Hoh Rain Forest and Rialto Beach

On our second full day at Olympic National Park, we scheduled our one and only company tour.  (We planned all the other day hikes and trips inside the park by ourselves.)

After reading through a list of guided tours in Olympic, I finally settled on using the Olympic Hiking Company as they had received numerous positive reviews on Viator and Trip Advisor.  In particular, their 8-hour tour of the Hoh Rain Forest and Rialto Beach really caught my eye as I figured we could learn so much more about this unique rainforest from an actual tour instead of just wandering around with a map.

After we met the van at our designated pick-up spot, we were off to see the Hoh (pronounced 'Hoe') Rain Forest, which is touted for its huge trees and rich biodiversity.  As mentioned before, there are 18 unique animals in the park that are found nowhere else in the world--most of them in the rainforest.  The spectacular trees include the western red cedar (which has leaves that look like lace) and the western hemlock, which can tower up to 200 feet.  The Sitka spruce and Douglas-firs can reach up to 300 feet!!  

On the drive to the Hoh Rain Forest, we learned that this area of the park receives up to 140 inches (or about 12 feet) of rainfall annually.  Part of the reason is due to the Olympic Mountain Range.  Since saturated clouds cannot pass over the mountains, they must release their moisture (i.e. rain) before continuing their journey.  As a result, since the clouds release all their rain in this one area, the land on the other side of the mountain range is dry (which is described as the high desert).  

The Hoh River that passes through the Hoh Rainforest is fed by glaciers.  The week before we started our trip, the state of Washington experienced one of its worst heatwaves in history with temperatures rising above 100 degrees.  (Their normal for this time of year is around 70 degrees.)  Our guide explained that the 100+ degree heat caused many of the glaciers to melt faster, which meant, in turn, that the water level of this river was really high.  Thankfully, by the time we came, the heatwave had broke, and mostly everything, including the river, returned back to normal.

The moss and algae on the river were a beautiful bright green, but the water itself was crystal clear.

Our guide showed us this banana slug, which cannot be found anywhere else in the world. 
(It turns different shades of green and yellow, just like a banana.)  

One of the hikes we took at the Hoh Rainforest was called the "Hall of Mosses," a 0.8 mile loop of lush, mossy tree groves.  (It was enchanting!)  During the hike, we learned that when a tree falls it becomes a nurse log.  Allie Wisniewski in American Forests explains a nurse log this way:  "Even though they're dead, they are not gone...as they decay, nurse logs offer seedlings shade, nutrients, water, and protection from disease and pathogens; thus nurturing and making way for the new generation."  

Here are a few examples of nurse trees and nurse logs our guide showed us where the trees actually grow out of other trees or out from these logs:

The next part of our tour was visiting Rialto Beach--the only beach we saw during our stay.  Before I share pictures, let me say that this was the one part of our trip that was cut short.  Literature on Olympic National Park will suggest that visitors see more than one beach, with favorites being Mora, Kalaloch, and Ruby Beach (in addition to Rialto Beach).  For one, these beaches are known for their tidepools, which appear during low tide.  Such pools contain colorful sealife, including brittle stars, hermit crabs, anemones, and octopuses.  My Lake Quinault Lodge book by Smith-Western Co. states, "There are 29 species of marine mammals in the Olympic Coast Nation Marine Sanctuary...It also contains one of the largest populations of bald eagles and seabirds in the lower 48 states."  

The other unique features of these beaches are the eerie sea stacks, described as "remnants of eroded coastal cliffs that loom out of the water" and the massive driftwood logs scattered along the Pacific Coast.  The Lake Quinault Lodge book by Smith-Western Co. says, "More driftwood washes up on these beaches than anywhere else in the world.  Trees are washed down from the rivers on the beach."

While we didn't get a chance to see the tidepools (which look just as enchanting as the Hoh Rain Forest), we did get to see the sea stacks, the driftwood, and a bald eagle nest (perched on top of one of the sea stacks).  The beach, too, made up of all types of sand and stone, was miraculous.

