olympic new year!

and we are off to start this new year! we were looking for some adventure so we packed an overnight bag (just in case) and loaded up the car to set out west. we took a 30 minute ferry ride to kingston and i think eli really enjoyed it.



then it was off to the olympic national park.

here is elias hanging out in the back seat...for some reason one sock always comes off :)



we made it to the town of port angeles and drove up to the entrance to hurricane ridge. unfortunately the sun was setting fast and we were pretty hungry so we decided to head back to town and have some pizza.



as with many of our garrett family adventures the sun had set and we needed to find a place to stay! we easily found a nice cozy room for the night and rested-

the pincer grasp is starting to become quite an accomplished developmental milestone!

after a decent night's sleep, we woke up early and started back on our journey. the mission- to reach cape flattery...the most northwest point of the contiguous united states. we saw some beautiful creation.






this is up towards the top of our list of pretty places we have seen. this is lake crescent, a glacial lake.

there were quite a few eagles out and about on this nice winter day. pictured above is a bald eagle gracefully soaring over the water; just below are two perched in a tree right on the side of the road.

now entering olympic national park...


bandit was patiently waiting to get out of the car and go hiking!




we found the trail head and bundled up for the 38 degree weather we were about to hike in. yes...those are socks on eli's hands :)


it was a beautiful little hike. we really liked the pathways.

almost to the end point!

this picture doesn't really capture what we saw. we were pretty high up on this cliff and to the right there is a huge sea cave.


we made it! here we are just taking in the view.

we even spotted a sea lion in the water right below us!

another bald eagle soaring right above us. it was so pretty...but also pretty cold.

we walked briskly back to the car to warm up and then headed into the town of forks, wa ...and no we did not see any vampire or werewolves! apparently this is where parts of the twilight movie was filmed. aaron asked the hostess at the restaurant if weirdos come in to eat. she told us that some people think the characters in the movie are real!

after some pizza (yes, we really like pizza) we headed towards rialto beach to catch the sunset.



another garrett family adventure for the blog! it was a wonderful weekend and a wonderful way to start the new year. and many times during the drive i smiled because i was so thankful for the family God has blessed me with. He is so good.