Category: Washington State

Seattle Part 2

September 25, 2015 · 2 Comments ·

“Love in an elevator. Livin’ it up till I hit the ground.” Love in an Elevator – Aerosmith

I need to first start by apologizing for having not posted anything for 7 weeks! That’s quite a long time but with my move to Greensboro and the semester just starting, I’ve been busy with a full schedule. I will blog about that later. 🙂

Visiting Seattle once was great. Visiting Seattle twice…FANTASTIC! I got to see some of the things I didn’t get to see the first time around. For example, this time I was able to ride the Monorail, go on an underground tour, and go up in the Seattle Space Needle. You can do a lot of activities and still never see everything. In that respect it reminded me of DC. Then again, a lot of big cities are like this but hey, it gives people the entertainment and fun they normally wouldn’t get.

We started off in Seattle by doing, “Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour”. If you ever get to go to Seattle, PLEASE visit this. It’s really worth the tour and very historic. You wouldn’t even know that there was an underground city would you? Nope. Seattle built their city ON TOP OF the original city they built. If you want more info check out: Seattle Underground City It’s just an overview of the history. It’s also wikipedia. 😉

Our super funny tour guide Clay was there to give us all the info 😉

This is an image of what the city looked like many years ago before they built over top of it.

Pretty neat huh? So now, the underground city is made up of tunnels and passageways.

*wink wink*

I think all of us really enjoyed the tour. Our tour guide made it so interesting and funny which is why I suggest doing this if/when you visit Seattle. At the gift shop, Miriam and I tried our luck at getting a fortune..unfortunately there was no fortune as Swami just took our money and started blabbering in unintelligible speech. We’re not letting it get us down.

At this point all of us were ready for some lunch. Learning and walking really work up an appetite. We headed toward Pike Place in hopes of gathering food.

We were successful and found a Red Robin.

After lunch, we headed into the center of Pike Place Market so the nieces could experience that. Incase you wanted to see the original Starbucks here it is.

If you want more information on Pike Place Market or see more videos and images, check out: Seattle Part 1 It has the guys who throw the fish and some really neat iconic things.

Pike Place took up a good chunk of time so after that we headed straight for the Space Needle! This was super exciting because it’s such a famous attraction and my mother had been there once before when she was a kid when it had first opened for public viewing! How cool right? Check it out:

Space Needle Intro

The ride up

How neat right?! I will say I did make it through but going up to the top really was a bit scary. I HATE heights (as you already know) and this was no different. Here’s a little secret *whispers* I had my eyes shut the whole time. 😉 lol

View from the top

Now that, was awesome. I LOVE aerial views! It’s so amazing to see how tiny we are. 🙂 I just love it ❤

I was so excited to see the “Sky City” restaurant in the Space Needle. And yes! It does rotate. So while you are eating dinner you are slowly turning. It feels SO weird to walk around in it.

How awesome is that view? We would have stayed to eat but he had to be on our way.

We decided to ride the Monorail as our last stop. This nifty robot “Monorail Man” is stationed at the exit.

The monorail is neat because you’re several feet in the air riding this train. It’s so odd but so neat.

Check it out: Riding the Monorail

Overall, this second trip to Seattle was awesome and I’m so glad I got to spend it with my nieces. I will always cherish that time together.

Family and Good Times

August 4, 2015 · 1 Comment ·

“Let the stories be told. They can say what they want. Let the photos be old. Let them show what they want.” Let The Good Times Roll – The Cars

One of the things I had been most excited for was Miriam’s arrival. Miriam is my niece who currently resides in Germany along with her sister (my other niece) Victoria. We had already been in Washington for a month and half before she flew out with her dad. It was so good to finally lay eyes on her 🙂

We gathered around the patio table for everyone to just sit around and have a good time and converse 🙂

I hope everyone has noticed the coats and long sleeved shirts everyone is wearing. Yes, I will say it again, it was CHILLY some days this summer in Aberdeen WA.

One of the neatest moments happened on this trip. When Miriam arrived we were sitting in the dining area – myself, mom, Miriam, Rayann and Hayley – talking and just “visiting”. Mom began to tell a story from her childhood. They looked on with intent?

But little did they know the story would turn into BALLS of laughter! These girls were so tickled! I had heard the stories before and had been equally as amused by them and knew that the girls would get a good chuckle. I wanted to cry from being so happy watching them giggle.

