A Break From Routine: Washington State

“Travel is like love, mostly because it’s a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end.” – Pico Iyer

Nodding our agreement to Pico Iyer's quote, we headed to the fascinating Olympic National Park

The drive to Port Angeles from Seattle was about 3 hours and 15 minutes. We drove leisurely stopping on the way at scenic spots and at Tacoma for some Indian lunch.

We stopped to look around the scenic port in beautiful Port Angeles. We continued our drive towards Granny's Inn. This quaint motel nestled in the woods is about 10 minutes away from Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park. They have a restaurant that serves home-style delicious food with generous portions, fresh produce and reasonable prices. Children can also enjoy a small farm. Their website is http://grannyscafe.net/ and we do highly recommend this place for their restaurant and stay.

Tasty scrambled eggs with buttery rye bread and potatoes

Delicious french toast

Bear shaped pancake for Rishi

Olympic National Park: This NP is renowned for the diversity of its ecosystems, ranging from Majestic mountain vistas, Glacier clad peaks, clear blue lakes, green forests, magnificent rain forest, spectacular rugged pacific shores, Hot springs. Suffice to say, we saw the pure magic of nature in every spot we visited.

Lake Crescent
This was about 10 minutes drive from our hotel. I had never seen such a brilliant blue lake with exceptional clarity. The lake is blue due to lack of nitrogen in the water which inhibits the growth of algae. The lake was formed when glaciers carved out deep valleys during the last Ice Age.We visited this lake multiple times during our stay. This lake has a lot of hiking spots, a beautiful lodge with pristine views of Lake Crescent, a restaurant inside the lodge, a gift shop and kayaks and canoes for rent.

My boys indubitably wanted to canoe and this made their day and their trip. Canoeing in blue lake with views of mountains and greenery was just perfect.

“Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” – Frank Herbert

Fish eye lens view of Lake Crescent

That is the Lake Crescent Lodge in front.

Hiking in Lake Crescent. We did a small trail towards Marymere Falls. It was a very easy walk in the forest decked with huge trees covered with moss. The last part of the hike had a steep climb but overall, it was an easy 1.5 mile walk.

Rishi the photographer clicked some cute pics of his parents

A walk in the forest

Rialto Beach
Rialto Beach is number 2 attraction in Olympic National Park as per Tripadvisor. This was about an hour drive from Lake Crescent. Sol Duc hot springs area is before Rialto Beach. However we decided to see the Pacific shore before checking out Sol Duc Hot Springs.

We are from Florida and we have seen a lot of beaches, from the fantastic Florida Keys,Atlantic ocean,Gulf of Mexico to the exotic and beaches of India in Kerala,Goa,Tamil Nadu, and 'aamchi' Maharashtra and I can say that this beach had so much drama. The rugged beauty of this beach is stunning. The rock formations in the ocean, the little pebbles, the driftwood trees, the loud crashing of the waves along with the blue waters of the pacific gave this beach a uniqueness seldom seen and experienced at beaches.

We soaked our feet in the Pacific Ocean for the first time, then sat and stared at the vastness that was in front of us.

We had lunch picnic at the beach and then went on wards towards Sol Duc Hot Springs.

Sol Duc Hot Springs

We had to pay an entrance fee to enter this area of the National Park. This fee would cover Hurricane Ridge as well which was next on our list. We collected the Junior Ranger Booklet here for Rishi to complete. There is a cabin and a hot mineral spring pool. There are some popular hikes that start from here and that is another reason that this spot is famous.

Hurricane Ridge

We had to drive via the beautiful city of Port Angeles to go to Hurricane Ridge. We stopped at the visitors center in Port Angeles to get some information and to get Rishi's second Junior Ranger badge.

The 17 mile long road to Hurricane Ridge from visitors center in Port Angeles, is uphill and winding and has some of the best view points. We stopped to see some lovely views of the Strait of San Juan de Fuca and Vancouver Island.

Road leading up to Hurricane Ridge (Olympic National Park). This is the only picture in the blog that I got from google and is not from my collection. I had to post a picture of the wonderful drive that lead us into the spectacular Hurricane Ridge.

Photo credit: Alaskan Dude / Foter / CC BY

When we drove up to the elevation of 5,242 feet, there is parking and Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center. As we sat down to have lunch at the visitors center with the view of Mount Olympus and the Lillian Range in front of us, the clouds were temperamental and changing by the minute. It was like a blank white canvas for a minute and the next minute it had the best painting of the great mountains. After a tour and lunch at the Visitors Center, we wanted to attempt the easy 2 hikes that are recommended by everyone -

Hurricane Hill and Hurricane Ridge Meadow.

The clouds were passing us by and we found it exhilarating to walk in the clouds.