PNW, MDL, OMG

Fran took her 4th ferry ride as we headed back into the U.S!  We realized that this is the longest either of us have been out of the country- aside from Zach’s year living in England when he was little. We were excited to be back but it was even more exciting anticipating the next time we cross a border it will be into Mexico to begin the Latin America portion of our trip(!!!!!) But I’m getting ahead of myself…. We still have a couple more months until then :)

Front row seats!

Car ferries are the coolest.

We had spent a little time in Washington and Oregon a few years back and always knew the PNW was a place we wanted to explore more. We ended up taking about 2 weeks to explore before crossing into California and WOW. 

In Washington we decided to drive the Cascade Loop and stop at places along the way. It was just absolutely stunning.  10/10. For a few days we stayed in what truly felt like Fern Gully… it was lush, green, and had access to a beautiful river.  Even better, someone built a full on pit toilet at the site we found. I'm always amazed at the things that you find in the back country.  That someone has taken likely hours of their free time to build a toilet... why? For themselves when they visit? For others? To keep the place cleaner by concentrating human waste in one contained place? I don't know but whoever you are- thank you, made it easier to stay for days :)

Zach making us a fire on the creek.

Fern Gully!

Luxurious toilet.

Washing dishes with a view.

We also saw iconic Diablo Lake in North Cascade National Park, did a great hike on part of the Pacific Crest Trail, and even found these "secret" Scenic Hot Springs.  On private property to you have to be given pre-written approval to be on site and access the springs.  To get around operating as a business, you are supposed to make a $10 donation per person to the owner’s PayPal account and request written permission via email.  They limit access to 10 people per day and they give you a map for how to navigate the 2 mile trail with 1100 ft elevation gain- pretty straight up. We lucked out and ended up having the entire place to ourselves!

Diablo Lake, North Cascades National Park

Diablo Lake, North Cascades National Park

Pacific Crest Trail

Pacific Crest Trail- Miles was getting a little bit tired!

He turned into a puppy again once we got to the lake.

Water was a little bit chilly!

Zach and Miles swimming.

Scenic Hot Springs

So relaxing!

We have a friend that lives in Seattle and graciously offered us a place to stay, bathroom to use, and puppy to play with Miles! So we totally took her up on it.  After the Cascade Loop, we spent a couple nights with her, her husband, and their sweet Golden Retriever, Pepperoni, and had a great time catching up. Thank you again, Tori & Jon!

Sweet Pepper taking a ride with us!

Taking the rare opportunity we have access to a toaster to make some toast!

Miles trying to figure out how he can squeeze in between Tori and I.

Short rib pho.... WOW. Thanks for taking us here, Tori & Jon!

After Seattle, we ventured up to the Olympic Peninsula and spent some time driving through Olympic National Park’s mountains and beaches before starting to head down the coast!

Hurricane Ridge Road, Olympic National Park

Fran in her 9th US National Park!

Olympic National Park

Ruby Beach, Olympic National Park

Once we crossed into Oregon we mainly stuck to the coast- it’s a drive we’ve been longing to do for a while and I’m so glad we did the majority of it.  There were several pull outs along the way that were just insane. None of them are what we would typically go for when finding a place to sleep: i.e. a rest area, state park parking lot, and dirt lot all right off the 101. But they were probably some of my favorite to date. Top 5 goes to the state park parking lot with grassy overlooks to sit and watch gray whales! I must have seen 50+ over the course of the 2 days we were there.  We also jutted inland for a hike at Tamolitch Falls as well as one more hot springs soak :) We even found one that had a shower! Our first in about 6 days.

Cannon Beach, Oregon, USA

Dinner on the ocean, watching Gray Whales!

The world's most expensive green beans and cherry tomatoes acquired at Cannon Beach's farmer's market.

Busy blogging :)

Not a bad spot to park for the night... or two... or three :)

Rocky Creek State Scenic Viewpoint, Oregon, USA

Not a bad day to spend a few days.

Oregon coast was incredible.

Tried to read... watched whales instead :)

Saw 50+ Gray Whales no more than 100 yards out and spent hours mesmerized by them. 

Chief Photographer of this trip, Zach :)

Secret Beach, Oregon, USA

Such a beautiful place!

Secret Beach, Oregon, USA

Tamolitch Falls, Blue Pool, Oregon, USA

A quick break during the hike.

Blue Pool, people cliff jumped from up here!

I did not jump... climbed down to the water :)

Now all of this was incredible, but the even bigger, more exciting thing happening in both of our families' lives…. Tyler had his Million Dollar Listing debut on Bravo!!!  You may remember us mentioning it during our NY recap that they were filming the series… well last week was the first episode with Tyler in it! We secured YouTube TV access (thanks, Jay for letting us be your 30 and 36 yr old dependents!) so we could stream the episode live, made sure we had good cell service, and huddled up in a Fred Meyer parking lot while we watched Zach’s brother on TV!! He’s so charismatic and everything about him being on this show just fits him. It was such a surreal thing, not only to watch Tyler shine, but to watch my husband watch his little brother shine, beaming with pride. You can watch his first episode here! Can't wait to see the rest of the season :)

Watching Tyler's first episode!