There was a bald eagle family/nest on top of this sea stack.

Indeed, our 8-hour tour felt more like 2 hours since we were having so much fun learning and sightseeing.  This day was one of the most majestic parts of our trip, and yet, in the next three days, we would hike to two prominent waterfalls, drive 18 miles (or 5,000+ feet high) to see Hurricane Ridge, and spend our evenings soaking in 103-degree hot springs.  In other words, there would still be way more to come.

Lake Quinault Lodge, Quinault Rainforest, and the Olympic National Forest

In March 2021, visiting Olympic National Park seemed to be a pipe dream.  What if we took a two-week vacation, spending five days in Olympic National Park, another three days in Seattle, four days in Sunriver, Oregon, and the last two in Portland, Oregon?  The trip seemed ambitious for sure, but my deep-seated desire to see the Pacific Northwest made the dream a reality.

After a six hour plane ride across the country, we flew into Portland, OR, picked up a rental vehicle and drove a leisurely three hours Northwest toward Olympic National Forest and Lake Quinault Lodge.  A part of me wanted to take a side adventure to see some of Oregon's rugged coastline, particularly Cannon Beach, but after a long day of traveling, I was outvoted by the two Lews to just "head to our hotel."

I didn't object.  Our hotel, after all, would be Lake Quinault Lodge, one of the two places we would stay while visiting Olympic National Park.  For anyone who hasn't heard of Olympic National Park, particularly my friends and neighbors back East, you're not alone.  While it is one of the ten most visited National Parks with approximately 3 million visitors annually, it doesn't have quite the same notoriety as Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, or Yosemite.  My son asked me naively, "So what makes Olympic National Park special?"  

At the beginning of the trip, I wasn't sure how to answer him.  Without seeing any of the sights for myself, do I tell him its the glacier-capped peaks of the Olympic Mountains; the 60 miles of rugged and picturesque shoreline, which is the longest wilderness coastline in the United States; the twelve major rivers and approximately 200 streams fed from the run-off of glaciers; or its old-growth and temperate rainforests that boasts a biodiversity of animals found nowhere else in the world?  (For example, according to a book I purchased called Lake Quinault Lodge: Washington's Olympic National Forest published by Smith-Western Co., "There are 18 animals in the park found nowhere else in the world.  The signature banana slug, native to the Northwest, lives in the rain forest as do the northern spotted owl, the marbled murrelet, jumping mouse, shrew and Douglas squirrel.")

As we pulled up to Lake Quinault Lodge, we already knew this National Park trip would be a trip like no other.  Two to three-hundred foot trees stood at our feet, and the Lodge was situated right by Lake Quinault, a beautiful crystal blue lake fed by glacier water from the Quinault River ("a 33-mile long river, home to some of the greatest salmon and steelhead fishing in the world"). 

On our first full day at Lake Quinault Lodge, we treated ourselves to a hearty breakfast and prepared to hike the Gatton Creek Trail and the Quinault Rain Forest Nature Trail.  It was during breakfast that we learned President Franklin D. Roosevelt stayed here in the 1930's (and sat in the same dining room) during his first research trip to create Olympic National Park.  (He later designated it a National Park in 1938 "to protect the wildest and most beautiful part of the [Olympic] peninsula.")

Another interesting fact is that Lake Quinault Lodge (constructed completely of timber) was built in 1925 and designed by architect Robert Reamer, the designer of the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone National Park.   (I always enjoy learning about the history of a place, and it was fun to connect the dots between this lodge and the one at Old Faithful.)

The five-mile loop we walked the first day was our longest hike on the trip, and yet it was the perfect introduction to the world of an old-growth, Pacific Northwest Rainforest.  We marveled at the large, moss-covered trees, not knowing that there would be even larger and greener forest to be discovered the next day near Lake Crescent and the Hoh Rainforest.  (The 60-70 degree weather was another perfect touch; in fact, summer days in Olympic National Park are usually dry and 70 degrees.)

