7th Anniversary Weekend: Part 5

After our wonderful breakfast, we decided to do a little window shopping. Port Angeles has a lot of nice looking antique shops, several book stores, a couple boutiques, a sweets shop, among other things. Prom dresses? Not so much. Unfortunately, not many of those establishments were open at 0945, so we decided to make another visit to the Olympic National Park, and try a few of the shops again as we came back through to go home.

So, we headed west a little bit to see the Elwha River valley. There is another park entrance and trails there, and since we had already paid for the week, we were able to go right on in. Unfortunately, E fell asleep on the way there, so there wasn't a whole lot of exploring, despite the gorgeous (but cold) weather. I am sad about the lack of on-foot exploring that ended up happening, so we are going to visit some other Olympic National Park locations this weekend, too.

Since hiking wasn't happening, we took the Whisky Bend Road through the valley, and it was gorgeous. We drove about 5 miles at 15 miles an hour, came in contact with some deer, some birds we dubbed "turkey quails" (have no idea what they were), and some gorgeous little waterfalls.

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Turkey Quail

Turkey Quail baby

Deer!

Our awesome driver

Our gas milage coming off the mountain

We headed back into town and made a few stops, the most important being the one in which we picked up some fudge and a present for my brother. And then it was time to say goodbye to Port Angeles.

As we headed back down the 101, we stopped by the Dungeness (think crab!) Wildlife Refuge. We were hoping to find a beach, but we did find some incredible views, instead.

So, there you have it. Our mini-vacation in pictures. It was a really good weekend, and I feel like The Olympic National Park has managed to redeem the rest of Washington. I can't wait to go back a little more prepared for some hiking, and just explore. We got home and exchanged gifts (actually, I gave S most of his before we left--new golf clubs, golf shoes, and a driver cover shaped like Buzz)--he gave me a beautiful diamond and blue topaz pendent and I gave him a rare Scotch (which is pretty awesome, if I do say so myself). And, for the first time in quite awhile, I feel a little better about being stuck here in Washington. I know this is partly because it's summer and I can finally find some things to do, but I'll take it (and hope that this time next year, I am getting ready for a move!)

7th Anniversary Weekend: Part 4

After our amazing dinner, we headed back to the hotel to get E ready for bed. Having had only a semblence of a nap, we knew she had to be exhausted. So, we changed into pajamas, had some of that dessert we brought home, and tried to settle her down for bed. We turned out the lights, laid her down, and promptly went to hide in the closet in hopes that she would go right to sleep.

Wrong.

We thought she had finally settled down after about half an hour and crawled across the floor and into the bed. S, however, isn't nearly as silent in his slithering as I am, and as he climbed into bed, she lifted her little head up and decided it was time to jump and play... I think I may have drifted off to sleep well before she ever did, and I have no idea what time it actually was.

0700 came and she was up like a shot. I hoped against hope that she would go back to sleep, but it just didn't happen. So, I got up, and the two of us went to take a bath and a shower. We had S up by 9, got everything packed up, checked out, and went in search of breakfast.

We had planned to eat at the restaurant in the hotel, but I thought it sounded a little overpriced. After actually finally finding food, I discovered they were just about on par. Oh, well. Since the hotel was out, we decided to head into town (it was a 5 minute drive, at most). One restaurant seemed to be pretty popular, so we headed in. However, after 10 minutes, it became evident that there wasn't going to be a table any time soon, so we left in search of breakfast, elsewhere.

Enter: The New Day Cafe.

It was really quite wonderful. They, too, were very accomodating to E, and brought her a coloring book and her own cup of lemon-and-cucumber-infused water (so delicious! I am going to have to make my water like this all the time!). The menu is very vegan and vegetarian friendly, they get all of their food locally, and use organic meats, etc. E and I shared their Mediterranean omelet and S got sweet apple pancakes.

I think that was the first time I had an omelet from a restaurant that I didn't think "I could have made this better." I could have made it, but it would have been tough to make it as well. It was served with a fresh fruit salad (canteloupe, orange, kiwi, and some other fruit that E ate all of) and crispy potato slices.

I swear I took a picture of S's superb pancakes, but apparently I was wrong. They were perhaps the best pancakes I have ever had. There were thin slices of granny smile apples all through it, and was served with a homemade apple syrup. I am kind of jealous that I got the omelet, but it was so good, I'll live.

I am so glad we didn't stay at the other restaurant, because if we had, we never would have gotten to try New Day. If you're ever in Port Angeles, you should definitely stop in!

(To be continued...)

7th Anniversary Weekend: Part 3

After exploring the Olympic National Park, we decided E needed some down time. We took her back to the hotel, laid her down in her pack-n-play, and hoped she would nap for awhile. We even stepped out onto the patio for awhile in hopes that the quiet would lull her to sleep, but between it being about 55 degrees and E discovering she could reach the pulls on the dresser, it just never happened.

We had some down time, and then made our way back into downtown for dinner. If you ever find yourself in Port Angeles, keep in mind that the night life seems to be much busier than than the day life--it took us quite a while to find a parking spot! But find one we did.

S had made reservations for us at Micheal's Seafood and Steakhouse. When we drove through earlier, we were afraid they had closed or were no longer open due to renovations, but it turns out the restaurant is just located in the basement/cellar of the building. They were absolutely wonderful. Not only was the food amazing, they were very accomadating towards E. They have a children's menu, and the staff continually stopped by to loan her toys, books, color sheets, and crayons. She was pretty restless while we waited for our food, so the distractions were very welcome!

They brought E a t-rex, a horse, a car, and a little girl person toy...

S ordered a "Red Sky at Night." It was amazing, and I will definitely be trying to recreate one of these bad boys. It was scotch, cherry liqueur, and some other tasty juices... I might have a new favorie.

