Seabrook and Olympic National Park

Jack had a week of vacation last week.  We had originally planned to use it to find a place to live in Florida, but since we already found a place last month we were left with a whole week off and no plans!  We assumed the weather would be rainy (this is the Pacific Northwest and it is spring after all), so we weren't sure what to do, but we knew we wanted to get away and have fun.

As the week drew near, the forecast looked clear.  I had been looking online for a place to stay on the Oregon Coast.  I came across a site that had darling little cottages for rent on the Washington coast in a town called Seabrook.  Since it was off season, mid-week and last minute, the rentals were actually an amazing deal, so we decided to go check it out.  Seabrook is really a hidden gem and not a very popular tourist town yet, but we were told that  it will be named town of the year in the October edition of Sunset magazine, so maybe that will all change.

The drive was supposed to take 6 hours, but it took our family 8 hours.  It was fun to drive through the rest of Washington and see what else is out there.  The western half of the state is amazing, it is so green and clean and beautiful.  I thought that Tacoma and Olympia were beautiful cities.

Seabrook is a picture perfect little hidden gem right on the coast.  The beach houses and cottages are darling.  The community had a pool, a park, and lots of courtyards and bike lines and hiking trails.  We rented the smallest cottage available.  It had a loft for the kids to sleep in, which they thought was the best part of the whole trip!

The beaches on the Washington coast are largely untouched.  They are wide and sandy and beautiful and the water is shallow for a long way out.  The surrounding dunes are rugged and beautiful, I am surprised that they have not been developed with homes and cabins.  The sand is littered with large crabs, sand dollars and razor clams.  Most of the time, we were the only people on the beach.  In many areas you can just drive your car down onto the sand and drive the length of the beach.  Of course the water was freezing, but it was warm enough to play in the sand and search for treasures.  The kids even rode their bikes down there, which they loved.

The adorable loft where the kids slept.  They loved climbing up the ladder to get up there.  Jackson only fell down the ladder once.

Looking down from the loft.

Walking to the beach.

This kind of gives you an idea of how wide, flat and sandy the beaches are.  It took quite a long time to walk from the beginning of the beach down to the water.

Looking for treasures.

"It's cold!"

We spent a lot of time at the Seabrook pool.  Jane went swimming for the first time and just loved it!  She never stopped smiling and kicking.

Sand dollars!

Ladder to the loft.

Jane loves food, can you tell?

Our cottage, it was called "Melissa's Beach Bungalow"

So much for a family photo...

The girls.

Going for a ride.

A hike to the beach.

I tried to take a picture of them jumping, but the kids can't jump very high.

On our last day there, we went to Olympic National Park, which was about 1/2 hour drive from Seabrook.  We were surprised at how amazing it was!  We saw Lake Quinault, hiked in the rain-forest, saw a bald eagle and also an owl chasing a mouse, visited huge spruce and cedar trees, and drove up to Ruby Beach through the area where they filmed the Twilight movies.

Lake Quinault

Lake Quinault Lodge, Roosevelt once stayed here.

Entering the rain-forest.

Some tall trees!

The rain-forest gets 12' of rain a year.  Everything is so green and dripping wet. It smelled like Hawaii.

World's largest Sitka Spruce, 707" circumference, 191' tall.  

Ruby Beach

Jackson could have thrown rocks here all day.

Hole in the Rock

A sea arch.  I was a little worried a wave would come up behind and get us.

Haystack rocks.

Huge cedar tree.

We had a wonderful time all around, I would highly recommend Seabrook and Olympic National Park as a vacation destination.  I asked everyone what their favorite part of the trip was and here are their responses:
Jack: finding sand dollars with the kids
Me: hiking in the rain-forest
Hannah: the swimming pool
Jackson: building a camp fire
Jane: eating sand

A few more pictures from my phone:

Driving on the sand!

A glimpse of cute little Seabrook.

S'mores and hot dogs on the fire!