The stories are pretty funny but I wouldn’t dare tell them. That’s mom’s story and it’s always better to hear her side first 😉 *hehe*

I tell you, this trip really gave me/us some spectacular memories that I will always cherish. When we are apart I can always come back to these and remember how I felt. Family is so important if you have it. If you aren’t close with certain ones, that’s okay. But if there are tolerable people in your family, please spend time with them. I really, maybe for the first time, finally understand the connection of family. It tugs at my heart strings when I think about it. These people are me. Even the ones that are distant or in our family by marriage or something else; they’re my family. We will always have that connection. Even if we do not like the same things or believe the same beliefs, we will always have a tie that binds us together. Something about that is really special. It gives you a feeling that you have a place in life, an identity or character that separates you from others. Now, with that being said there are certain people in your family that you would rather not have a tie with. LOL I understand that completely and hold no judgement should you feel yourself separate from them. *hehe* Hopefully you understand the weight of what I mean.

Swimming at Mason Lake

August 2, 2015August 3, 2015 · Leave a comment ·

“Summertime and the living’s easy and Bradley’s on the microphone with Ras m.g. All the people in the dance will agree that we’re well qualified to represent the LBC” Doin’ Time – Sublime

It’s no wonder that Mason Lake in Washington is FILLED with people utilizing it’s vast body of fun and swimming potential. When I was first invited to go by my cousin Chris, I was a bit hesitant. I wondered what would be in the lake and how the water was. So far, my experience in bodies of water (other than the ocean) have me searching for snakes and jellyfish like crazy. In NC our rivers and lakes have snakes, jellyfish and even alligators (depending on where you are). Well, even though I was skeptical I couldn’t pass it up. For whatever reason, being in Washington definitely has brought me out of my shell a bit and I appreciated the invitation.

I drove to Olympia to Chris and Brooke’s house. We loaded up the truck and his cool little motor boat (that goes pretty fast for a 70’s model) and hit the road for a 30/40 minute trip to Mason Lake. Apparently it’s pretty popular from what I was told and it REALLY was. There were boats EVERYWHERE. People were swimming like crazy. I was kind of blown away by how many people were utilizing this lake. I’ve never seen so many people in a body of water at one time like this. Well, I found out that there are no jellyfish or snakes in these lakes! They’re freshwater and don’t have those creepy little things floating in them. So why wouldn’t you be in it having the best time of your life? It’s also QUITE warm, unlike Wynoochee Dam.

This lake trip wasn’t just about swimming. It was also about TUBING!

No, that’s not me. It’s Brooke. LOL I fell off pretty quickly. It was a little hard to keep myself on the tube. But it was fun while it lasted!! Hahaha I did get in the water and swam for a while and then got back in and chilled out. We had such a blast!

We ate an awesome lunch of sandwiches and swam some more, but as all good things do come to an end we headed back to the dock. On the way I noticed a FINE home that looked pretty sweet!

A lot of the houses are nice like this but for whatever reason this one stood out to me the most. It looks like everything you would think a lake house would look like. I also noticed that all the homes in Washington are not brick. Apparently it’s kind of expensive to have a brick home and it’s not as easily accessible as it is on the east coast. But this home would have done just fine for me 😉

It was incredibly nice of Chris and Brooke to invite me on their adventure. I had a wonderful time with them as well as Chris’s son Jordan. Chris really went out of his way to make sure I was having a good time and I did just that. I’ve gotta find something equally as cool for them to do when they come out to visit! But what?

The 4th in Aberdeen

July 29, 2015 · Leave a comment ·

“She couldn’t help thinkin’ that there was a little more to life somewhere else. After all it was a great big world with lots of places to run to and if she had to die tryin’ she had one little promise she was gonna keep.” American Girl – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

During the 4th of July, most all of America is up and running. People are gathering with their families to roast hot dogs, hamburgers, eat Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and basically enjoy all things American. In Belhaven, where I’m from, they PARTICULARLY LOVE and celebrate the 4th with major festivities. They start off the day before with a Miss Independence Padgent then move into a “Street Dance” that lasts until very late. People dance the night away and have a great time. Then the next day there’s quite a large parade with festivities around every corner and booths to buy lots of cool junk. Up the road from this, there is a famous “Mud Run” where trucks are forced into the mud with their tires-a-spinning and the redneck in every one of us flying. You could say Belhaven is pretty hoppin’. But there’s one thing that can make all of this not worth the effort and that’s THE HEAT! One of the sayings go, “It’s hotter than the Belhaven 4th of July’s in here!” That’s when you know it’s hot! LOL So…this year I took great satisfaction in enjoying our day of independence in the nice 78 degree weather that was Aberdeen WA. :p

