We drove north from Oregon on the interstate in rain and clouds so low that we couldn't see Mount St. Helens (nor were we able to see it on the way back out of Washington several days later). But it cleared for us the weekend we spent with Helene and Timothy Randle and their daughters Shane and Talia. I guess we were having such a good time, we completely forgot to take photos of them! Also, our friends Barbara Parker and William Nichols cooked us a wonderful brunch Sunday morning (photo on Family and Friends 2007)

 Monday morning, gray and early, we set off for the Olympic Peninsula. We left the city behind city....

and crossed towards snow capped mountains.

Yep, still really cold out!

Highway 101 wraps around the peninsula like a big inverted horse shoe. Once off the ferry we went north on 101 and then west and later south all in one day, never crossing the same place! We stopped in Port Angeles at the Ranger Station to check out what we could see in the National Park. The road to the summit was closed due to snow, and many other roads were washed out due to big storms, but there were a few hikes and waterfalls still accessible.

Hwy 101 goes right through the center of the Park and it is gorgeous even in continual rain.

The first waterfall we viewed was a short walk from the car. With Photoshop magic, Neil put us both in the picture.
The shiny spots you see are not water spots on the camera but raindrops caught mid-flight by the flash.

To get to the next water fall, we hiked in the gorgeous rain forest on a trail that included several stream crossings.

Marymere Falls was at the end of our hike.
One of the trails leading to it was closed to the public because of landslides. Naturally, Neil had to check it out...

There had been a LOT rain last year and part of the trail, along with a few mature trees, had completely slid away.

 There are some really, really big trees in this forest. But unfortunately many were taken down before the area was protected.

Fortunately they aren't all gone.

We drove right along Lake Crescent at water level as the sun was setting. There were some amazing views.
Looks like Nessie should have a cousin here.

Driving through rural Washington in Greg's truck was an adventure in itself.
The lower left bumper sticker says "Discourage Inbreeding, Ban Country Music." One guy behind us at a gas station was highly offended by this. He essentially told us to 'go forth and multiply,' only he used far fewer words.
The black bumper sticker says "Somewhere in Texas there's a village missing an idiot." Once a guy gestured toward it and said "Ummm, what village in Texas?" I had to explain to him it was a reference to President Bush. (Did he think we were from Texas and were referring to ourselves?)

Lake Quinault is a lovely area with a lot of cottages and resort accommodations. Sadly, the south shore of the lake was badly damaged by the storms. They had between 2 and 3 feet of rain in 24 hours along with high winds gusting to around 100 miles per hour!

We headed out to hike by the lake only to find that high winds and heavy rains had toppled trees or snapped them like twigs. The bridge in the middle of the photo was the start of the trail. We skipped the hike this time. It would have been more like a crawl.

We said good-bye to the Washington coast and drove inland for our return to California.