The Hoh Rainforest

A couple of weeks ago, Anson and I left the kids with my brother Adam and left to Forks, Washington. Three Hole Punch, Anson's band was going to play at The Twilight Lounge for a Sock Hop.

On our way up to Forks we drive through the Olympic Forest and it's the most beauitful place EVER! I really love trees and this place has the best! We have driven past the rainforest a half a dozen times so this time we decided to stop. It was amazing. I think we walked around for about 15 minutes and then had to head back, but those 15 minutes was enough for me to want to go back and stay for hours.
We saw a couple deer in the actual forest, about 10 feet away from us. They would look at us once in awhile, but they were mostly interested in the grass.




On our way back to the highway we saw a herd of elk and then a couple of miles up the road we saw another herd. It was crazy cool! That place is like the Yellowstone of Washington state.





We got to Forks a couple of hours later and went straight to the lounge so Anson could set up his keyboard and do a sound check/practice. Then we headed downstairs to "The Lodge" restaurant and ate dinner. After dinner we headed back up to the lounge. Anson and the band played and I sat with my friend Samantha who also has a husband in the band.




Sometime after midnight we headed back to our hotel. We have stayed at almost every hotel in Forks. If any one plans on going, stay at The Pacific Inn. It is the best quality at a low price. That is where we are staying from now on. In the morning, we headed back to "The Lodge" and ate breakfast. This is Anson's breakfast!! YES BOTH PLATES! They are a new restaurant and have a little work to do on portion sizes. A breakfast should not cost $12.99, but considering everything he got, I would say that it matched what he got.

It was a nice weekend for us to get away, but we had to leave our puppy Lucy home by herself, because no one could/wanted to take her. I set out some potty pads by the back door and my mom checked on her once. I was surprised when we got back and she actually used potty pads and had no accidents anywhere. She's such a good dog and was very happy for us to be home.

Pacific City in April.

The boys were on Spring Break all week and Anson and I had to catch up on some screen printing. He decided to take Wed., Thurs., and Friday off from school so that we could do something with the boys. They had been cooped up in the house all week. I felt bad, but we had to get work done. We tried to get everything shipped off on Wednesday, but didn't quite make it. On Thursday, Anson got the RV ready and packed while I finished the rest of the work.

We finally headed out of town around 1pm. We decided to bring Lucy and she just HATES car rides. She was stressed out the entire 2 hours! I felt bad. I don't think we'll be bringing her with us next time.

One of my favorite things to do on our way somewhere is to take pictures from my window. These are some pics from our way out of town.







It's a great way to spend the time. It makes it go by so fast. Here's another one I shot from my window as we passed the beach. It was such a beautiful day when we arrived....little did we know what weather was to come.



These are pictures from the deck from the lodge at the Thousand Trails campground.




The first thing the kids do when we arrive is to go swimming. I didn't feel like swimming, so I walked Lucy around and read a book back at the RV. When the kids came back from swimming, Ashton had a wound that looked like it could use a stitch or two. Anson Jr, had thrown a snorkel at him and cut his lip open. We found some butterfly bandages in our first aid kit and that seemed to have closed the wound. Our other option was to drive 30 minutes to Lincoln City where there was a hospital to see if he needed stitches or not.



After that fiasco, the kids settled down to watch a movie and Anson and I decided to go hot tubbing. The campground was pretty empty, so there weren't many people there so we had the hot tub to ourselves and when we got to hot, I jumped in the pool and did a little swimming. Afterward, we made our way down to the beach. The sun was setting and it was close to 8pm at the time. Anson and I left just in time. It was dark by the time we walked back to our RV.





The boys look so comfy under the electric blanket.


The next day the kids went swimming again and had the pool all to themselves....again.






They left the pool to do an Easter egg hunt that Thousand Trails put together for the kids. It was only Ashton and a little girl in their age group so there wasn't much competition.






Ashton found the golden egg which was the prize egg and he won the big Easter basket full of goodies. He also won a plastic rabbit full of jelly beans but gave it to the little girl. He's such a good boy. We suggested it of course and he could have thrown a fit, but he was happy to do it.
Next, the parents hid the eggs for the older group which consisted of Anson Jr., Ammon and 2 other kids.
Ammon found the golden egg and won the Easter basket. Anson Jr. found the other prize egg and won the rabbit full of jelly beans. There were also hard boiled eggs in with the plastic eggs full of candy, so we went back to the RV and made egg sandwiches for lunch.

The whole time we were there it rained, and rained and rained. We got a few breaks but it was also crazy windy and hailed a few times. We decided to pack up and leave a day early and hit snow along the pass. Note to self next time we decide to go somewhere: CHECK THE WEATHER!

We still had a great time and made lots of great memories!