Drive to Seattle/Olympia (6/25) and then to Seaside, Oregon (6/27):
Best Plates: CRMELOT (Montana); 2SUAVE (Washington);
Best Names: Superior, Montana; Othello, Washington; Sappho, Washington; Humptulip, Washington; Cosmopolis, Washington.
Most Beautiful: all the various Mountains in the Rainier/Olympia area; Lake Crescent, Washington – beautiful, crystal blue water.

I got to spend a 2 nights and a day with my former teammates, Vida and Katie. Olympia’s a cute college town, with delicious fresh produce at their farmer’s market and a fun, old, entirely too claustrophobic theater where we saw Bend It Like Beckham. (I highly recommend it! Lots of fun.)

Alexis and I split the day today (6/27) driving, which was a luxury for me, and we went from Olympia north along 101 all along the coast (a long, long drive that, 6 hours later, brought us back to within 20 minute or so of Olympia!) and eventually into the Hoh Rainforest, the U.S.’s only rainforest and one of the only temperate rain forests in the world. It was gorgeous, jungley because of club moss and ferns coating all the trees like wizard beards – both of which are epiphates, plants that never touch the soil and yet are not parasitic. We did about an hour “hike” (a completely level ¾ mile walk in our flip flops!) and learned a lot. It was a great mid-day break.

We stopped in at Oysterville, Washington, where I’m told Grandma House lived at one point. It was a beautiful town, reminding me of Rhode Island a bit in its saltiness, but with a lot more flair, somehow.

An hour later we stopped for the night here in Seaside, Oregon – the bridge over the Columbia River at sunset, perfect timing!! – and it reminds me quite a lot of Martha’s Vineyard. There are hoity-toity stores, bars, arcades, and home-made candy stores (yeah, you know we hit those!!) all commingled on the same block. We went down to the beach which was still glowing with a sunset-like haze and enjoyed the sensation of standing at the edge of our continent – and not the edge I’m used to. ;) Funny thing – the more you travel west, the later the sun seems to set – it sets around 10 pm here because it only has the sea to sink behind, instead of the bulk of the continent.

Being by the ocean is so fulfilling, and Washington was BEAUTIFUL country. I also had the luxury of seeing it during its slim window of non-rainyness, which made it even better. Tomorrow we hit Portland and hopefully I will at last be able to post this!