Christmas Adventure Part 2...Washington Adventures

While in Washington the adventures didn't end.

On Christmas even we drove out to the coast to Hobuck beach which is located on a Native reserve near Olympic National Park. Tristan's mom had gotten us 2 cabins to spend the holiday. The drive was beautiful right along the coast through rain, snow, and sun. 

Once we arrived and checked in we headed up to hike out to Cape Flattery. On the drive up we ran into a couple who had spun of the road and were stuck in the bank. So with the help of another couple the 8 of us managed to get the truck back on the road. 

Then we headed down to the point. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. We saw a group of sealions feeding with eagles trying to steal their fish. It was a calm day, so the waves weren't too dramatic. I was hoping to spot a whale knowing there was a humpback hanging out in the area, but I didn't have any luck. 

Cape Flattery

After the hike to Flattery, we came back and took a walk on the beach. 

It was a beautiful way to end Christmas Eve. I found my first west coast sand dollar and watched the most beautiful sunset. 

A Christmas Eve sunset at Hobuck Beach 

On Christmas day, which also happens to be Tristan's Birthday, we got up early and made our way to the Shi Shi beach trail. This trail is partly on the reservation and the rest is part of Olympic National Park. The trail to the beach was super muddy, so I was glad to have brought my Xtra-tuffs. At some point we were sinking down a few inches. Once you get to the beach its a pretty steep trail to get down, on the way back up you basically use a rope to pull yourself up. 

The beach itself was amazing. It stretched for miles. The rock features and the way the waves crash there was beautiful. It also happens to be a beach where a lot of trash happens to wash up. This is the part that broke my heart. On this beautiful remote beach there were sections of the beach that is covered in plastic. The hike was amazing, and the time on the beach was awesome! Plus spending Christmas opting outside is always worth it! 

Tristan and I with Gunnar, his moms dog.

Small Plastic trash on the beach at Shi Shi

The next day we drove back to Port Townsend to catch the last ferry back to Coupeville for the day. On the way Tristan and I drove back by Crescent lake in Olympic National Park. We also visited marine science centers in Port Angeles and Port Townsend. These were my favorite part of our trip. Tristan and his mom love them just as much as I do, and it is always fun to explore them with people who share my enthusiasm. To add on to the adventure our ferry was canceled due to weather. So we spent an unexpected night in Port Townsend. 

Giant Pacific Octopus

A Slime Star...they suffocate their prey in slime

Crescent Lake

We finally made it back to Coupeville the next morning. We spent the next week exploring more marine science centers and visiting around Coupville. We made it to Deception Pass and hiked down to the beach on the trail. 

It was a great Christmas vacation. Then it was time to make our way to Bellingham for our 2 day ferry ride back home. The ferry was delayed by about 6 hours, so we had some time to explore Bellingham. We visited the marine science center and found a great little Mexican restaurant. The ferry ride was great. We had a little rough weather, but I got to watch 2 beautiful sunrises, a wonderful sunset, and see some great rainbows! 

Tristan watching the Squat Lobsters

A Squat Lobster

And the adventure ended back in Ketchikan on a beautiful sunny New Years Day.

And the quote of the post is one of my favorites...

Fill your life with adventures, not things. Have stories to tell not stuff to show.  

Christmas Adventure Part 1...Canada

This year for Christmas, Tristan and I decided to take a road trip to see his mom. She lives in on Whidbey Island in Washington, its located just outside of Seattle. Since we live on an island with the only way off being ferry or plane, we opted for the ferry. 

When you decide to take a ferry out of Ketchikan you have two choices, the 8 hour ride to Prince Rupert, Canada or the 2 day ride to Bellingham, Washington. We chose to go down on the Prince Rupert run and come back through Bellingham, that way we could road trip through British Columbia. 

Meet Key Lime...our mascot we bought in Key West 

So we arrived in Prince Rupert at 3 AM and got very little sleep before we were up on our way. It was pretty foggy leaving Prince Rupert and as we headed through the valley's the weather was a little iffy. Our orignial goal was to make it to Quesnel which was halfway to Whidbey Island. It became apparent we weren't going to make it anywhere near Quesnel pretty soon. We made it to Smithers and stopped at a McDonald's with free WIFI so I could find us a new hotel in Houston, BC which was about another hour drive. 