Everyone gathered together: Me, mom, dad, sister, nieces, cousins, cousin’s girlfriends and children. We feasted on some wonderful dishes: watermelon, cheese/summer sausage and crackers, pasta salads of all kinds, crab salad, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, cookies, WA cherries and other fruits. We played “Washers” (which is something like cornhole I suppose) and were just all around merry. Check these guys out. Dad (on the left) is attempting to explain something in the best of ways. Tommy (my cousin on the right) of course looks confused, but I assure you he’s not. Though he may be deciphering the white man’s speak.

It was really great because I got to hang out with my cousin Chris. This summer’s trip was the first time I’ve seen him since I was 13 years old. I have great memories of those times. I met him and a lot of other relatives at a family reunion in Cowden Illinois (look for that post to come). He was 18 then and now we’re both in our 30’s. My how time flies!

We really were having a great time. It was the first time in many years that I’ve really enjoyed myself. There was no heat really and it seemed like the most simplest, easiest action to just put food out and hang with the family!

Now, let me say that Belhaven puts on a nice little firework show at 9 p.m. It’s nice. BUT, in North Carolina, only cities can administer big fireworks. They’re illegal for residents to just shoot them off (or at least some are). In WA State…THEY’RE LEGAL! This town and every other town is lit up with explosions. Here, there, EVERYWHERE they shoot them off. Fireworks had been blasting off for days before the 4th actually came around. So naturally, Chris being the dude he is went and bought a lot of fireworks so we could have our own firework show!

Everyone was ready to kick it off! Even the kid.

It was so funny because he set all the chairs up in a row to watch the fire show commence. Hey look! It’s Kenny again! LOL

These fireworks weren’t just some run-of-the-mill fireworks. These were the BIG ones!

It was so exciting even I decided to try my hand at it. I lit several off. I have to tell you I was a little nervous to start with but after that it was all in good fun! After the show commenced we were all lit up; on the inside as well as outside. I know I definitely was. Yes, that IS a sweater. The nights are cold in Aberdeen.

Our 4th of July celebration was a hit and I’d LOVE to do it every year. I do love America. God bless our soldiers and all of those who fought for us to be free! We know it comes at a price. We love you and will always support you.

Wynoochee Dam

July 26, 2015July 27, 2015 · Leave a comment ·

“Well, way down yonder on the Chattahoochee it gets hotter than a hoochie coochie.” Chattahoochee – Alan Jackson

That song was all I could think of when the family told me we would be going to the “Wynoochee Dam” to swim and picnic!

The dam is made up of glacier water that has come off of the mountain and rested in somewhat of a lake. People swim and boat in it and that seems okay but you can imagine my concern; for what else would I be worried about than how COLD that water would be?! YES! It was definitely cold. Tolerable but cold. It is definitely not like rivers or lakes in NC but it’s to be understood because of it being glacier water!

Swimming was fun and I have to say I’ve been swimming more this summer than I have in the past two summers combined!

It’s really cool because there are picnic tables set up at different locations for people to eat, hang out and grill if need be. I kind of thought it was odd that you could grill out in that heavily wooded area. This summer has been considerably dry and everyone in our party was a bit worried about sparking up the grill. That worry left when the stomachs began to growl.

It was absolutely beautiful…looking around at all the trees and even the dried up light brown grass. LOL

The trees are definitely beautiful in Washington; like no other. And THIS guy seems to be in ALL the shots! (Kenny)

So we’re swimming in the dam and all of a sudden Kenny says, “Hey look! It’s Smokey!”. We all thought he was teasing but he wasn’t! It really was SMOKEY THE BEAR! He was walking around the beach and greeting everyone.

I was lucky enough to meet him and get his picture. I can’t believe I’ve met Smokey The Bear 😉

Basically I really enjoyed the Wynoochee Dam.

The Loop Pt. 3

July 11, 2015 · Leave a comment ·

“Wherever I wonder, wherever I roam. I couldn’t be fonder of my big home.” Bare Necessities – Walt Disney Studios

Have you seen the “Waving Bears“? A video of some very cute bears waving at onlookers went viral in or around 2010 and ever since then has become quite the hit in America! They’ve been featured on local news stations and even national news stations. I myself had the fortunate pleasure of viewing the video around a year ago and was so impressed and entertained by these 1000 lb creatures I showed many of my friends and family.

