The hubby said “lets go to Vancouver”. “Make the plan” he said. “Let’s call all our friends too” I said.
Then thought for a while. Vancouver was an adventure trip with parents. And hardly any places to see. Most of all, I visited it recently.
“How about Olympic National Park?” I exclaimed! “Ya sure” he said. Meanwhile friends on chat too said Olympic better!
Then it went to & fro on the dates, checking on the weather, availability of all. Meanwhile I got the itinerary ready. Then looked for cabin options that would best fit our group full of kids.
Then one week away from the trip - we planned and brought ahead all the groceries required for the trip. The girls went for shopping for clothes to wear on the trip.
A day before, we planned what time we would start the next day, ferry timings, and specifics of the itinerary.
Itinerary
Friday night cabin
Dinner on the route
Saturday morning - girls go on a hike while guys take care of kids as well get breakfast ready for all
Next guys go for hike and girls and kids home + make lunch ready
Evening - ruby beach
Night - bbq party !
Sunday - another hike if time permits and back home!
Hikes -
- Marymere falls trail - 1.8 miles (10 min from our cabin)
- Hurricane ridge trail - 3 miles (1 hour east from the cabin)
- Hoh rainforest trails - 1 mile (1.5 hours west from cabin)
Ruby beach is 1.5 hours west as well. And has a 0.5 mile trail to reach the magnificent beach.
Okay, now back to the actual trip. We all caught up in one place. Started by 630 pm for 740 pm ferry. As we neared - a sign board read “90 mins delay”. We all reached the ferry wait lines. Parked our cars and stepped out, chit chatted, shared snacks and whiled away the time in the chill weather. We weren’t sure we would make it till we all got in the ferry. While in the line we all were getting hungry. There was an Indian restaurant across the street. The hubby went to check if he could some parcel. They didn’t have biriyani, so he got samosas for all. The chutney was yum. We waited for all and had it together in the ferry.
Got off the ferry and headed towards the cabin. Then we stopped for dinner at a pizza place. Back on the road, we reached a bridge, a long line for it and the bridge was closed. We blinked “how long do we wait?”. It was super windy and dark outside. 10 minutes we waited, then restless we squeezed out of the line. A U-turn. Not too far, we realized they opened the bridge. Again another U-turn, squeezes back into the line. Soon we reached the cabin, within a gated community. Beautiful interior design and decorations. So tired but the kids were the opposite.
Saturday morning, girls and guys who were interested for the hike were up 6-630 am. Got ready. And then we’re getting tea ready. Urghh ... let’s start folks I exclaimed. And that’s what I said the next one hour. Guys/ girls had discussions at that hour for places to go / visit, hike and who all are going. Finally all girls started at 830 am to Marymere falls. Beautiful trail.
We were back in little over an hour. Guys and some kids were ready as well. But the little ones seeing their moms got back home. The remaining left. No breakfast for us. Just a bunch of excuses. We made breakfast for ourselves- bread, peanut butter, omelettes, maggi. Lol. Then soon began with lunch preparation. Soon I took 2 naughty kids down to the hot tub. Had a relaxing time.
Guys back. Lunch done. Again discussion - beach or hurricane ridge ?! Then I said beach today, hurricane tomorrow if time permits. Then Girls started getting ready for beach. Guys took naps in between. Kids tumbled down the stairs. Lol. All busy , no supervision.
3 hours to step out of the cabin for the beach. Drive was beautiful. Beach no words. From the parking lot - view was amazing. The trail pretty strenuous with kids. And then the beach... logs to cross to reach it! The beach was wow. A river met the ocean. Sand and water everywhere. Tides gushed in in any direction. Water ice cold. Still we got off our shoes and jackets. Crossed the river. Climbed the rocks. Clicked pictures. Ran around in the water.
Beach was amazing. We all are ready to make another day trip just for the beach. Never have we all seen a beach as such.
See you soon Ruby beach! And hurricane ridge and hoh rainforest.
