The Trip of a Lifetime

I got caught up in the laziness of Memorial Day and forgot to post, but I'm here today! I wanted to tell you a bit about our trip! It was amazing! I think we knew it would be, but we had no idea just how utterly inspiring it would be. We stayed in Forks, WA (yes, that Forks. We should have counted all the Twilight references scattered around) for about a week and had short drive-times to all the spots we wanted to see on the Olympic Peninsula. We visited Lake Crescent (which we've decided is our spot), La Push (a.k.a. First Beach), Second and Third Beaches, Ruby Beach (pictured at left), Hoh Rain Forest, Ozette Lake, Cape Alava, Rialto Beach (pictured below), Tailor Point, and Shi Shi Beach.

The weather was miraculously perfect for all but one day. We hiked a lot, saw a lot, weren't bothered by many people at all (in fact, we were alone for chunks of time everywhere we went), and spent a lot of time just sitting and looking, taking it all in. We took almost 1400 pictures and haven't had time to look through more than Day 2 of 6, but the camera investment just prior to the trip was probably the best idea John ever had. :) We took probably a collective 5000 photos last summer on our road trip and got a handful of good ones. This time, we have the reverse problem. We are looking forward to going through them all and choosing which ones to frame and hang up in the house.

Isn't that starfish cute?! We saw loads of them! We saw crabs, hermit crabs, snails, mussels, clam bubbles, a sea otter(!), elk, deer, a bunny, seals, eagles, cool birds...I think the only animal we didn't see (that I've been dying to see!) is a whale. Next time. :)

It was a great trip! And to top it off, on the last day, we hit up Churchmouse Yarns & Teas on Bainbridge Island. I spent too much money because I found the Madtosh cabinet holding Prairie, which I had never desired until I touched it. I fondled all the colors of Brooklyn Tweed LOFT and SHELTER (which I should have bought instead...not that I have remorse!). I saw yarns of which I've only ever heard tale. I saw the women writing patterns at a conference table, delighted an employee by announcing we were from the same town in Iowa where she had gone to school, saw kits for the Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf (which I promptly set back down, remembering my own go at it), and got lots of compliments on my Lucky Rikke, which saved my head a lot on the trip.

If we had actually done a day-by-day itinerary for the trip, I don't think it would have turned out half as great as it did. We were extremely lucky and I think we've even been changed a bit by the whole experience. I can't wait to do it again!

What is your dream vacation? Where have you gone that has absolutely taken your breath away? Are there any yarn shops nearby? :)