So before we did the loop, by chance I decided to show my sister the video of the waving bears. I had come across it on accident and decided to show my mom and dad as well. It never occurred to me before to actual find out WHERE these bears were located. I often thought they were in some far away place like Scotland or Alaska etc. So as I was showing the video to my family they were talking about the places we would drive through on the The Loop trip and one of those places was Sequim WA…WHERE THE WAVING BEARS ARE!! What are the chances right?! You can’t imagine my excitement. I was going to see the waving bears in PERSON!

So the place is called, “The Olympic Game Farm” located in Sequim WA. It’s pronounced “Squim”. Why? I don’t know.

Here’s the info on what the Game Farm is about. Taken from their website:

“For over 40 years, Olympic Game Farm has provided an opportunity for visitors from all over the world to learn and observe wildlife, igniting countless imaginations.

Olympic Game Farm is the place to get face to face and experience wildlife at close range, offering visitors the opportunity to really see a tiger’s stripes, a rare white Siberian tiger, a Kodiak bear’s huge size, or to get slobbered by a buffalo!

With over 200 animals onsite, our driving tour leaves our visitors with vivid memories of these amazing creatures; experiences which, at first are hard to imagine, become pleasantly surprising. Friendly llamas and yak eat bread from your hand, clowning bears stand up and wave, and the elk and buffalo peacefully grazing in the pastures.

Olympic Game Farm worked exclusively for Walt Disney Studios for 28 years, filming here at the farm and on the Olympic Peninsula, as well as on many different set locations. A few popular titles produced with our past animal actors, are “Charlie the Lonesome Cougar”, “The Incredible Journey”, “White Wilderness” and “Grizzly Adams” television and movie series. In 2012, we had used our black bear “Kitty” and wolf “Brutus” in “Serenity Farms”. In winter of 2013 we used “Kitty” once again in a National Geographic documentary on black bear in the city. Summer of 2014, “Leland” a black tail deer was used in the filming of “Captain Fantastic” as well as Olympic Game Farm used as a filming location for a scene.

After the death of Walt and Roy Disney, Disney Studios began to move away from the nature films that had been so dear to Walt’s heart.   In 1972, with the approval of the Disney Studios for using the Disney name, Olympic Game Farm, Inc. was opened to the public. Our founders Lloyd and Catherine Beebe, retired from the filming industry and focused solely for caring for their animal actors, concentrating on offering “in need” captive bred animals a new and loving home. Olympic Game Farm will continue to accept in-need wildlife, as space permits and with the proper authority approvals. We cannot accept local animals from the wild without proper permission from Washington State Fish and Wildlife.”

That’s a lot of info but it’s necessary to understand how AWESOME this place is. So we started our driving tour and saw some really cute and cudly animals. REMEMBER: ONLY FEED THE ANIMALS 100% WHOLE WHEAT BREAD!!!

At this point we were very high on the hill and you could see down over the farm. If you look toward the bottom right corner you can see the crazy llamas going up to that car.

After the deer and prairie dogs, you drive down the hill and drive through a little section of YAK’s sitting on the side of the road. I did not take pictures because I was driving and the Yak’s were kind of taking up a huge space in the road. I had to concentrate. They’re also quite intimidating. 😉

You’re instructed to NOT STOP while you’re driving through but it’s quite difficult to do that seeing as the animals are directly in the road and won’t move. We had a little follower along the trail.

We came upon the llamas and they are most interested in the food you have to give them. Check out the video:crazy llama

I got a little freaked out because it felt like we were being taken over by these animals and we couldn’t move! It was much easier to feed them from far away LOL: Feeding the llamas

I have to say that I was a little ready to get out of there! We eventually came to the bears! This was the most awesome experience. It was everything I thought it would be. Check out the video:Waving Bear Some of these bears are circus bears and others are trained. They’re pretty docile and SOOO cute!

Some of these guys are just hanging out…you know…relaxing in the pool. lol

This guy didn’t even get any bread but was ready to wave anyway!

I think I fell in love with these guys! I’d go back just to see them. 🙂 So cute.

The next part you come into is the secured area where the animals are in cages. It sounds terrible but all of the animals that are in the park are rescued from some bad situation. Some were pets of owners who could not take care of them (shocking *hint of sarcasm*), some were abandoned and others were just rescues.