In the evening, we ate a delicious meal on the main deck and rested knowing we would be going on a full-day bus tour in the morning.  We probably could have benefited from an additional night's stay at Lake Quinault Lodge, but we did experience a lot during our two night visit.  

Other attractions included the Lake Quinault Museum, a kitschy museum of artifacts and memorabilia collected from the residents of the Lake Quinault area--this included Native American artifacts such as dugout canoes and basketry; it also featured rooms and items, showing logging/pioneering life.  (I could have easily spent a full-hour in the museum rather than the 35 minute sprint I took before closing.)  

This is a Roosevelt Elk. It was named after President Theodore Roosevelt when he created Olympic National Park because he helped protect this elk species, which is the largest variety of elk
in North America.  Male elk (bulls) can weigh up to 1,100lbs.

The other "attractions" are the World's Largest Sitka Spruce Tree, located a short walk away from the lodge.  (It's estimated to be over 1,000 years-old!)  And, the human-sized Sasquatch or Bigfoot stuffed animal that guards the doors of the lodge (and is incidentally sporting a COVID mask these days).  Right next to him is a glass-case listing recent sightings of Bigfoot in Washington State according to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Association.  I'm glad we didn't bump into him on any of our hikes!!

Again, Lake Quinault Lodge was the perfect "introduction" to all Olympic National Park has to offer.  While I was certainly impressed with the beautiful lodge, the rainforest nature trail, and the world's largest Sitka Spruce, I had no idea that more areas of enchantment--on the coast, in the forest, and on the mountaintops--were waiting for us. 

Happy 13th Birthday, Lewie!

In a flash, just like that, I woke up on August 11th 2021, and standing before me was my 13 year-old boy.  I'm not sure how this once 7lb bundle became a 5'5" teenager, but here we are,13 years years later, starting a brand new chapter.

I have now said goodbye to the baby years, the toddler years, the "little boy" years, and now the "tween" years.  As I think about and start preparing for the "teen years," I realize these are the years of finishing up middle school, high school, and gulp...starting college.  These are the years of friends, driving, independence, and "thinking" he's all grown up even when he is still learning what it means to be an adult.  (Heck, I'm 45 and still trying to figure out what it means to be an adult!)

I am extremely grateful that 2020 gave me a chance to spend lots of time with my 12 year-old.  With him being a distance learning student and me working from home, I had a chance to see him pretty much all day-everyday;  I wouldn't change that for the world.  

He learned a little more about the work that I do as a college administrator, and I had a chance to see all the assignments he was working on, whether it was learning about slave ships, human rights, saving the Amazon Rainforest, or growing kidney beans.  Indeed, I was immersed in all of his subjects, with science probably being the hardest, followed by math, history, and English.  

For gym, he was required to post videos of himself exercising.  We practiced yoga moves together, and then we both tried to learn to do pushups together.  (I'm still terrible at them.)  When Daddy and I couldn't help, we asked our physical therapist friend to meet with him and give him tips.  Over the course of six months, this kid was doing ten pretty good pushups all by himself!

Summer, of course, provided the respite we all needed from wake-up, eat breakfast, log-on, eat lunch, log-off, log-on, submit homework, log off, eat dinner, go to bed, repeat.  We needed a break to those 12 hour days in front of the computer between work and homework!  

When the vaccine became available for twelve year-olds in May, we lunged at the chance!  I took Lewie to get his first shot and then brought him with me to my college campus to see our set-up for Commencement.  "That's a lot of chairs," he said in awe. 

"Yes, and that's with limiting all graduates to four guests each," I said,  "Usually on Commencement Day, we have twice as many people as we will have this year.  One day we'll be watching you graduate from these seats, too."