Adults can have fun with toys, too.

S had their sirloin special with a Bourdeaulaise (sp?) sauce, seasonal veggies (carrots and asparagus), and perhaps the best macaroni and cheese I have ever had. It was all pretty amazing.

E's cheese pizza. That girl loves everything, but it's always a guessing game as to what she is willing to eat at any particular time. She did eat about half of her pizza (the middle half). I was impressed.

I had the seafood stew. O.M.G. Our of this world. It was about 6 mussels, 6 clams, a fish filet, 6 giant prawns, calamari, squid, roasted red peppers, potatoes, mushrooms, all in a fennel-based cream sauce.I was stuffed, but I managed to eat all of the seafood....And what I didn't manage, E ate. She was a huge fan of the leftover cream sause/soup.

We ordered dessert to go, and ate it later in the room. E was just done with sitting [relatively] quietly in the restaurant. We ordered a chocolate pudding cake and bread pudding. Both were good, but not as good as we were expecting. I think that Chef Henry's Bread Pudding recipe has ruined it for everyone else in the world.

After we finished dinner, we walked around a little (mostly, we tried to find our car, since we were parked in a 2 hour parking zone, and had been there for 2 hours and 5 minutes. The sun came out for the first time all day, and we got some fun pictures of the town.

Canada (aka, that little bump in the bottom, lefthand corner)

(To be continued...)

7th Anniversary Weekend: Part 2

After discovering we were so close to the Olympic National Park, we decided to head on in. We drove past the main visitor's center, and headed straight into the park. There was a weird, narrow little strip of park land that encompassed the road until you get to the Ranger Station. It was $15 for a vehicle pass, but it's good for a full week. Once through, we began climbing up Hurricane Ridge, which overlooks Port Angeles.

It was incredibly cloudy, and the higher we got, the harder it was to see. At one point, I think S was driving at about 5 miles an hour, just because you couldn't see more than 2 feet in front of the car. The clouds even seeped into the tunnels that passed under the mountains. We didn't stop to see a whole lot on the way up, simply because there wasn't anything to see. There were a few odd breaks in the clouds and mist, and then we got some pretty awesome pictures.

We drove as far as the road would allow, stopping off first at the northern most information center. There, we did a quick diaper change, picked up some post cards, and learned about some of the flora and fauna. I got some pictures of a family of deer, and we attempted to do some light hiking, but the snow was too deep for us to safely get through with E.

(P.S. JUNE 30!!!)

(To be continued...)

7th Anniversary Weekend: Part 1

As I mentioned before, we took ourselves on a mini-vacation to Port Angeles for our 7th wedding anniversary. We have never really gone on any kind of vacation together, before; in the past, when we traveled, it was always to do something extended-family related, so even though it was only for about 36 hours, this was a special occasion!

Yesterday, we got up about 30 minutes later than planned. I had gotten things semi-packed (you know, the obligatory extra change of clothes for each of the adults, four extra outfits for the munchkin) the night before, but we still had a few things to get ready like E's milk, drinks for the road, and her pack and play. We were getting things shoved into the car when I made the realization that we only had 6 diapers total... Quick trip to the commissary, then quick trip back to double check a few things, and we were off a full hour and a half later than planned.

Rather than take the "regular" route that would take us up through Seattle, we took the 101 scenic byway--down to Olympia, and then back up the Olympic Peninsula, skirting Puget Sound as we went. It was a gorgeous drive, and I definitely recommend it to anyone--it was worth the extra 25 minutes of travel time. There were a ton of motorcyclists cruising the curves, and it was nothing but view after view and view. We drove through a small corner of the Olympic National Park and along the shoeline of various bays and rives. Absolutley gorgeous. I wish I had some pictures to share of the road, but unforunately, I didn't think of that until just now. Oops.

So, we arrived in Port Angeles at about noon. Our hotel, the Olympic Lodge, was right on the edge of town, so we stopped in first, checked in, unpacked a few things, and changed a very wet diaper/outfit (down to 3 extra outfits in 3 hours. Uh oh).

Our room was wonderful, and I would stay in the hotel again in a heartbeat. It wasn't on the water, but our room did open onto a patio with a view of a golf course and the Olympic Forest. We couldn't see much of the forest on Saturday due to cloud coverage, but this morning it was breathtaking.

We had a king room. Inside that "wardrobe" was a mini fridge and microwave. E was very excited about both of those things. Ignore our large piles of crap.

Nice little sitting area. Perfect size for small people to climb all over.

I don't know why I took a picture of the toilet. But there ye go. Also: granite countertops! Better than my house!

Bath and Body Works shampoo, conditioner, cleaser, and make-up remover. I didn't use them because I had all my own stuff, but did swipe them for my mom ;-)

Someone was obsessed with the sliding doors on the closet. She kept demanding we hide in the closet with her. Fun for hours.

Little private sitting area on the patio.

 After our quick stop-off, we headed into the downtown area in search of lunch. It looked nothing like Twilight, folks. Or maybe it did, I honestly don't remember. I am seriously considering watching the first movie tomorrow, just so I can see if it really does contain any ofthe real Port Angeles. We ended up having an "ok" lunch, and then decided to go exploring.

We discovered that we were only 3 or so miles away from the Olympic National Park... which was so exciting, because I thought it was much further away! This actually turned out to be the best kind of surprise, as we had chosen Port Angeles for all of the great beach-combing beaches that were supposed to be nearby... Turns out, not so much. The beach we had gone for turns out to be something like 75 miles away (even though it is listed as a Port Angeles attraction). I'm still a little annoyed, but the Park was so amazing, I honestly don't care anymore...

(To be continued...)