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Day 1: Mount Vernon
On Saturday, the day began with some much needed coffee to prepare for 5 hours of driving. Then, arriving at our hotel to check in at Wyndham Mount Vernon. The hotel was gorgeous with massively high ceilings, a gym, a pool, and free breakfast in the morning. Our hotel was a five minute walk from a Orange Teriyaki, a bowling alley, and some other shopping amenities. The staff at Orange Teriyaki were incredibly nice and our food only took 5 minutes to be ready after ordering. They offer take out and dine in options for guests. At the time of our visit, it looked like the establishment was expanding the space to accommodate more guests. The atmosphere was relaxing, even though they had various sports games streaming.
Mount Vernon is located in Skagit County in Washington State, about an hour to two hours drive North of Seattle. Mount Vernon, Washington is famous for being the burial site of George Washington.
Day 2: Adventuring Northern Washington
On Sunday, we grabbed some breakfast from the hotel before heading into downtown
Mount Vernon to get some delicious coffee from Ristetto Cafe. The atmosphere was quiet and laid back for this quiet Sunday morning. Most of the shops in the area wouldn’t be opening until about 10 am so we had the chance to wonder the streets with minimal foot traffic. We set out driving about an hour before stopping at Whatcom falls to stretch our legs. The park offered various walking paths and routes individuals can choose to adventure down. The rest of the day was spent driving around Bellingham, Mount Vernon, Fern, Neptune Beach, and to Olympia where we would be staying for a couple of nights. Our day wrapped up at Jasmin Thai for some delicious Thai food before returning back to the hotel for the night.
Day 3: Squaxin Park, Japanese Garden, Olympia
Monday (Memorial Day) started off with some breakfast at the hotel before adventuring over to a state park, Squaxin park, which was free of charge to enter. The park had lots of activities for anyone to be able to experience. Camping, a playground for children, and various hiking paths that venture onto a calm beach front. The beach was covered in broken clam shells, you could hear the crunch under your feet with each step. After the state park, we ventured to a small, but gorgeous, Japanese garden. The Yashiro Japanese Garden had a few statues around the area, blossoming trees and bushes, bamboo trees, and even a koi pond with about a dozen koi fish swimming around. It was an incredibly relaxing environment to spend some time in. There was a mom reading a book to her son next to the pond. I couldn’t imagine a more peaceful space to be.
Day 4: Travel to Sequim
Tuesday morning we started the day off with getting some coffee at Cutters Point Coffee before heading to Sequim. The rest of the day we spent relaxing, trying to rest up from the past few days of constant driving, and enjoying the rainy weather we were in.
Day 5: Olympic National Park
Wednesday was a fun adventure filled day with site seeing at Olympic National Park. After taking a quick stop at the visitor center to pick up some souvenirs and getting a stamp for my National Park Passport book, we continued on with our drive. We drove a ways in elevation, hitting a mile high by the time we got to the trailhead at Hurricane Hill via Hurricane Ridge. Considering the area had been experiencing some heavy rainfall not a few days before, there were minimal clouds and the sun even peaked through every once in awhile. Due to the precipitation and elevation, it started snowing at the peaks. It was gorgeous to be able to not only see the snowy tops but also see the ocean, when the clouds parted enough to see.
By the time we were hungry for lunch, we took a stop at Little Devil’s Lunchbox in Port Angeles before returning to Sequim.
Day 6: Whale Watching
Thursday, whale watching day! Our departure time was set for 12:30 pm, we parked and arrived to check in by noon and started loading onto the boat. It was a two hour adventure out of Port Angeles and close to Smith Island where we met up with five other site seeing cruises where we were finally able to see two different Orca whale pods. The weather was perfect to be able to stand out on the boat and view the whales. We also saw two puffins flying by and visited with some seals napping on a buoy before returning back to land.
Day 7: Returning Home
We had a lot to try and pack into this one day, mainly driving, so we set off early and got some breakfast at The Oak Table Cafe. Being able to get back home after a week away and sleep in a familiar setting, was much needed. However, this was an overall amazing experience. Especially being able to be in the mountains with it snowing to being on a boat on the water, within 24 hours, and drive all over north west Washington. I would definitely return to the area in the future and do some more site seeing, especially in the National Park. End of May was a great time to experience the state. We only encountered two rainy days during our whole trip, and for the Pacific Northwest, that’s not bad at all!
Thanks for joining me on this adventure. If you’d like to see more pictures that didn’t make it to the post, click here. Until next time, Adventure Awaits!
