Last weekend some friends (Jerri, Carroll and Laura) and I took a trip up to Washington State for a fun girls weekend. I’d never been there before and it was great from a scenery standpoint alone. It was actually Fall there!
We flew into Seattle, had breakfast here …
… and then headed west. We stopped at this place called the Olympic Game Farm, which houses animals who used to be in the old Disney shows. (Although I believe all of these animals are actually the offspring of the orignal animals.) It was the best side trip! It’s basically a drive-through zoo and you can buy bread to feed the animals along the way. There were lots of small animals at the beginning — bunnies, peacocks and peahens, chickens, prairie dogs!
Then we came to the llama and zebra area. Houston, we have a problem.
Needless to say, there was lots of screaming and many tears of laughter during the 10 minutes it took us to coerce the llamas to get out of the way. Seriously, they were up close and personal!
Finally, we nudged them away (with the car horn) and were able to move on. On to the bison in the road, that is.
And finally, the payoff — the cutest bears ever!
I have video!
After that excursion, we got back on the road. After a bit, we stopped for a hike. Again, the scenery was beautiful.
Our destination was this waterfall.
Here we all are — it’s a blurry photo, but you get the idea.
We rented a house and had a nice relaxing time — lots of uninterrupted sleep, popcorn, a movie, quiet. Perfect. The next day we took an excursion out to La Push beach. These giant trees washed up on shore were amazing.
It’s always hard to capture the scope of landscapes. I tried with a panoramic photo on my iPhone.
After one more night of peace and quiet, we headed back home on Sunday. Our ferry ride had an unexpected escort — the Coast Guard. They assured us it was routine, but it was still kind of freaky.
On the long drive back, I was struck by the trees rushing by, so I took a video.
All in all, a great weekend getaway with the girls!
UPDATE: Here’s a picture of me that Carroll took. Always rare, the photo of myself that I don’t hate.
