Alaska and Northwest Trip - Day 26

Today we left our wonderful cottage in Sequim and headed for the Lake Quineault Lodge.  On our way out (second way out since we left camera battery at the cottage and got a quick call from the manager to come back) we saw the tamest deer in the world.  They were on a cul-de-sac that had a sign right at the entrance: "No Hunting this Street by agreement of all owners."  I didn't realize deer could read, but I was clearly wrong.

Our road trip included Lake Crescent, a beautiful glacier-formed lake, Ruby Beach, Forks and Big Cedar.

Ruby Beach was amazing!  The rock formations, crashing waves and incredible beach were breathtaking.  I didn't include a picture of the dead sea lion that apparently met one of the rocks head on.

Forks - don't bother - unless you are, or know, a Twilight psycho.  Just be aware that the town has turned into a tourist trap for Twilight fans.  Also realize that the author had never even been there before writing the books, the movie was not filmed there, and even the character's houses were just assigned by the town.

Big Cedar is a nice quick stop.  The Cedar Tree is within 50 feet of the parking lot.  They also have a trail that goes further but it's blocked in several places.  We made it through the first blockage (not a good idea) but had to turn back at the second less than 100 feet further.  I heard that the park service is trying to clear tons of blocked trails from some storms.  I'm guessing Big Cedar is low on the priority list.

We arrived at the Lodge in the evening and had a nice meal in the Roosevelt Room.  The Salmon was good, but we've eaten too much incredible salmon to truly appreciate it.  The Wild Mushroom Ragout was extremely tasty.  The lodge has nice atmosphere music and Kari and I finally figured out what it was.  We decided it was the background music to a nature show.  We even made a game of guessing what scene was playing to the music: "A herd of wildebeest running across the plains", "an antelope being taken down by a lion", "the camera flying low over snow topped mountains and glaciers."

Also, several people we met recommended calling the Lodge to make reservations rather than doing it online.  We also upgraded to a fireplace room on their recommendation - a great idea!

To the pictures:

The Olympics as viewed from Sequim

 

Yes, they are in someone's driveway.

Isn't she cute

Yep.

Clearly not concerned about people.

Lavender honey anyone?

Lavenders in bloom

Crescent Lake

Another natural, giant bonsai tree

Yep, we went there...dang niece.  Sent her a picture of some cute dude with pasty skin.

Ruby Beach

The picture doesn't capture the creek that breaks around the rock forming an almost perfect circular island.

Ruby Beach again.

and again

and again

Big Cedar

It really is big.

And funny looking

This is the first blockage we crawled through

Lake Quinault Lodge

Not the same deer from the first pictures, this one was in the Lodge

Sunset from the Lodge

View during dinner