but this is not why we were going. Honestly, Forks is this little tiny town and I'm impressed that they are embracing their spotlight with this book series.

So, we left Lynnwood on a Saturday morning and drove over to Edmonds to catch the ferry across Puget Sound. We went inside (instead of sitting in the car like usual) and enjoyed the sunny 1/2 hour crossing. We stopped for some McDonalds and gas in Kingston, WA. You really need to get gas when you see it since the towns are far apart on the Peninsula. We drove the 1-1/2 up to Port Angeles, WA. We were in luck, the sun was still shining and I found a starbucks (I'm a serious mocha addict). The we drove off again. We drove around Crescent Lake (honestly, the most inspiring lake to drive along).
We were almost to Forks and turned right to head to La Push, WA. We had seen some cabins for rent on the internet and wanted to see if they were available (OceanSide Resort - La Push, WA).

The cabins are right on First Beach in La Push, WA. We parked and played on the beach. The first Twilight references were already spotted. There was a "No Vampires Beyond This Point" on a sign at the La Push boundries and then I spotted a "Alice Cullen was here" written in the sand. I knew we were in for a fun weekend of Twilight spotting. The cabins were just 50 feet off the beach. We rented a 2 bedroom cabin. They come with firewood, a living room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. It was a perfect weekend. It was almost our 10 year anniversary, so we were celebrating with the kids.

We drove into Forks and had some dinner at a terrible Chinese restaurant. We found the only grocery store and bought some marshmallows for roasting on the beach, some wine (for after the kids go to bed) and some OJ and treats for the morning. We were racing the clouds back to the beach. It had been sunny all day and we wanted to see the sunset. The clouds rolled in the thick and blocked out all chances of seeing the sun set.
We bought a $5 fire permit and had a small beach fire and roasted all the marshmallows instead. The kids had a great day and took awhile to get to bed. Once they were asleep, Marc and I sat outside on the adriondack chairs to drink our wine. It was way too cold though. We went inside, started the woodstove and stared out our large picture window, catching a glimpse of the ocean.

The next morning, we went back on the beach, but it was still cold and the little ones were done. I took them back to the cabin and we packed up. I'm looking forward to another visit to La Push to stay in the cabins longer.

We went into town and visited "Dazzled by Twilight". The store is so full of Twilight stuff. My kids bought vampire teeth for only $0.50 each. We went to the local grocery store to get lunch food and coffee (there is no starbucks in Forks). I spotted a specials board with Twilight specials for food and coffee. It was embarrassing, but I took the pictures anyway. The town was having an auction all weekend to raise money for high school senior scholarships. The cashier told me that a Twilight poster signed by Catherine Hardwick went for about $4000!!!

We stopped at the information station on the way out of town and took a picture in front of the "Bella truck". We were heading to the Hoh Rain Forest. It was cloudy and rainy, but we were hoping. Sure enough, as we got near the end of the 20 mile drive from the freeway to the ranger station, the sun starting to break out. We came across a herd of Roosevelt Elk. We got to the ranger station and the ranger recommended we take the Spruce hike and then go off trail about half way to throw rocks in the river. He said it was his kids favorite thing to do. So, we did and it was great. We were there about an 1-1/2 total. We got back to the car to eat snacks then go on the Hall of Mosses trail when it started to sprinkle. That was our clue to leave. It was a great weekend.

We got back to the ferry in Kingston and home around 8PM. After our showers and books, the kids fell fast asleep and I thanked Marc for a great anniversary weekend. ;)