roadtrip | summer 2011 | introduction

This was no spur-of-the-moment trip. We started planning in February. Campsites were reserved, maps examined, routes plotted. Our car camping kit got a tune-up (thicker sleeping pads, new camp chairs that fold flat and stack.) Our car was outfitted with a cargo box and bike rack. We were ready to go. Except it was still spring.

So we waited, and waited through the grey, the rain, the cold. "It'll all be better," we thought, "on our trip. It will be sunny. The birds will chirp. Summer will come."

Well, summer didn't come. We waited for the sun to come out all through June, through July. Wasn't it supposed to be sunny? A short warm-up camping trip in July had rain every day. Would it RAIN on our trip? Inconceivable! Right?

Right! I'm happy to say that as we pulled out on the first day of our trip, there was no rain, and no forecast of rain. Besides one or two cloudy days, and one very foggy mountain drive, we had great weather and an easy drive. Summer did come, and we set off to explore our newly-adopted state, to see the places that are a bit too far and a bit too remote for weekend drives. We drove for 9 days, covering more than 1400 miles up and down and around. Our goal was to be on the move almost every day, to take in lots of places rather than hunker down at only one or two -- the idea was that we'd be able to identify the places we'd like to come back to, places where we'd like to spend a little more time.

We limited our explorations to the southwestern corner of the state of Washington, with a few forays into Oregon along the border. Originally we'd planned for a full "Tour de Washington," except it turns out Washington is big. Really big. But even with our time limit, our route took us through temperate rainforests, coastal beaches, mossy glens, volcanic wastelands and hot, dry desert buttes. We saw the moon through a telescope, spotted spotted owls and ate briny oysters hot from the grill. We soaked in hot, sulphury pools. We slept to the sound of the waves.

Washington is a truly exceptional state.


Here's our route, with the major stopping points:

I've chronicled each day of our trip on this blog, along with a few of our photos. You can also just look at the photos on Flickr—there are many more there than would fit in this blog.

We can't wait to do more touring around Washington. After two years in Seattle, we've done our best to take day trips, weekends and any other time we can squeeze in, and yet we've only just begun. There are so many more places to explore!

Enjoy.


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