We just returned from a whirlwind trip. We drove to Orting the day before Dallin's baptism. We enjoyed hanging out with the Wrathall cousins. Audrey and Ryan especially loved tailing their "older and wiser" cousins. Kerry and I helped Ann go camcorder shopping-we successfully ended up purchasing a tiny Sony camera Ann wanted. Kent is slowly warming up to the device. We intended only on staying Friday night and then leaving some time after the baptism for a nice family adventure, however, we were convinced by the Wrathalls that staying Saturday night only made sense. So, we stayed and played longer. We were able to go to sacrament meeting with the strangely split-limbo Orting ward.



We drove to Wrathalls packed the truck and headed on with our "Lost Weekend". These are common on the Pratt side of our family. It is just a period of time where we get away with a general idea of where we want to go but a lot of impromptu decisions along the way. The first leg of our trip was influenced by Kent and the gang...this trip we actually saw the impressive Mt Rainer from their house - we were so close we we decided we should visit Mount Rainer National Park. The journey was well worth the time. The spring melt off created impressive waterfalls everywhere we went. Mount Rainer eluded us behind billowing clouds on our ear-popping rise in elevation, however, on the return trip the massive snow capped peaks pushed the cloud cover back into the sky. We drove through farmland to Olympia that night.



The kids enjoyed the pool the following morning. Our next leg of our trip we drove north. We lunched in Sequim, debated whether or not to take the ferry from Port Angeles to Vancouver Island, B.C. (another time) and took an alternate heading up to Hurricane Ridge in The Olympic National Park. Here we stopped along each scenic spot, Kerry fed several birds and even lured a few onto his fingers! Fun! Here we found plentiful snow and not so timid deer feeding nearby. The kids marveled at the snow as if they had forgotten what they had left in Utah. Yep, it was still cold and still wet.



We drove due west along the perimeter of the national forest and lakes. We debated hiking to Marymere Waterfall and then decided to go south to the Hoh Rainforest. Here Audrey and Ryan hiked with us in an gorgeous rainforest. We learned a lot about these maginficent forests with information along the trail. We observed a couple of elk feeding a hop skip and a jump away from us. Impressive! Finishing the trail, Ryan waved to fellow hikers on their way in. We wandered out of this portion of the park and headed south. We haven't heard a lot about seeing the Washington Coast. We learned that the reason for this is that the most northwestern point of Washington is an Indian Reservation with no major highway access. Between the 47th and 48th parallel the entire coast is a protected marine life habitat. Further down the coast we stopped and saw untouched rugged coastline. We did stop a couple of times for breathtaking views. HWY 101 eluded the majority of the coast and we slipped by more Indian reservations. We headed toward Aberdeen, Washington where we stopped for the night.



Morning came early. Ryan seemed to pick up one of his famous wheezing-colds we predict it must have happened somewhere between Hurricane Ridge and Hoh Rainforest. He was not well. The last leg of our journey we drove down the remainder of the Washington Coast, flying past the self proclaimed Oyster Capital of the World. We crossed the mouth of the Columbia River shortly before noon. We stopped for pizza and then headed to the Outlet Malls in Seaside. Here we went shopping for more business attire for Kerry's new job and a few other items. We drove to our beach (Arcadia/Cannon area) and threw on our swim suits and lunged into the ocean blue...



...okay, what really happened. Ryan's health was getting worse so Kerry and Audrey hiked down to the beach while I stayed with a sick little boy. Kerry radioed to me and said that the weather on the beach was warm enough for Ryan. So, I hiked down with Ryan in my arms to the beach. There I found Kerry, Audrey, and Audrey's lip hangin out together. Apparently she was not about to enjoy the sunshine and the surf. So, I threw my sandals off and ran into the waves hoping I could convince Audrey that it was really fun and I was met with a determined little 4 year old who had made up her mind that she was NOT going to get her water shoes wet. So, I picked Ryan up and ran back and forth as the tide came rushing in. I swooped Audrey up once but that was enough for one day...she said she wanted to come later. We are not sure if she realizes it is an hour to the beach from Grandma's house. At any rate, it was fun. A PERFECT day on the beach! A FUN Lost Weekend in celebration of our anniversary this week as well as Kerry's exciting new job!


posted by Anonymous at 11:13 PM