Our lunch view back through the canyon.

We got back to the car and there was a problem. Something about the generator being broken (even after a year and a half with Tristan I still know very little about VW beetle maintenance). This is when we realized how absolutely amazing every person we met in BC was. While Tristan worked on the bug, people came out of the woodwork to help offering rides and giving advice to where to go in town. 

This is when we met Lance at FreeLance automotive. If you ever breakdown near Smithers, BC call Lance. He called everyone he knew all over town trying to find someone who had parts. Now keep in mind, we pulled up around 4:30, and it is now well after 5 on December 22nd. Someone finally gave him the number to a guy who had a shop at his house who collected old parts named Paul. 

That's when the real adventure started...the directions we were given to Paul's house were something like this: "Go back out of town, over the bridge, then up the hill, and down the hill. After that there will be a sign for something a fort, park, or hotel...I don't really remember. Then you will turn right...and I don't really remember if it is before or after the sign. Then keep driving till you see the house with a bunch of shit in the yard...that's Paul's place."

So off Tristan and I went to find Paul's place...in the dark, in a snowstorm that had just started, and with a car we knew was on a time limit before it quit. Thankfully, after a few wrong turns, we found Paul. And he had the right parts. So we made our way back into town to spend the night. 

The great thing about traveling with Tristan in the bug, is he can fix just about anything if it goes wrong. So once we found the parts, it just took a couple more hours and we were on the road. Of course now there is close to 5 inches of snow, and it is still falling. The bug has snow tires, so that really wasn't that much of a problem. The sun finally came out once we got over the mountain.

That night we made our way to Quesnel, BC. The next morning we were on our way and bound and determined to make it to Washington. Just like everywhere else in BC, the scenery was amazing! We drove through a beautiful canyon right along the river. And then we found another blizzard. Thankfully we were on the down side of the mountain when we got into it, and it wasn't for very long. Finally we made our way to the boarder. 


We still had another hour and half, but at least the snow had stopped. We finally made it to Coupeville, after a quick stop in Eddison, WA at the Bread Farm to get fresh baked bread. Since it was so late, they gave us free cookies as well...and they were wonderful! 

Once at Tristan's moms we realized that Tristan no longer had his wallet. At some point between the boarder and Coupeville, he had lost it. At some point he stopped to take his sweatshirt off at a pull out on the side of the road and we are pretty sure that is where it disappeared. Thankfully he had given his ID to me after customs, so at least he could get back to Alaska. 

Driving through Canada in the winter was an adventure. Everything was covered in snow and was absolutely beautiful. The people of British Columbia are some of the nicest people I have met on any of my trips! Here are some more pictures of our wonderful trip.

Our first Lunch stop on day 1.

My favorite Adventure Partner

The Bug at our last lunch stop in the canyon

Adventure may hurt you, but monotony will kill you...

Of course the adventure didn't end there...see my next post for the rest of our Christmas adventure. 

Thanksgiving Adventures...

As promised...our Thanksgiving adventures deserved a post just to themselves. This year for Thanksgiving, I was lucky enough to get to head back east and to get to take Tristan with me. We spent 10 days spending time with family and a friends in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

Part 1

Part 1 of our trip was a 4 day stay in Marathon Key in the Florida Keys. We spent time with family, kayaked, fished, swam, soaked up the sunshine, and ate our weight in Key Lime Pie. 

When we left Ketchikan it was a beautiful sunny but cold day. In Seattle it was raining. In Chicago we had snow and just beat out a blizzard. When we landed in Charlotte there were beautiful fall colors. And when we stepped off the plane in Key West almost 24 hours later it was 80 degrees! After we got off the plane we explored Key West with the family who picked us up at the airport.

On the second day we went kayaking through the mangroves. It was a beautiful day. I played with some fish, was devoured by mosquitos, and watched some amazing wildlife! While waiting for the kayaks to be delivered, Tristan and I hand wrangled and played with some cute pipe fish. Once we were in the water and headed up the channel I was in the back because I like to take my time and get distracted by the wildlife. This payed off when in between Tristan and my kayaks a spotted eagle ray leaped out  of the water! As usual I was super excited...because these are one of my favorites!! There was so much wildlife to see...and I loved sharing it all with Tristan. We saw egrets, iguanas, osprey, upside down jellyfish, jumping mullet, pelicans, and a beautiful Frigate bird!! One other treat that I got by being slow in the back was a cute little sea turtle greeted me! 

