PNW Vacay Part 4: Olympic National Park

Hello and happy Monday!

Shew! I feel like the weekend flew by. Did you catch my Sunday post all about s’mores? S’mores in the summer are a favorite, for sure.

Today, I’m picking up where I left off on our vacation to the Pacific Northwest, and sharing about our time at Lake Quinault Lodge in Olympic National Park.

(Parts 1, 2, and 3:Portland, Eugene/Olympic Track Trials, Oregon Coast)

After driving a couple of hours from Rockaway Beach, Oregon, we arrived at Lake Quinault Lodge.

We did arrive about an hour before we could check in…

…so we explored the property a bit.

Big Foot!

The weather was partly cloudy and windy, but the views were still very pretty.

We sat in the lawn chairs for a bit, and then Hayden and Travis left for Hayden to get his run in. At least he was able to run in a national park…that’s pretty cool.

Hadley and I sat inside for a bit, and I enjoyed a drink.

Then, our room was ready. I spotted some pretty hydrangeas on our walk to our room.

Our room was in the Boathouse near the lake.

After we got settled in our room, we got back in the car and drove around a bit. One of the stops was at the “World’s Largest Spruce.” It was probably a half mile hike to see it…

…and it was quite the sight…

We got back in the car and drove to a hiking spot in the rain forest which was really neat.

We hiked for about an hour…

There were pretty views everywhere.

Then, we headed back to the lodge. Right across from the lodge was a general store, so Hadley and I walked over there for some snacks.

I got ready for dinner, and went and sat outside to read for a bit.

Then, we headed to dinner at the restaurant at the lodge.

The kids let me snap a pic…

Dinner was delish. We had pretty views of the lake. Hayden got a burger, Travis and I ordered salmon, and Hadley had clam chowder.

The sun was setting as we left the restaurant.

Family selfie!

The kids went over to the general store to get some ice cream for dessert. Then, they found the only TV on the property to try to watch some of the Olympic trials, and I enjoyed a glass of wine.

So–one thing about this lodge (that we didn’t know until we arrived…) was that WiFi is VERY limited. Each device can log on for 30 minutes of free WiFi per day. You could buy a data package for less than $20, but if you are by the lake, even it wouldn’t work. So, when we used our 30 minutes, we had to be in the lodge and not in our room. Point being, we survived! Obviously, it was a nice break from technology, but Travis and I both agreed it would have been nice to be able to send a text message!

After dinner, we sat out on the patio and played cards.

In the lobby, there were puzzles and games, but I’d brought a couple of games with us like Uno and Monopoly Deal. We sat outside and played for a couple of hours before bedtime.

We did pause our game at one point because Hadley and I wanted to go down to the lake to check out the sunset views.

She loves a sunset as much as I do!

We played a few more hands of Uno, and then walked to our room around 10:00. It was crazy to me that it still wasn’t fully dark outside yet.

This was the nighttime view from our room:

Honestly, I didn’t have a great night’s sleep, so I was up pretty early.

Friday morning, after I got up, I walked up to the lodge with my cup of coffee.

I sat outside and used my 30 minutes of WiFi, drank my coffee, and read for a bit while the Hadley slept. Travis and Hayden left for Hayden to get his daily run in before we left.

We woke Hadley up around 9:00 when Hayden got back from his run, and they walked over to the general store to pick up a few things for breakfast like donuts and juice. We packed up and left the lodge around 10:00 to head to Seattle.

For the second time on our trip, I gave up my front seat for the “Passenger Princess.” haha

It took a little over two hours to get to Seattle. We stopped for a snack and a drink on the way. We arrived at our hotel, Hyatt Place, around 1:00. As soon as we stepped out of the car, we could see the Space Needle. Our room wasn’t ready yet, but we could park in the hotel garage. Once we did that, we walked to Pike Place Market.

I will share part 5 (the last part! about our time in Seattle) later this week.

Have a great Monday.