Washington State May 27-30
I had heard about the beauty of Northwest region for a long time but never visited before. Until now, Memorial weekend sounded short but in fact it was perfect for us!
May 27
We left DFW 7:30 pm Central time and arrived Seattle-Tacoma Airport around 10:00 pm Pacific time. We took a shuttle bus to the rental area and picked up a small SUV for our trip. Then we drove to the hotel for our first night.
May 28
We started the day with breakfast at the hotel. Our plan today was to drive to Leavenworth, one of my bucket list! and then continue to Wenatchee for hiking. I was nervous about the weather as it was raining in the morning. However, the weather in Leavenworth and Wenatchee was perfect for us. The scenery on the way to Leavenworth for 2.5 hours was really beautiful! Leavenworth was a really cute German town surrounded by mountains. We walked around the town and enjoyed the time there. We had German foods for our lunch. Once we finished, we continued walking, enjoying the town and taking pictures. It started sprinkling in the afternoon but it was perfect time for us as we had to leave to Wenatchee, a small town nearby.
We bought a tour for hiking in Wenatchee! We met our tour guy at a parking lot, took the bus to the foothill and started to hike. The tour guy gave us "Trail Mix". I just now understood why it was called "Trail Mix" as we walked in the trail and snacked on it. We saw a lot of mountain bikers. It took us about 1.5 hour to get up there. It was really pretty. We were tired but it was worth it :)
The way back was much easier and quicker. It took us only 30 minutes to come down to the foothill to our bus. Then the bus brought us back to the parking lot. After relaxing a little bit, we drove back to Seattle!
Motif was our hotel for the night in downtown. We arrived late around 8 pm. We got to walk around the Pike market but all of the stores closed. We explored the city a little bit, walked back to the hotel and had dinner there. The foods were surprisingly inexpensive which we liked!
May 29
We decided to go to Space Needle in the morning before we drove to Olympic National Park. We wished to take the monorail to the Space Needle as it was raining. Unfortunately, it was too early so we had to walk about 3 blocks. The distance was not bad but we got wet a little bit. We stopped for donuts at a local donut place and coffee at Starbucks on the way there.
It was only 9 am but there were a lot of people waiting at the Space Needle, the iconic of Seattle.
We got to see the city up on the top. Usually when we went to the tower like this, they would take your picture and you have to purchase it BUT not at this place. Yes they gave us the picture for free at Space Needle! We also got to put our name on their system as a guest who visited Space Needle. It was pretty cool!
We spent a good time there and took the monorail back to the station near our hotel. We checked out and drove the car on Ferry to Bainbridge Island. Great experience for us as this was our first time driving into the Ferry. The view of Seattle was awesome. It only took about 25 minutes to get to the Island. Once the Ferry arrived, we drove out and continued our journey to Hurricane Ridge.
We stopped for lunch at a Thai Restaurant on the way at Port Angeles! It was a perfect lunch, of course!
From Port Angeles, it was about 17 miles driving up to the Hurricane Ridge! Oh my goodness, the view was breathtaking! Really really beautiful! I would suggest everyone for this place. We walked around, took pictures and enjoyed the view. We even saw deers so close! Our whole family loved the Hurricane Ridge!
Our next stop was Crescent Lake. We drove down from the mountain and took small roads to the Lake. The lake was really pretty and we had dinner here. The kids had fun throwing rocks into water. We were jumping an playing on the field surrounded by huge trees.
Once it was time, we drove to our cabin on the other side of the lake, Log Cabin. It was quiet and peaceful. We sat down and relaxed in the guest area before we went back to our cabin. The cabin was small but cute. We didn't have a restroom inside and the weather was cold!
May 30
We woke up in the morning, relaxed and had breakfast. Luke and his dad played around the lake while Sean and I were kayaking. It was so peaceful out in the Lake surrounded by mountains. Sean was really good on Kayaking. We had a great time here!
Time to go back to Seattle! We thought we would just drive all the way back to Seattle but GPS took us to Ferry port in Kingston. It was really confusing and was crowded as everyone was trying to go back to Seattle. We lost a couple hours from this confusion but we were finally back in Seattle in the afternoon.
We got to visit the Pike market again. Today at this time, unlike the other night, it was so crowded and loud! We walked thru Pike Market to the Great Wheel. Of course we went up there and we felt great! Once we came down, we decided to eat Dinner at . The sea foods were awesome. We loved it!
After eating, we took the monorail to the Space Needle area again where there were several museums. We were going to do EMP (music) museum but it was closed. So we decided to see Garden and Glass museum. It was pretty cool. The artists who worked on this were so talented.
http://chihulygardenandglass.com/
We came out from the museum and the kids played at the play ground. Sean and Luke enjoyed this play ground a lot. They climbed up/down and had fun!
I guess it was time to go back. We took the monorail back to get our car and went to the airport. On the way there, we even saw Mount Rainier. That was a great view in the city!
It seemed to be a short 3 full days trip but we got to do everything we planned to do. Woohoo! Washington is a very beautiful state. We had fun and would come back again one day!