We did not drive through the trail where the buffalo were. They too, like the llamas, are very ready to get the goodies from inside your car! Llamas are one thing but buffalo are QUITE another! And dad was not having that hahaha.

At the end of the tour you get to tour the barn that housed some of the Disney movie sets for certain movies. There’s some farm life like these cute little goats.

We talked to a very nice girl, though I have since forgotten her name. She was a part-time worker there at the farm. Her family owns a farm of their own (a real farm) and she was a cool young lady.

We ran into a very terrifying creature. My level of fear was at an all time high, for not only was he big but he made sounds that you would only hear in a horror movie!

Beautiful bird though this turkey may be, notice those white feathers that are touching the ground; he drags them across the ground and makes a vibrating low growl sound. It’s SUPER CREEPY! Notice the lines in the dirt from where he kept dragging his feathers! UGH! I tell you it was something out of a horror film!

There was a nice little aquarium just next door and then you come to the final stop in the tour which is the barn that housed some movie sets for Disney. There were a couple of films that were filmed in there but never made it to production. One in particular was called, “Lessie’s Rainbow”.

I thought this was pretty cool; I can’t remember why they have this tree trunk but it’s 1000 years old.

Lloyd Beebe and his wife.

Here are the horns of an elk that Lloyd Beebe had on the property and was very fond of.

Lloyd Beebe tamed this wildcat. I forgot if it was a bobcat or a lynx. I don’t remember. Maybe someone can help identify it.

On of my favorite movies as a kid was “The Incredible Journey” and little did I know that some of it was filmed here at the game farm.

There were many films that either used animals from the farm or used parts of the farm to film.

One in specific was “Grizzly Adams”. I know most of the older generation of people will remember this. This little house was the exact house they used in the film.

This was absolutely the coolest trip! We enjoyed every minute and I’m so happy we got to see this amazing animal farm! I would recommend it to anyone driving through and it’s definitely worth it. 🙂 For more information on the Olympic Game Farm visit their site: Olympic Game Farm WA

The Loop Pt. 2

July 10, 2015July 10, 2015 · 2 Comments ·

“I love you when you’re singing that song and I got a lump in my throat cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong.” Riptide – MisterWives

After the Big Cedar tree we stopped to have some sandwiches we packed in the amazing Yeti cooler! It has really come in handy throughout our travels. We wouldn’t have been able to financially do a lot of what we have done if we didn’t have that cooler to pack food in. So, big props to Yeti.

Our next stop was very unexpected to me because I didn’t know where we would be. To my surprise it was at a BEACH, “Ruby Beach” to be exact.

The beach is beautiful and so very different from our beaches in NC. There’s no sand, only rocks and pebbles that range from large to small.

Check this guy out. He must be a photographer from National Geographic! I should have asked for his autograph. 😉

Ruby Beach, as you can see is quite stunning and just very beautiful. I think some of the beauty comes from the big rock formations next to the beach and that visual makes it so interesting to look at. In NC and on the east coast, you don’t have these huge rocks next the beaches to make it interesting but you have the warmth of the water to swim in and the nice warm sand between your toes. Overall the beaches along the west coast are breathtaking and definitely possess a character of their own.

After Ruby Beach we continued north. We came into Forks, WA. Now, for those of you unfamiliar with this place, the Twilight Series kind of put this place on the map. The fantasy romance novels were based in Forks Washington. The movies, on the other hand, were not filmed entirely in this town. There was a scene filmed in Forks and another scene filmed at “La Push” which is a beach just north of Forks. Other than these two sites, I believe most of the movies were filmed in Canada. Well, that did NOT stop Forks from capitalizing on whatever they could from the movie.

These pictures were taken at the visitors center. I didn’t make any images of the town because there were no images to make. It’s just a tiny little town that you drive through to get to your next destination. It’s one road and the entire town is branded with all sorts of shops named all things, “Twilight”. So they would have shops named something like “Twilight Hair Designs”, “Bella’s Beauty Shop” or “Vampire Lounge”. These are not exact names of their shops, however you get the idea. Though I WILL say that they have a spectacular 4th of July schedule of festivities lined up for our day of Independence! We were planning on attending this because we would be camping at the Clearwater, but unfortunately we never went camping due to forest fires 😦 Now I know some of you are thinking, “Yeah right! I bet you were glad to get outta that one!” But I was kind of disappointed that I didn’t get the opportunity to experience it for the first time in agreeable weather. I can’t imagine camping in NC which is why I never did it.

