So last weekend we went on a family vacation. It was very spontaneous. Ron came home from work and said "Let's go camping!" So we did. We left on wednesday afternoon and headed up to Deception Pass. Deception Pass is one of our very favorite places to visit. We camped our first night there. It was fun. We walked down to the shoreline to see the sunset on the water. So pretty. Then we got lost on our way back to camp as our brand new flashlights decided that they really did not want to work. But what can we say, they were ony $2.50 each. We thought we were getting a great deal. little did we know. Anyway, So we found our way back to camp and luckily Ron remembered that we had an extra flashlight in the car. He took the batteries out of the new one and put them in the old one and we were able to enjoy the rest of the night. The next morning we struck camp and we were planning on spending some time on the beaches but it ended up being a foggy morning so we decided to just head out because we had a lot of driving ahead of us to reach our next planned location. Which was Cape Flattery, the most northwest point of the U.S. Our plan was to head out that way and swing down to the Forks area and hope we get a camp spot for the night. Those sites didn't have online reservations so we could reserve a spot so we just had to hope. Anyway, on our way to Cape Flattery we thought we would stop in Joyce because someone had mentioned to Ron that there is a place out there where you can find fossils. So we thought we would check it out. we stopped in at the Joyce museum and talked to a lady named Margeret. She gave us perfect instructions. She was so cute about it. She also asked us where we were camping and we told her that we didn't have a place for that night we were going to go find a place and hope we find one. She got all excited again and told us about this place just outside of Joyce called Salt Creek. We took her advice and checked it out. It was great, and it was right there on the ocean. It was so beautiful! She told us that we might get lucky and see a gray whale. There's been gray whales there, even the whale watch tours from victoria had been coming down to see the whales. Of course that was exciting news. Anyway, we got there and there was only one site left. It was a first come first serve basis. You pick your site and then you go to the office and register. We barely made it. When we got there, we were told there was only one site left and that someone else was on their way to it. So we got the site number and started looking for it. It really came down to seconds. We pulled into the site and the other people were right behind us. The Ranger told us how lucky we were. So We started to set up camp. Our site was pretty. Even though it wasn't very private, the fence that overlooked the ocean was in our site. I love to see the ocean. After we got everything set up, we made our way to Cape Flattery which is the most north west point of the U.S. It was pretty cool. It ended up being longer of a drive than we had expected and it was rainy so we didn't make it up the trail, but we did get a picture of the trail head so at least we can say we were there. That is something we will do another time when we can plan a bit better now that we know a time frame to judge from. We came back to camp and had our dinner and campfire. Jaxen was so tired that he ate what he could handle and then went to bed. I have to say that I am very impressed with him. We brought his pack-n-play for him to sleep in and he still slept through the night. I have to say we were wondering if he would still sleep through the night while sleeping in a tent, he definitly did and Ron and I are so happy.
After Jaxen fell asleep I came out to join the family. Ron had started a fire so we sat around the fire for a bit, of course we made smores(it's tradition). We eventually went to bed. We were all exhausted.
The next morning after breakfast we went and walked along some tide pools that were there in the campground. It was exciting for the kids and I because it was our first time to see tide pools from the ocean. It was so fun! There were tiny fish and crabs and lots of shellfish all bunched up together. There were also some anemonies and of course sea weed. The tide pools were along cliffs and at the time we were the only ones there so I decided to let Kati off her leash so she could just run and explore. Also because the rocks were getting more and more mossy and I didn't want her to pull me over. The ironic thing is that I let her off and I go a few steps and slip and fall on the rocks(yah.....I had flip flops on. not the best thing to wear while walking along tide pools). I fell forward and landed on my hands and knees which got cut up pretty good. Luckily i had brought along the diaper bag which had wipes and a small first aid kit(yah....I was proud to be prepared). Which was a good thing because I would have been a big mess if I had to go back up the trail and back to camp which was on the other side of the campground from where we were. I cleaned my knees up and we continued walking along the pools. It was fun and luckily my knees really didn't hurt so it didn't ruin the trip. We just laughed about it later. After awhile there were a few people that started to hike along the same pools as we were so we decided to get Kati back on the leash and go get some lunch. After lunch we drove up a ways to the place where we were told we could hunt for fossils. That was an amazing find. We're so glad we stopped in at the little museum because we would have never found it without margeret's detailed instructions. It's a small trail off the side of the highway and if you didn't know what you were looking for you would never know it was there. It was beautiful! Another deserted beach, we had all to ourselves. Kati was in heaven, she raced around as fast as she could go. Up the side of the mountain and back down to the beach and along the shoreline. It was funny. Ron and Kaeryn walked ahead to the hillside where margret told them to look. Tristan played in the sand, Jaxen played in the sand but mostly wanted to be held. I think he was tired but he loved the sand, so he would play and then cuddle for a minute and then would play again. He's such a cute boy. It was so fun and we did find fossils. That was so neat. We found fossilized shells and Kaeryn found some plant fossils. Ron and Kaeryn also found some bone that looks like it belongs to a whale. Kaeryn was loving it and getting a taste of being a palentologist(or however you spell it). That is what she wants to be when she grows up. It was so fun watching her. After we were done we went back to camp and had dinner. We then went back to where the tide pools are and watched the sun set. That was abosolutely beautiful! Everyone at some point in there life needs to see the sun set over the ocean. It's such a peaceful and self fulfilling feeling. It's hard to describe. There I was with my family, sitting with Ron and watching the kids play along the rocks and then Ron would take Jaxen down to watch the waves with the kids. It's a feeling of happy that everyone should have. The next day just happened to be Joyce days so we went to join in on the festivities. We watched the parade which was so fun. I love small town parades. They are the best and they also throw the most candy and treats for the kids. Kaeryn and Tristan both had handfuls. The horses were gorgeous(of course I always think that). And the family that was sitting next to us started talking to us like we were their neighbors. It was great. Afterwards we went to the fire station for Tristan. He loves Firetrucks and wants to be a fireman. By the time we had gotten there they had stopped giving the tours. Ron took the kids in and told them how much Tristan loves firetrucks and wants to be a fireman and asked if there was any way he could still look at the trucks. Well those fireman gave Tristan his very own personal tour of the station. It was really neat, he got his own little hat and got to sit in the trucks and meet all the fireman. It was really neat that they were able to do that for him. They told him that when he turns 16 that he could come back and learn how to be a fireman. Tristan said he can't wait until he's 16. He was so excited. We then decided that it was time to go home. We were going to stay one more day but we decided that it was time to go. Especially to give Ron a day of rest before he had to go back to work. When we got home we all just crashed. It was a great vacation and so many memories were made. We didn't see any whales but it was still an amazing experience. Hummm.....I wonder what our next adventure will be?
