Some more Washington thoughts

Here are some things Nephi didn't mention about our trip that I thought noteworthy.

• Both places we stayed on the peninsula had chickens running around in the yard. What are the chances? The first, Thor Town Hostel, was nice enough, but really you need to have some sense of adventure and a pretty strong affinity for hosteling to like it. It did have the advantage of being down the street from loads of delicious, wild blackberries. Yumm. The second, Hoh Humm Ranch over by the rainforest, was terrific. Clean, super nice people, great location, a fantastic breakfast, pretty land, and lots of llamas. I was a little nervous, if amused, when we drove up and this was the first thing we saw lying in the yard, but I guess it is a working farm...
• The rain forest was nice enough but was sort of, well, dry. The air didn't even feel humid. This is probably the only place that hiking on a wettish day would really add to the experience, but alas, it was sunshine and blue skies all the way, with only one lone bannana slug to be seen. We hiked a few miles in, and it felt like very pretty, mossy woods with extraordinarily large trees.
• Strangely, what struck me as the most beautiful part of the park were the beaches. We live right by some pretty nice beaches, but I was moved by the evergreen forests coming right to the coast, the driftwood, and especially the seastacks made it a uniquelly beautiful experience.
• The boys didn't destroy anything in my parents' house! This was a huge relief. And they seemed to have a great time.
• It was so nice to travel alone with Nephi. It felt amazing like it used to.