Did We Have to Come Home?

We just spend a fabulous week at Lake Sutherland, near Port Angeles.  I seriously did not want to come home. 

When we headed out last Saturday morning, it was 55 and cloudy, and I was very worried about the weather the week to come.  By the time we hit Sequim, the sun appeared (yes, it's pretty much ALWAYS sunny in Sequim) and my worries started to dissipate.  

We arrived at Lake Sutherland to the sun shining, blue sky, warm water, and a fantastic house with an even better view.  Jimmy and Mariann came up to spend Saturday and Sunday with us and brought their boat, which they left with us for the week.  What more can I say than FABULOUS!  Every day but one we woke up to bright blue sky and sun.  The one day it was cloudy in the morning, it quickly burned off.  The temperatures were in the low to mid 70s, but it felt much, much warmer.  Maybe because we were in full sun all day long.  There's something magical about that place!

We swam, boated, kayaked, hiked, biked, sun bathed, hot-tubbed, played games, relaxed, and ate great food.  Each day we went somewhere in the morning, and then came back to the lake to play in the afternoon.  One day we went up to Cape Flattery, the northwestern most point of the continental United States.  The two hour drive was mostly on two-lane, very windy roads, which was quite scenic in itself, but nothing like the amazing cliffs and stunning, rugged coastline of Cape Flattery.  Definitely a must-see destination!  On the way back we bought a fresh king salmon in Neah Bay, which we feasted on for two dinners.  We also hiked up to Marymere falls, biked on the Olympic Discovery trail in Port Angeles and cliff-dived at the Devil's Punchbowl, a.k.a. Mermaid Grotto. 

On the Wise's boat.  Thank you so much, guys, for letting us use your boat all week.  It added so much to the lake experience! 

Ben finally got to go fishing one evening.  Unfortunately they didn't catch anything, but the neighbor said he catches trout and lake salmon (I never knew there was such a thing!) all the time. 

Tubing!  This was so much fun!  Everyone really enjoyed it, even Nate! 

We're thinking about using this one as our family picture in our Christmas cards, what do you think?

More smiles!  Another great thing about this trip, everyone enjoyed it.  If you have a teenager, you know that's a hard thing to accomplish!

 Hiking up to Marymere Falls.  There were some huge old cedar trees.  I was looking for one in particular that I remembered from being here in June, and I thought this one was the one.   We all posed for the picture, and then about two minutes later we came across the one I was really looking for!  It's even bigger!

Isn't it gorgeous?  I still pinch myself that I live somewhere close to such beauty.

Marymere falls...this was Brad's idea...

Here's a better shot of the actual falls.

Cape Flattery...amazing! 

Look at those colors!  Doesn't nature have a beautiful palate?

Maybe this one would be a better Christmas card picture?

Floating around in Mermaid Grotto.  Again, gorgeous colors!

Everyone jumped off the bridge.  I was a little worried about the temperature of the water, since it was only about 70 outside and the last time we were here it was in the 90s, but it wasn't unbearably cold.  Not as refreshing as last time, but it still felt good to swim around for a few minutes.  We had so much fun that the girls and I are coming back to camp at Lake Crescent next week while the boys are on the Boy Scout bike trip.

Synchronized jumping!  We need to work on our timing before we join the Olympic team!

Kylie and Jillian were the only ones brave enough to jump off the cliff.

Ben did a spectacular face flop...it really hurt, but after a while he decided he would do it again and was able to keep his head back.

So now you can see why I really didn't want to come home!  We're looking forward to going back often to Lake Sutherland!