Once we were all vaccinated, the fun resumed--sleepovers, amusement parks, restaurants, birthday parties.  It felt like we couldn't jam enough into these summer months.  And then, of course, I made our family go on a two-week vacation to make up for "the 2020 vacation that never was."

Lewie celebrated his official day with a trip to Lake Compounce, but then he requested a "sleep-over party" with friends on the weekend.  We couldn't get all friends to come (after all, some had vacations, too), but we made the best of it.  From June through August, he was able to have swimming sleepover parties, go to amusement parks, and spend valuable time with friends, and that's really all that mattered (since last year, none of that was possible).

This birthday arrives with Lewie being a little bit taller, having a deeper voice, and being more interested in spending time with friends than ever.  (Last week, we went to the AT&T store, so he could get his first phone, and I promised we will be shopping for a desk in the future, so he could have his own computer workspace--instead of being in the kitchen.)  As I do every year, we ended his birthday celebration with "a birthday interview."

Q:  What is your favorite color?
A:  "Orange." (But, he likes purple now, too.)

Q:  What is your favorite book?
A:  We've been reading Pax by Sara Pennypacker, however his response: "I still like Humphrey books."  This is a book series about a hamster by Betty G. Birney.

Q:  What is your favorite cartoon?
A:  "The Amazing World of Gumball." (This is the same as last year.)

Q:  What is your favorite movie?
A:  We watched a few Muppet movies this year, and I made him watch Big.  However, he's really enjoying the Netflix series, "Lost in Space."  Actually, we're all enjoying watching it as a family.

Q:  What is your favorite board game?
A:  "UNO Attack." 

Q:  What is your favorite computer game?
A:  "Minecraft" and "Portal."  (He's been learning how to code in Minecraft using Java.)

Q:  What is your favorite place or favorite vacation?
A:  "I liked Olympic National Park, but Yellowstone is really a fan-favorite."

Q:  What is your favorite thing to do at school?
A:  "Math."  (This is a new answer for us!!)

Q:  Who is your favorite teacher?
A:  "To be honest with you...still Miss Drayton, my second grade teacher."

Q:  What is your favorite sport?
A:  "Gaga Ball."

Q:  What is your favorite food?
A:  "French Toast." (This is the same as last year.  His favorite restaurant is Friendly's.)

Q:  What is your favorite ice-cream flavor?
A:  "Chocolate."  (Of course, he likes birthday cake flavor, too.)

Q:  What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?
A:  "You mean, Mother Dearest?  Walking with you." (He calls us Mother Dearest, Father Dearest, and Grandma Dearest because he thinks it makes him sound British.)

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A:  "I still want to do something with YouTube or with coding.  To be honest with you, I'd like to find a way to implement the two of them together."

Q:  What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?
A:  "You mean, Father Dearest?  Swimming."

Q:  What is your favorite saying this year?
A:  "Pog Champ!  It comes from a meme."

Q:  What is your favorite moment as a twelve year-old?
A:  "The day I came home from vacation.  Don't get me wrong.  I really loved going to Olympic National Park, but two weeks was just way too long."

I think the last comment really says it all.  At age 13, I'm starting to lose this kid to the world of friends.  Whether he likes it or not, he's still going to spend a lot of time with Hubby, Grammy, and me, but I do see more outings in the near future that includes friends.  For now, I'm going to share my first favorite memory of his 13 year-old existence--a memory I will cherish because it shows that he isn't as grown up as he thinks...

A good friend of his went on vacation for the weekend and posted a picture of himself in a Japanese restaurant.  "I think he went to Japan," Lewie told me.

Me laughing: "He couldn't have gone to Japan.  He just left 8 hours ago for a weekend vacation."

"I don't know then.  He's at some place called Mohegan.  Is that a state?"

Me laughing again.  "You mean the Mohegan Sun Casino?  No, that's not a state, and your friend went on vacation about an hour away from here."

