BEAUTIFUL WASHINGTON

June 14, 2013

Today we drove about 90 miles to another section of the Olympic National Park.  We also drove to the coastline.  We went to a beautiful beach in La Push, Washington.  The beaches here are isolated and look as they would have to the explorers who first saw them hundreds of years ago.  At this beach, we were just a few miles from the farthest northwest point in the contiguous U.S.  There are no hotels, restaurants, beach houses or anything man-made for miles and miles along this part of the coast and most of it is only accessible by hiking in.   This point is one of the few that is accessible by car.   

Beach at La Push, Washington

The picture below was taken in the Hoh rain forest in Olympic National Park.  It's located on the western slopes of the Olympic mountains.  There are spruce trees in the rain forest that are some of the largest in the world measuring over 270 feet tall.   Parts of the western slopes of the Olympic mountain range get annual rain fall that is measured in feet instead of inches - up to 12 feet in some areas.  Yet where we're staying gets less than 12 inches of rain a year because it is in the "rain shadow" of the mountains.  The town we're staying in is on Puget Sound and averages 300 days of sunshine a year.  It is apparently a popular retirement community.  

Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park

One of the towns we drove through on our way to the coast was made famous in the Twilight book series.  Of course, we had to stop so I could have my picture taken next to the city's welcome sign.  We also stopped at the Chamber of Commerce where they are very proud to point out all of the locations in town that are referenced in the book or were scenes utilized in making the movies of the book.  The town of Forks' economy is based almost exclusively on logging and Twilight tourism.

Forks, Washington (Location of Twilight book series)

Tomorrow we are going to check out the town of Port Townsend.