Castle Chronicles

A has been taking a Jazz/Acro dance class. Her teacher convinced m to sign her up to be a toy soldier in the Notcracker (not a type-o). Several extra practices led to 1 minute of dancing on stage. this is her dancing buddy C's b-day ended up being extra busy, but she loved every bit of it.  

Playing in a Porthole at the Columbia River Maritime Museum Playing while waiting for dinner at McMenamin's Pub Quirky vacation rental River Sunflowers Tower Underground: Trail of Two Forests Lava Tubes at Mt. St. Helens Volcano Waterfalls eXcellent views Yellow, purple, and magenta meadows Zillions of wildflowers and Zany kids We finished our trip back in Washington. We spent 2 nights in Kalama, WA at a very interesting rental with fun grounds. The girls had a blast! We drove south on our 1st full day to visit Fort Vancouver, and then detoured to crawl through lava tubes. The second day we packed up and headed to the north end of Mt. St. Helens, and of course knock out another Junior Ranger Badge. After that, we headed up to Mt. Rainier National Park. We stayed in the very hot lodge and had a couple interesting night time adventures. We enjoyed some great hikes with amazing views, lots of card games and relaxing at picnic tables. It was a beautiful end to all of our adventures.  

  Iredale Shipwreck Jellyfish washed up on the beach Kids being kids Llamas at the Blue Heron French Cheese Company Petting Zoo Maggie's on the Prom National Historic Site: Fort Clatsop Oswald West State Park Ecola State Park Arcadia Beach State Recreation Site We spent 6 nights in Seaside, OR. There was lots of relaxing and beautiful scenery. We visited the Seaside Aquarium where the girls fed seals. Shores were explored, many starfish, sand dollars, crabs, and jellyfish were found. We went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory, followed by a petting zoo to appease C for putting up with lots of talk about cheese. We enjoyed lots of good meals and even a few historical sites. The girls were able to get another Junior Ranger Badge at Fort Clatsop, part of the Lewis & Clark National Historic site.

  Cle Elum Caboose lodging Dining at the Depot BBQ Eating a big bear pancake at the Sunset Cafe in Cle Elum Falls (Marymere) on the way to Forks Forks view Gulls and girls on Rialto Beach Hole in the Wall Hoh Rain Forest Hall of Mosses After leaving Chelan, we drove to Forks, WA. No vampires or werewolves were seen, but the girls did enjoy chasing bunnies around the yard. There were plenty of sea gulls and pelicans, a dead seal, numerous starfish and anemones at Rialto Beach. A bear was spotted the next day near the end of The Hall of Mosses Trail in the Hoh Rain Forest. We also wondered along the Spruce Nature Trail allowing the girls time to finish their second Junior Ranger Badge (of this trip). We greatly enjoyed our time at Wild Duc Lodge in Forks even if we ended up having grocery store meals a lot. (2021 has been a hard year for restaurants for different reasons than 2020).