Thank goodness, Lewie and his friends still act as silly as can be.  He's not ready for the boring world of adulthood yet!

A Trip to the Pacific Northwest

The month of July was a blur but a happy blur.  

In March, I had ambitiously booked a TWO-WEEK vacation to the Pacific Northwest, so we could see Olympic National Park, Seattle, Portland, and my cousins that moved right outside of Portland.  COVID restrictions were beginning to lift, people were getting vaccinated, and I felt pretty confident, perhaps overly confident, that we could book our fourth national park vacation trip.  (To make up for the previous year, I booked two weeks instead of just one.)

When my mom fell in May, the anticipation of our trip was no longer exciting but worrisome.   Who was going to check on my mom, who was going walk Bruce (our puppy), and who was going to take care of the yard, the pool, and anything else involved with the house?  I spent weeks calling people--family, friends, neighbors, and local businesses--to see if I could put a schedule in place, and while it wasn't perfect, in the end, it all worked out.  Whew!! 

First, my Aunty Irene was a HUGE help because she agreed to come up from Delaware and spend most of our trip at my mom's house.  With her visiting, I no longer had to worry about someone checking on my mom; she went grocery shopping for her, picked up her prescriptions, and helped prepare meals.  She also invited friends and family to come visit, so they both actually had a fun time seeing people that they hadn't seen since COVID!!

Other people helped out, too.  One of my mom's friends offered to visit her on a day when my aunt was still in Delaware.  A friend of mine offered to care for the pool while I was gone (in exchange for using it).   I also had neighbors and local businesses on standby to assist with anything from puppy daycare to mowing the lawn.  Again, it wasn't a perfect plan, but it made it possible for us to enjoy our two-week vacation.  The worries were still there, but they were minimized, for-sure.

Once everything was in place, on July 18th, we were off to catch a 5 a.m. flight from Hartford, CT to Chicago, IL and then another to Portland, OR.   Once the plane landed in OR, we had another 3 hour car drive to our first location--Lake Quinault Lodge in Olympic National Park, WA.  

My dream to visit the Pacific Northwest had officially begun, and boy was it AMAZING!  I made a promise to myself to record everything about the trip, and so I will be spending my next nine posts doing just that.  If you have an interest in visiting the Pacific Northwest like me, please stay tuned for the following posts:

• Olympic National Park: Lake Quinault Lodge, Rainforest, & the Tallest Sitka Spruce Tree
• Olympic National Park: The Hoh Rainforest and Rialto Beach 
• Olympic National Park: Sol Duc Falls, Hot Springs, and Marymere Falls
• Olympic National Park: Port Angeles and Hurricane Ridge
• Seattle: A City with Rich History and Innovation
• Oregon: The Sunriver Resort
• Oregon: The High Desert Museum
• Oregon: The Lava River Cave near Bend
• Oregon: Staying 'Weird' with Our Cousins in Portland

And, if you have no interest in the Pacific Northwest but just want to hear about some crazy adventures, we have that too.  What's a family vacation without a little drama like a missing passport, a lost cell phone (in a river, of course), and a high energy mouse?

The trip that almost never happened is a trip to be remembered in more ways than one.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

 I can't believe I haven't written a blog post in a full month, but then again, I can...

The same day I posted about my wonderful Mother's Day Dinner, my mom tripped on our front porch and fell...HARD.  I witnessed the whole thing.  We were freaking out over these flying ants that were burrowing in the cracks on my porch, and she came running with a can of Raid.  She was in such a hurry to get rid of the infestation that she tripped and fell.  (To this day, I'm not sure if she tripped on the porch step or the garden hose in front of the porch step, but I guess it doesn't matter...)  The fall keeps on playing in my head over and over again, and I'm still kicking myself for not being able to react faster.  If I were only an inch or two closer, I could have stopped it!!

My beautiful mom at the Hildene three years ago in 2018...

