Peninsula Roadtrip!

This weekend was short but amazing! Since I had to work Sunday we decided to make the most of my day off. Friday I actually was able to get off work after a half day because I hit my 40 hours so I decided to do my long run that afternoon so I could have the whole day on Saturday. It was my last long run before the half marathon, so I ran 11.5 miles. I had a pretty bad wipe out in mile two (like not trip and fall, but the superman fall) but luckily I only got a few scrapes and was able to finish out the run. However, I was pretty miserable after and super sore. That night we went over to a co-workers house for game night which was so much fun. We played Cards Against Humanity, Cranium, Avalon, and a drawing game. The girls pretty much kicked butt! On Saturday, we did a road trip around the Washington Peninsula! It was amazing and definitely worth the drive (around 8 hours without stopping). We had a few places where we wanted to stop, but other than that we just drove the 101 all the way around. Such fun and soo  beautiful!

Our first stop was just outside of Port Angeles at Washington Lavender Farm! It is a beautiful little B&B that is a replica of Mount Vernon, George Washington's home. They had a cute little gift shop with lots of products made from the lavender they grow there. The grounds smelled AMAZING! I also learned that this part of Washington is the largest producer of lavender in the world! They also had a beehive there where they harvested honey from, so when you walked in the field all you could here was the bees buzzing around.

Lavender field

The gift shop and the entrance

"Mount Vernon"

Me and the lavender

Stop number two was at Olympic Cellars Winery which was just down the road from the lavender farm, home to Working Girl wines. I had sampled some of their wines before, but it was fun getting to do some sampling there. My favorite was a special mix they had made for the Lavender Festival the weekend before- a sparkling wine infused with lavender. So yummy!

Our next stop was in Port Angeles for lunch. We picked a local place called Kokopelli Grill for some seafood. They had a lot of seafood with a southwestern twist so we really enjoyed it! I had southwest salmon alfredo, and Braden had crab chile relleno. Port Angeles is a cute little town!

Stop number 3 was Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. WOW. It is so amazing. I wish we had had time to explore and hike a little but it was well worth the drive and the $15 entrance fee. There was even a line to get in because the parking was full! The mountains are beautiful, with the tallest being Mt Olympus. We saw lots of deer and they were not fazed by people at all. We love the mountains!

Olympic Mountains

This deer didn't care that people kept walking up next to it

This is the view from the other side of the ridge- You can see Canada!

On 101 we passed by Lake Crescent. It is one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen! The waters were a beautiful blue- breathtaking!

Lake Crescent

Lake Crescent

Beautiful Trees

Next up: Forks, WA! Eat your heart out, Twilight fans. I'm not a Twilight fan personally,but thought I should document it anyway. It really isn't that great of a town.

The van says "got Twilight?" It was the Twilight tour bus!

Me and the Forks sign

Our last and final stop was Beach 4 near Kalaloch, WA on the Pacific coast. It was so pretty! It has some rocks that form tidal pools which were so pretty and fun to explore. There were starfish! And I was really excited about it. It was a little chilly with the wind, but not uncomfortable. We put our feet in the water and it was COLD.

Tidal Pool

Me and my starfish friend, NBD

View from the top of the rocks

All those brown and orange things are starfish! There were so many!

Braden and the Pacific

We ended up getting back around 8:30, and Macie was really glad to see us. It was a pretty exhausting day, but well worth it! The only thing we didn't have time to do was explore the Hoh rainforest but maybe next time. Washington is such a beautiful state and I'm so glad that we have gotten the opportunity to explore it. The verse Psalm 19:1 was constantly in my head all day, "The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above declares his handiwork"! 

This weekend I have a three day weekend because my parents are coming for a visit! It will be so much fun to see them. I can't wait until Thursday!

Here's to making this week great! I can't believe we are down to less than 4 weeks left in Washington. Hopefully we will be finding out soon where we will be heading next!