At some point on this vacation I always think I have seen all there is to see in terms of beauty. I think, “That’s it. There’s not going to be anything else more beautiful than what I’ve seen. I’m completely satisfied; I’ve seen it all.” But then there’s ALWAYS something EVEN MORE magnificent around the corner. In this case it was, “Crescent Lake“.

Now, I would like to let you know that sometimes I have to put myself in compromising positions to get really great shots; walking down rough terrain into dangerous positions, climbing up rocks and almost falling or stepping out onto a ledge 3,000 ft above ground level, forgoing all my fears of heights just to get that one good shot. Crescent Lake was no different. There were no pull-offs where you could safely get a picture. We did find a pull-off that I had to walk about 50 yards away from to get a good image. So I had to step over the railing on the side of the road to get the images. I was not ON the road by any means. I was about 6 ft. from the road. For WHATEVER reason, 3 cars came by me and BEEPED their horns obnoxiously! Why? I was not on the road so there was no fear of them hitting me and to further justify that, there was a rail blocking them and myself. I’m still quite puzzled by this. My thought was, “Are you they beeping because they think I’m going to jump off the ledge?” Well beeping certainly wouldn’t help my staying on it! Anyway, if anyone has any ideas, please leave them in the comments below. It’s been bugging me for a long time. LOL

The Loop Pt.1

July 6, 2015July 6, 2015 · 2 Comments ·

“Big red tree grew up and out, throws up its leaves, spins round and round.” Feed the Tree – Belly

Let me apologize again for my lack of posting. I didn’t realize what traveling would entail when it came to what little time you have to really reflect. My plan was to always keep the blog updated at least every day or every other day. Unfortunately with 10 people and many places to visit, you find yourself DOING more than BEING. There’s been a lot of spontaneous activities that occur and with everyone having an agenda it gets hectic. See Traveling Realities for more info on our living situation.

So “The Loop” is an interesting travel. I’ve been hearing about it from my mother and father how I just HAD to do the loop and I have to say it was pretty awesome! So basically you start from Aberdeen on Hwy 101 and drive up to the Peninsula and then back down to Aberdeen again all on Hwy 101. It looks something like this:

Aberdeen > Quinault > Ruby Beach > Crescent Lake > Forks > Port Angeles > Sequim > Port Townsend > Hood Canal > Shelton > then back to Aberdeen.

This isn’t a day trip, it takes roughly 2 days to make it. If you wanted to see all of the sites then it would take maybe 3 days. We stayed one night in Port Angeles giving us two days to check everything out.

So we headed North on 101 to explore the loop. We first came into Quinault. It’s so beautiful because it’s a rainforest area that’s heavily wooded and just beautiful.

This is also one of several Native American Reservations. *Just incase you’re not familiar with reservations; they are run and manned by Native Americans and are separate from our Federal Government. They have their own laws and rules (but work with our government) on many things. Their goods are cheaper on the reservation than outside due to either low or no taxes. Also, every reservation I’ve seen, thus far, has a casino on it. This is due to the fact that gambling is illegal in the state of Washington but since the reservation is separate from our federal government, that law does not apply to them. I don’t know why, but for whatever reason I somehow like this idea; maybe it’s due to how they were pushed off of their land and now they get some of it back and are capable of living however they would like? Nothing will make up for what was done to them in the past but somehow I feel like at least they’re getting something.*

The air is very moist and damp but not unpleasant. It feels more refreshed than anything. The moss grows heavily in the wooded areas and it really is neat. We decided to tour the “World’s Record Sitka Spruce” tree and that was SO pretty. You have to walk down a trail to get to it but it’s worth it.

“World’s Largest Spruce Tree. 58′ 11″ Circumference / 191′ Tall / 922 AFA Points (American Forest Associations) / About 1000 Years Old. This is a Sitka Spruce, one of the Quinault Valley’s six champion trees. The trees in the Quinault Rainforest are well watered with an average rainfall of 12 feet a year. There is a Spruce in Oregon that has 902 AFA points, that they named a co-chamption. Also in the Valley are the World’s Largest Western Red Cedar, Douglas Fir & Mountain Hemlock. The U.S. largest Yellow Cedar & Western Hemlock.” (from the info at the Sitka Spruce tree site by Rain Forest Resort Village).

