Greetings!
I type this from Naples - which was always planned - to come home and check on the house and check in with our medical and other appointments (like coloring my hair!). It is so great to be home, but my goodness, it is HOT! We have been so spoiled with the perfect PNW weather - warm temps, low humidity. All that being said, it's great to be back in the house, although we do miss our Airstream and will return on 8/13 and then start posting again after that.
Our Airstream is in Olympia at an all-Airstream RV park - we spent 5 nights there before we left and explored the area - truly gorgeous! Here are a few pics of the campsite:
Our first day there, we went to the Olympia Farmers Market which was awesome - a great vibe and we bought wonderful veggies and fruit, along with fresh bread, halibut and pork chops. We look forward to going again when we return to Washington state (we'll stay at this campground 4 more nights when we get back). As you can imagine, the cherries are fabulous!!
One day, we headed to a few small towns on Puget Sound - Gig Harbor and Poulsbo - both beautiful and quaint and rich with maritime culture. We walked around Gig Harbor quite a bit and you will see Mt. Rainier in the background of a few photos - stunning.
One of the most amazing hikes we have ever taken was the Skyline trail in Mt. Rainer National Park in an area called Paradise where there is a large visitor center and Inn. We went on a Monday (vs. a weekend day) which was a good strategy. The park was very busy and crowded but apparently on weekends, it's super crowded and there are long lines to get in. Fortunately, we only had to wait 5-10 minutes at the entrance, but about 8 miles before the entry gate, we saw signs to not block driveways and roads, so we missed a really long line / wait to get in - thankfully. There were a lot of people on the trail, but you could understand why - it was truly breathtaking - the weather, the wildflowers, the surrounding mountains, Mt. Rainier - all of it. We hiked over 4 miles - 2 miles uphill, then 2 miles downhill. I apologize in advance for all the photos, but we both couldn't stop taking them - truly beautiful. We saw a grouse and a marmot and had a great view of Mount St. Helen's where we were the week before. When we were near the top, I took this video giving you a panoramic view of what we were experiencing.
The next day we headed to Crystal Mountain Resort, which is on the north side of Mt. Rainier. It is a popular ski resort in the winter and in the summer, you can take the Gondola to the top of one of their most difficult ski runs and the view of Mt. Rainier is incredible - on the complete opposite side that we were on in the National Park the day before. They also have a restaurant and I'm not sure how we scored such a great table, but we were right on the windows overlooking the mountain (and all the people!). Again, we had great weather and we enjoyed some Adirondack chairs while we waited for our table.
We are happy to be home and look forward to going back to Washington for more fun and adventure - we promise to be posting again in mid-August.
Cheers and love, Jen & Paul
