I'm so sad to wrap up the last of the blog posts about our vacation! The biggest thing I was looking forward to after I got back was sharing about all the fun stuff we were able to do, and now that part is coming to a close as well. But on the other hand, I still can't believe we got to go on such an incredible vacation, and I have memories that are going to last forever!
Last time, I ended with our mini tour of Portland, and today I bring you to Mt. St. Helens! I couldn't hike with my camera so these are all phone pictures, but the view was absolutely incredible. It was honestly a really hard hike, and we didn't summit, but we were all proud that we made it as far as we did. There was snow everywhere, and it's a crazy thing to just go hiking with no guide or anyone else on such a huge mountain. Between rock scrambles and some really steep paths, we were dead tired by the end. For the most part, though, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Wednesday morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed and headed over to Seattle. On the way we stopped at Multnomah Falls, which is a mini-hike with a gorgeous view of some waterfalls. It was a fun little side trip before our 3 hour drive!
That night, I was so excited to fulfill a longtime dream and eat at the Space Needle. I tried to stay away from detailing our every meal, but this one was beyond exciting! The outside platform of the needle slowly rotated while we ate some fancy gourmet food and laughed at all the notes being passed along among guests via the stationary windows. What a night! I snapped a few phone pictures of the incredible 360 degree view.
iPhone picture of the view from the Seattle Space Needle
The next couple days were so fun, but they are also kind of a blur! We spent both full days in downtown Seattle, drinking copious amounts of coffee and seeing everything we could. Of course we took a trip over to the first Starbucks, visited the 6 levels (?!?!) of Pike's Place Market, and paid way too much for parking. I did not realize before the Seattle is pretty much the New York City of the West Coast! I loved visiting, but realized that deep down, Portland has my heart. If I could pick one city in the world to move to, it would undoubtedly be Portland!
Some highlights: Nathan got to visit the largest bass store in the world, Bass Northwest. I have never seen him so happy! We also rode the giant ferris wheel and visited Olympic Sculpture Park.
Our view from the Seattle ferris wheel!
Friday night we got to take a little time to relax and watch the Detroit Tigers beat the Seattle Mariners. It was so fun! It also happened to be fedora night and if you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen an embarrassing picture or two from that :)
The next morning, we got up and ended our West Coast vacation with the most incredible breakfast and a walk around a huge park right outside of Seattle. The boys went on to their Alaska adventure, while Laura and I flew home over the course of almost an entire day.
I am so beyond grateful that we got to go on such an amazing vacation. Many thanks to Stephen, who planned SO MUCH of our trip it's ridiculous. If he ever becomes a travel agent, I can personally vouch for him. Many thanks to Laura, who went along with the most absurd ideas we had and was an awesome travel buddy, and most of all a dear friend. And many thanks to Nathan, whose idea it was in the first place for me to have the 'vacation of a lifetime.' Nathan, thank you for being such a great sport and doing everything I could ever have hoped. Thank you for not giving me grief about the crazy amount of time and money I spent on coffee even though it's not your thing. Thank you for letting one of my biggest childhood dreams come true. I love you!
