Very Much Sleepless in Seattle
Seattle is by far my favorite place to visit when the weather is right. I’m more of a beach girl under a cabana with a spicy margarita, but whenever I visit Seattle I feel God’s presence and peace. It could be the food, the quiet bustle of the city, or the beautiful scenery, but whenever I’m there I know just how wonderful and majestic our world and Creator are.
When booking my trips to Seattle I of course start with the weather. No one wants a soggy trip or one that is freezing so I recommend traveling between April and August. On my most recent trip, I went with my husband and our family in April (hooray for successful group trips!) and had a blast. It was coming toward the end of the rainy season so yes there were some days that it drizzled, but overall the weather was very pleasant and enjoyable. Our trip lasted 5 days, and 4 nights and split the trip up into two phases. Part one is dedicated to our adventure in the woods!
Into the Thick of It
Ok, so full transparency, I am not the biggest nature lover, but I enjoy the serenity that comes with a hike now and again. Also, I was 3 months pregnant during this trip so my energy was in the dumps most of the time, but I still enjoyed this part of the trip because my family made it worth it, a.k.a. lots of laughs and frequent stops. During the first half of our trip, we stayed in an Air BnB in Olympic National Park and rented a car to get around the park and run errands. The house was perfect for us because of its proximity to the park and shops. Our mornings consisted of eating a quick breakfast and packing for a hike in the park. We’d done plenty of grocery shopping at a nearby shopping center (they had a Trader Joe’s so you know the snacks were bussin’) so we really only ventured out into town for water and other libations that I couldn’t take part in. It was dinner time when we arrived and nobody felt like cooking so we hit up a local fast food joint for burgers and fries and planned out our first hike. On the first full day, we went on a beautiful hike to Marymere Falls. This is my second time on this hike and it’s even more beautiful than the first time. The peak of the hike is reaching the waterfall and standing in its spray. This is what I mean by God’s Majesty.
There was a huge dumping of snow (I’m talking multiple feet) before we got there so there were some paths closed off that we wanted to visit, but nevertheless, we persisted and chose some of the other hikes. One, in particular, was a bit muddy and had a few Elk to welcome us. The funniest part of this hike is a group of us Black folk walking briskly through the woods to evade the elk so they wouldn’t charge at us. Y’all, those elk were not stuntin’ us. For most of the hike I was at the back of the pack, but when I saw those 700 pound jokas I all but ran to the front whispering “run, run, move” so folks would pick up the pace. Like most animals, they should be admired from a very, very, VERY far distance. We finished the hikes and decided to head back for a late lunch/early dinner. We picked up some fresh seafood and steak and had a nice surf and turf dinner. Everyone pitched in to cook and I provided the laughs. We played a few games and planned our next adventure.