So this entire area is just beautiful and a little mysterious and enchanted at the same time. It looks like those pictures out of a storybook. I was definitely under it’s spell…in a good way 😉

When you get out of the wooded area of Quinault you come upon an opening to view the lake!

These places are so beautiful along the way! We have seen some things that weren’t worth seeing and I don’t ever post about those because honestly…they’re not worth knowing about. LOL At this point I was so into the trip and just snapping pictures everywhere!

We hit the road and drove away from Quinault and came upon the “Big Cedar Tree”.

It seems as though something happened to the tree because part of it split off and fell down. Maybe it was hit with lightning? I don’t know. Even still, the tree is LARGE!

Oh, and here’s this guy trying to get the PERFECT photo.

I would have to say that this portion of WA is quite…enchanting. 🙂

Billy’s

June 30, 2015July 1, 2015 · 2 Comments ·

“I enjoy stealing. It’s just as simple as that. Well, it’s just a simple fact. When I want something, and I don’t want to pay for it.” Been Caught Stealing – Jane’s Addiction

There’s a restaurant here in the interesting town of Aberdeen called, “Billy’s”. It’s actually quite nice and definitely up my alley for places to frequent and get a bite to eat. It has that old antique feeling and that’s probably why I like it? The only odd part about it is the restaurant is named after a man named, “Billy Gohl” of whom was a serial killer up until he was captured in or around 1910. I spoke with a lovely waitress at the restaurant who told me quite a bit.

The building this restaurant is in, used to be a brothel back in the 1800’s and early 1900’s (as evident by the logo). The bottom portion houses the restaurant and the top portion acts as a storage unit. You can see through all the windows upstairs and can make out the vague sillouhettes of mannequin’s wearing feather boa’s and lingerie. 😉 Notice the Leg Lamp in the top window. You know, the one from A Christmas Story? Too funny.

Apparently the restaurant is haunted. Yes that’s right, haunted. A woman and a small boy occupy both the downstairs portion of the building AND the upstairs. It is said that the woman was one of the prostitutes that lived there back in the late 1800’s.

I spoke with a lovely waitress at the restaurant who told me some interesting ghost stories:

One afternoon she (the waitress) was rolling silverware. To the far right of her sat a large water pitcher that held – to the brim, many wine corks the bar had collected. All of a sudden several of the wine corks floated into the air and started twisting around themselves and then all of a sudden they fell back into the pitcher.

On a separate occasion she was talking to the cook. In the middle of their conversation two spoons from one of the tables floated into the air, spun around each other and immediately – just like the wine corks, fell back to the table. She said to the cook, “You saw that right? That wasn’t my imagination?” He said, “Yes, I definitely saw that.”

The same waitress, along with two others said that there are a number of occasions where they will be doing their work and a coffee cup will just fly across the room and *Wham* smack up against the wall and shatter. There is also the thudding of feet heard above the bar. They say it sounds like a little kid running back and forth. That’s a little creepy.

You have to admit the stories are pretty wild. I myself am not a believer of ghosts but I do believe in evil spirits/demons or what have you. I was really curious about this whole thing and found it quite entertaining.

Which all brings me to Billy Gohl. Well, this is how the story goes:

Billy Gohl was a union worker and had a place not far from this restaurant. It was said that he frequented this specific brothel regularly. Sailors would come into the union building when they would arrive in Grays Harbor (Aberdeen ) and would pick up their mail or leave their belongings there while they went out. It was said that Billy would approach these young men and ask them if they had family or not. If they didn’t have family he would offer to hold their money and worthwhile items in a safe while they frequented the brothels and saloons. Well of course these guys took him up on his offer. The guys would go out, get super drunk and come back to claim their possessions and that’s when Billy would shoot them.

His building sat close to the Wishkah river and it’s rumored that he had a chute in the top floor where he would send the bodies swooshing down into the river upon killing them. This is, of course, after he took all of their money and anything worth while.

It wasn’t until 1910 that Gohl was found guilty on two counts of murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Now it’s said that he was thought to have killed more than 100 people (local townsfolk say this). He died in prison due to syphilis. They say it made him go insane.

It’s truly a creepy story. It kind of reminds me of the musical “Sweeney Todd”. I always thought that play was really odd, creepy and dare I say it, completely neat! I don’t know if this makes me a weirdo but I definitely enjoy things out of the norm.