Other trips:
- Canada (Calgary, Banff, Jasper and Yoho)
- Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Monica and Venice Beach
- Transit Tour in Hong Kong
- Salzburg, Vienna and Prague
- Southern Laos
- Japan (Tokyo-Hakone-Kawagoe)
- Washington State
- Universal Studios, FL
- NOLA and Bahamas
- Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon and Antalop Canyon
- Paris, France
- Montserrat and Barcelona, Spain
- Dubai
- Laos (Vang Vieng and Vientien)
- Disney World, FL
- Skiing Red River, NM
- Niagara Falls, Toronto, San Francisco and Los Angeles
- Western Caribbean Cruise (Jamaica, Cayman Island and mexico)
- Camping Guadalupe River, TX
May 27
We left DFW 7:30 pm Central time and arrived Seattle-Tacoma Airport around 10:00 pm Pacific time. We took a shuttle bus to the rental area and picked up a small SUV for our trip. Then we drove to the hotel for our first night.
May 28
We started the day with breakfast at the hotel. Our plan today was to drive to Leavenworth, one of my bucket list! and then continue to Wenatchee for hiking. I was nervous about the weather as it was raining in the morning. However, the weather in Leavenworth and Wenatchee was perfect for us. The scenery on the way to Leavenworth for 2.5 hours was really beautiful! Leavenworth was a really cute German town surrounded by mountains. We walked around the town and enjoyed the time there. We had German foods for our lunch. Once we finished, we continued walking, enjoying the town and taking pictures. It started sprinkling in the afternoon but it was perfect time for us as we had to leave to Wenatchee, a small town nearby.
The way back was much easier and quicker. It took us only 30 minutes to come down to the foothill to our bus. Then the bus brought us back to the parking lot. After relaxing a little bit, we drove back to Seattle!
Motif was our hotel for the night in downtown. We arrived late around 8 pm. We got to walk around the Pike market but all of the stores closed. We explored the city a little bit, walked back to the hotel and had dinner there. The foods were surprisingly inexpensive which we liked!
May 29
We decided to go to Space Needle in the morning before we drove to Olympic National Park. We wished to take the monorail to the Space Needle as it was raining. Unfortunately, it was too early so we had to walk about 3 blocks. The distance was not bad but we got wet a little bit. We stopped for donuts at a local donut place and coffee at Starbucks on the way there.
It was only 9 am but there were a lot of people waiting at the Space Needle, the iconic of Seattle.
We got to see the city up on the top. Usually when we went to the tower like this, they would take your picture and you have to purchase it BUT not at this place. Yes they gave us the picture for free at Space Needle! We also got to put our name on their system as a guest who visited Space Needle. It was pretty cool!
We spent a good time there and took the monorail back to the station near our hotel. We checked out and drove the car on Ferry to Bainbridge Island. Great experience for us as this was our first time driving into the Ferry. The view of Seattle was awesome. It only took about 25 minutes to get to the Island. Once the Ferry arrived, we drove out and continued our journey to Hurricane Ridge.
We stopped for lunch at a Thai Restaurant on the way at Port Angeles! It was a perfect lunch, of course!
From Port Angeles, it was about 17 miles driving up to the Hurricane Ridge! Oh my goodness, the view was breathtaking! Really really beautiful! I would suggest everyone for this place. We walked around, took pictures and enjoyed the view. We even saw deers so close! Our whole family loved the Hurricane Ridge!
We woke up in the morning, relaxed and had breakfast. Luke and his dad played around the lake while Sean and I were kayaking. It was so peaceful out in the Lake surrounded by mountains. Sean was really good on Kayaking. We had a great time here!
Time to go back to Seattle! We thought we would just drive all the way back to Seattle but GPS took us to Ferry port in Kingston. It was really confusing and was crowded as everyone was trying to go back to Seattle. We lost a couple hours from this confusion but we were finally back in Seattle in the afternoon.
We got to visit the Pike market again. Today at this time, unlike the other night, it was so crowded and loud! We walked thru Pike Market to the Great Wheel. Of course we went up there and we felt great! Once we came down, we decided to eat Dinner at . The sea foods were awesome. We loved it!
After eating, we took the monorail to the Space Needle area again where there were several museums. We were going to do EMP (music) museum but it was closed. So we decided to see Garden and Glass museum. It was pretty cool. The artists who worked on this were so talented.
http://chihulygardenandglass.com/
We came out from the museum and the kids played at the play ground. Sean and Luke enjoyed this play ground a lot. They climbed up/down and had fun!
I guess it was time to go back. We took the monorail back to get our car and went to the airport. On the way there, we even saw Mount Rainier. That was a great view in the city!
It seemed to be a short 3 full days trip but we got to do everything we planned to do. Woohoo! Washington is a very beautiful state. We had fun and would come back again one day!
Other trips:
- Canada (Calgary, Banff, Jasper and Yoho)
- Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Monica and Venice Beach
- Transit Tour in Hong Kong
- Salzburg, Vienna and Prague
- Southern Laos
- Japan (Tokyo-Hakone-Kawagoe)
- Washington State
- Universal Studios, FL
- NOLA and Bahamas
- Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon and Antalop Canyon
- Paris, France
- Montserrat and Barcelona, Spain
- Dubai
- Laos (Vang Vieng and Vientien)
- Disney World, FL
- Skiing Red River, NM
- Niagara Falls, Toronto, San Francisco and Los Angeles
- Western Caribbean Cruise (Jamaica, Cayman Island and mexico)
- Camping Guadalupe River, TX
Comments