The Long Way There and Back

This is our Kabin in the woods. 

A selection of birds that can be found at the bird feeder. They are hand tamed by the campsite manager.

On a side note, we thought this bird looked part pigeon part sparrow. We weren't sure how to react; aww or eww.

This is the Canadian red squirrel and just like the red squirrels at home, they're having trouble with the much larger American greys.

We walked some way down a trail that led to a waterfall but had to turn back because we weren't sure how much further it was.

Looking over the side of wooden bridge that went over a fast flowing stream.

More KOA vistors (the pics got mixed up)

End of the trail waiting for Dad. The bag of Cheetos was so big it didn't fit in Sophie's handbag.

Dad at river level, looking up as Mum and Sophie look down.

Mum and Dad had to drive over the rickety bridge. They pretended like they were Lisa from Ice Road Truckers.

They must have giggled a lot on that bridge.

Another KOA visitor (they really did get muddled up)

On our drive back from the walk we saw a bear at the side of the road but we weren't quick enough to take a photo.

Sending our love back home. Hope you're enjoying the blog.

Vancouver Island

Last photo of the cloud covered mountains surrounding the campsite in Port Angeles. We took it in the evening and loved the way the sky cleared and the mountains were clearly visible.

We packed the car with all our camping gear so were able to spend some time wandering around Port Angeles.
This is the busy car ferry coming in that we're about to catch that will take us to Victoria on Vancouver Island.

The journey took an hour and a half so Sophie was able to catch up on some reading.

These are our first sightings of Victoria. We've had a lot of recommendations for this place from people that have said it's the most British place you can be at without actually being in Britain. In some respects you can agree with them except for the fact that we haven't seen one lager lout yet.
On the crossing you are meant to be able to see whales but we had no such luck. Better luck next time!

When we arrived at the KOA Kabin the camp manager proudly showed us the bird feeders and named all the birds. There is a list of birds that can be seen at the bird feeder, one of which is the hummingbird. He also mentioned that a bear and a cougar had come through the campsite last year (no late night walks for us).

We decided not to have a BBQ but to go out for tea. We drove and found Fisherman's Wharf so it seemed only right to have fish and chips.
This seal was waiting for his share of our dinner...

And got very impatient when we weren't forthcoming.

Whilst we were there we watched the sea planes taking off and landing at regular intervals. Meanwhile the harbour taxi was going across the planes path, all seemed a bit hit and miss sometimes. It seemed like the taxis were playing chicken with the planes.

Dad decided to get his own back for the other day.

Isn't she cute?

Aren't they lovely? Behind Mum you can see the Floating Dessert Shop.

The floating houses were picturesque.

Up in the Clouds

Today we went to the Olympic National Park. We drove up Hurricane Ridge into the snowy mountain top. At ground level, we went to the visitor's centre where we saw a deer at the side of the car park. It's surprising how tame the deer are here.

This is one of our stops on the windy road up Hurricane Ridge. There were some amazing views around every bend.

This we think is a Marmot (or at least that's what people said it was).

We took this picture when we realised we were at eye level with the top of the mountains. We were 5352 feet up and it was cold!

In this picture you can see a glacier.

Mum and Sophie demonstrating how deep the snow is. We were told that this season has had snowfalls that are 44' deep.

After we came down from the ridge, we went for a picnic lunch by a lake. We were sat there freezing while some young children were swimming. We thought it was quite surreal. Even their mum was sat in the car away from the cold wind.

After that we went for another waterfall walk. This is Dad and Sophie resting on the way there.

The waterfall was spectacular!

Only joking :o)

Dazzled by Twilight

On tuesday we stopped in Lake Crescent in the Olympic National Park on our way to Forks/La Push. On the drive we pulled over at the side of the road to look at a lake. It was beautiful and just what we'd been hoping to see on our holiday.

At Lake Cresent we went on a walk through the Rainforest.

The trees were unbelievably tall! This one is still alive, even though the middle has been consumed by fire. It was impressive to see.

We stopped for a silly picture in a tunnel under the road.

On a log bridge on our way to Marymere Falls. We were quite excited about seeing our first proper waterfall of the holiday.

Marymere Falls

Slightly demonic but cute squirrel that was just behind Dad at the waterfall.

This was a very exciting moment for Sophie. Twilight Town!!! Just had to stop and do the touristy thing. "Forks Welcomes You Twilight Tourists" :o)

In Forks, there were places called Dazzled By Twilight which did tours of the area and Alice's Closet which was a clothes shop. We were thinking that they must have had to change all the names when Stephanie Meyer wrote a book about them.

In La Push, Sophie was excited to see that it looked just like she imagined. Recongnised parts of the beach from the film.
As we entered La Push, there was a sign that said "No Vampire's Beyond This Point" and under that it said "Treaty Line" Small things that make Sophie smile :o)