Even though the story is wild and kind of creepy, that didn’t stop this bunch from having a good time! This is my new favorite place.

Mt. Rainier

June 24, 2015June 25, 2015 · 2 Comments ·

“Comin’ down the mountain. One of many children. Everybody has their own opinion…” Mountain Song – Jane’s Addiction

Like most fantastic sites to see, Mt. Rainier is coming in hot on the “fantastic sites” meter. Boy what a huge volcanic mountain! I tell you, along with Mount St. Helens this place is just as enormous and wonderous! One thing I noticed after we left, was how mysterious Mt. Rainier is! It’s this huge, gigantic mountain that seems like it has its own personality.

While we’ve been here it feels like I’ve been “chasing” this mountain for weeks now. You can see the mountain from hours away because of how large it is. We can see it here in Aberdeen, which is about 3 hours away. You can definitely see it from Seattle, 2 hours away and so it seems as though in specific spots you can see the peak or part of this amazing wonder. However, at times it has been hidden by fog, clouds or darkness; the one time I got to see it before we actually went to it was on the Bremerton ferry to Seattle (check out Seattle Part 1 to see what I’m talking about). This elusiveness kind of gives it an interesting trait. It’s like it’s playing a game with you and knows you want to see it but won’t come out until it feels sorry for you and only then will it let you glimpse at it. But on the flip side, it seems to be quite visible from every direction – thus giving it it’s elusiveness. It only took a couple of hours to arrive at Mt. Rainier and so, like most of the attractions, there are many pull-offs you can stop at to get out and take pictures. On route you can see that everything is quite rustic: the cabins, houses, food places etc. It’s not only rustic but it’s VERY green! Along the way you can see moss growing on all the trees inside of the forest area. And no, this is not spanish moss.

Whenever I end up in a spot so beautiful that I have to make an image, I say to myself, “Gosh I want everyone to see this.” And so it goes that I have to show you this beautiful image with the light busting through and hanging over the trees and spilling onto the little walkway.

That was our first stop coming into Mt. Rainier. Our next stop was directly in the national park. You do have to pay to go through it:

Vehicles: $20
Motorcycles/ Walk-In/Bicycles: $10

There are four entrances to Mt. Rainier, we went in through the “Paradise” side. It’s not as beautiful as the “Sunrise” side but it was still beautiful…as you can see 🙂

We kept on going until we reached a place where we could have a nice picnic. We had quite the caravan with us; 10 people. But we found a place – a NICE place!

Here are some of the picnic crew.

What you DON’T see is that FANTASTIC “Yeti” cooler to the left-hand side of the image. That cooler is the end all, be all to coolers! I highly recommend it. My friend Kelly and her husband Heath have one and swear by it. We do as well. It has kept our food cool for at least 4 days like it was the first day! We haven’t gone longer than 4 days but we will find out when we go camping at the Clearwater if it can keep the cool longer.

You would have thought I was the paparazzi the way I was snapping pictures (and I’m sure you can tell from the images above). It’s the same mountain just different angles. LOL, it was so magnificent I just want no one to miss anything!

Info on the Mountain:

*In Mt. Rainier, 97% of the park is wilderness and is protected from development. It became an official national park in 1899. It’s an active volcano and has repeated eruptions! When it erupts again they say it could be devastating. Geologists also say that Lahars will be the devastation that comes from the eruption (a slew of material looking like wet concrete).

Engineers designed the roads specifically for view and not by how easy it would be. Even though these roads are nice to drive on, it’s because of the winter snow and ice that much of the park is inaccessible. They say that sometimes you can hear the glaciers pop and crack as they move as well as avalanches! Another thing that I thought was pretty neat was that the mountain creates its own weather system. I think that’s clever. I never knew that.*

We finally arrived at the visitors center at “Paradise Inn”.

This is the final stop to see her in all her glory.

These signs are plastered all over the picnic tables throughout the entire drive up:

These are obvious warnings but if you’re unfamiliar, wildlife inhabit this entire national park and so when you picnic, you are not picnicking alone. 😉 Somewhere there is a bear smelling your food like Yogi and wanting to get your “Pic-a-nic Basket!” Just make sure he doesn’t have a sidekick named “Boo Boo” or you may have bigger problems than wildlife.

When you leave the visitors center, just a little ways down there is an area named, “Packwood” where there sits a BEAUTIFUL little waterfall and a nice tall view.