Tristan enjoying the Florida Sunshine

Tristan, Sarah, and Preston

Kayaking through the magroves

Cute little Pipefish

The next day we took a fishing trip out of the resort. We caught mangroves, yellow tail snapper, and lots of blue runners. Tristan hooked a big barracuda early in the morning but it cut the line right when we got it to the boat. Adam had a big cobia on too but it broke the line as well. We had a great day looking at all the pretty fishies and then we got take them home to eat too! Sarah and I had a couples massage for some sisterly bonding time that afternoon for her birthday! 

Preston fighting the King that got off

Adam trying to bring up his Cobia

Tristan and his Yellowtail

Preston and his Mangrove

My Yellowtail

We saw lots of wildlife just hanging around the resort! There were manatees everywhere!! They would come right up to the dock. There were also iguanas everywhere. 

Tristan playing with a spiny lobster head from a spearfisherman

Manatee

Iguanas everywhere!! 

Along with the wildlife the food was amazing!! I enjoyed wonderful fresh fish everyday...from hogfish to snapper. I ate my weight in Key Lime Pie and discovered Key Lime Butter. We also had some amazing Cuban food on the last day while we hung out with Sarah and Preston in Key West waiting for our flight! 

Adam and Jessica

Sarah and Preston

It was a great trip and a wonderful way to spend time with family. After those 4 days we headed back to Savannah. 

Part 2:

We spent Thanksgiving at my moms house near Beaufort, SC. She lives right on the marsh and it is beautiful. We started the day by baking and cooking with my sister, then heading to the festivities. That evening Ann drove down to spend some time with us. 

The dock took on a little damage from the hurricane...but it was still a beautiful place for sunset! 

So on Black Friday Tristan, Ann, and I opted outside. After Tristan made all of us wonderful pop-overs coated in cinnamon sugar we headed out to Donnelley, a Wildlife Management Area in SC. We spent a beautiful 70 degree day with Alligators, Spoonbills, and Woodstorks! After Donnelley, Ann headed back to Myrtle and Tristan and I headed to Edisto and ended our day with a walk on the beach! 

Alligators

At Edisto

On Saturday we spent the whole day with Sarah, as it was her Birthday. We decorated her apartment for Christmas, including Preston's first live Christmas tree. We had amazing Mexican food for dinner. And then ended the night with a Kareoke celebration! 

Tristan helping to decorate the tree

Sarah and Elizabeth rocking at out

Mother dearest and the birthday girl belting Dolly Parton!! 

On our last day in SC, we spent it with Dad and Paula! They drove down to visit with us for the day. We ate at our favorite restaurants around Charleston! We had breakfast at Harvest Moon and the lunch at Jestines...getting to eat all they yummy southern food! 

After eating all the yumminess we also visited the Aquarium! We had a fantastic time! We got to visit the new shark and stingray touch tank...which was cool for Tristan because he had never touched one before. The Lego exhibit was also taking place, so there were cool Lego statues of all the animals everywhere! The SC Aquarium is one of my favorite places...so it was awesome to get to show Tristan all of the exhibits and the local SC wildlife! 

Tristan and I at the aquarium

We found a giant isopod!! 

All the awesome Lego designs! 

We happened to be in the lobby when I spotted one of my former Sea Turtle Team Volunteers from Edisto, Jacquie. She also volunteers at the aquarium doing sea turtle hospital tours. Lucky for us she said no one had signed up for her tour and asked if we wanted to go down to see the hospital. I was so excited. The SC sea turtle hospital does amazing things for these animals and it is one of my favorite places to visit. We got our own private tour and Tristan got to see all my beautiful sea turtle babies up close!! I am so thankful to have all these wonderful people in my life! 

A beautiful juvenile Green Sea Turtle

Our Thanksgiving trip was so wonderful! It was filled with friends, family, love, adventures, and wildlife! I am so thankful that we got to have this opportunity this year! If we missed you on this trip we are sorry...but hopefully we will catch you on the next trip home whenever that may be!! 

But for now I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes:

You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere...That's the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place!