What transpired after the fall was a series of X-rays, doctor's appointments, an MRI, and a scheduled surgery.  The first known bruises were on the right side--she had scrapes on her knee and a swollen wrist.  A visit to a medi-clinic confirmed she broke her wrist, but she needed to see a specialist to determine if she needed surgery. My poor mom wanted to avoid surgery at all costs, so she opted to have her wrist heal on its own--first with a hard cast and then with a soft, removable one.  The only disadvantage to not choosing surgery, as she was told, was that her wrist would look different--it would probably have a bump.

After a week of icing and treating her wrist, my mom then started to complain about pains to her back, right hip, and stomach.  We were perplexed. For a whole week, my mom was able to walk with no problem; now she could barely stand up!  We went back to get more X-rays, and this time they found out that she fractured a vertebrae in her back!!  The fall did even more damage than we suspected!

Once again, my mom was faced with a decision about having surgery.  If she chose to let her vertebrae heal on its own, it would mean 12 weeks of being in a body brace and not being able to bend.  It would also mean 12 individual weeks of doctor's visits to confirm her vertebrae was healing correctly.  The other option was a surgery called kyphoplasty.  If she chose this route, the doctor would fill the crack in her vertebrae with a type of cement and release her to go home on the same day:  "Patients experience 50% pain relief almost immediately.  After a full 48 hours, you'll be able to go outside and garden again."     

When faced with the decision of 12 weeks in a body cast vs. an out-patient surgical procedure that could give her her life back within 48 hours, she chose the latter.  Sure there were more doctor's appointments to confirm she was in good enough health--a bone scan, a cardiogram, an MRI, a blood draw, and a visit to her primary care physician--but now, almost a month after her fall, she goes in for surgery TODAY.

My mom's nervous.  I'm nervous.  But, the alternative is watching my mom suffer for another 2 to 3 months while she sits in front of the TV, losing all the strength and movement in her body to atrophy.  

The reality is that sometimes life gives us lemons...  For starters, my mom and I were supposed to have a mother-daughter day on Sunday, May 23rd (the day after my mom's fall) to enjoy a day of shopping at the Clinton Outlets.  On Friday, June 18th, we were supposed to go to the annual Newport Flower Show, which was cancelled last year due to COVID.  And, of course, she was supposed to be able to go outside and enjoy swimming in the pool now that we've had some steamy 90 degree days.

The Newport Flower Show 2019

For me, this past month was hard.  In the midst of this excitement at home, I was scheduled to begin teaching two classes on May 24th all while trying to complete several important reports (due the first week of June) for my administrative position.  Lewie was scheduled to return back to school on June 1st too, so he could spend his last two weeks getting acclimated to middle school while seeing his teachers and classmates in-person!  Naturally something had to go and that was my blog--my time to think, reflect, write, and daydream.

Now the surgery is here, and we're not out of the woods yet.  Will my mom be pain-free?  Will she be able to do all the things she once did?  Will she get full recovery of her right wrist?  Will she finally be able to enjoy summer the way she had imagined?

The lemonade comes from watching everyone in this little family pitch-in.  For the most part, I've been my mom's caretaker.  I make breakfast, lunch, and dinner; I write-out her bills and balance her checkbook; I buy her groceries, vitamins, and supplies; and I send out needed paperwork to help her get short-term disability, etc.  However, my husband has taken her to most of her appointments, and he's made us some yummy dinners, too.  (After my mom came back from one of her more difficult appointments last week, hubby took her home and made her a yummy late breakfast of eggs and bacon; he's treated her like his own mom!)  Now that school is out, Little Lewie has been in the habit of going next door to check on Grammy, too.  Sometimes he pours her water or brings her morning banana; other times, he keeps her company by watching a movie or playing a game.

We may be a small family, but we are mighty.  When one person is down, the whole family is down, and that's why we all need to rally together to become whole again.  I wish this fall never happened...but at least we made lemonade as best we could.