My cousin Bill, Leslie, Jack and Cole invited us to the Hood canal for the holiday weekend. We had a great time watching the eagles, watching the boys ignite fireworks, playing fetch with Samson, and fishing in the bay. The Hood Canal is a beautiful area and we look forward to returning!
View our Hood Canal photos
The Mason Lake hike had spectacular views and we had perfect weather. Wildflowers lined the trail and we climbed to nearly 4000 feet. We were so high that several small airplanes were flying below us!
Unfortunately, the alpine lake on the top of the mountain still had quite a bit of snow so we decided to turn around without seeing the lake – plus this was our first hike of the season and we didn’t want to overdo it. The hike was pretty steep and we were both a little sore the day following the hike! We look forward to going back to the lake!
View our Mason Lake hiking photos
Zvonimir competed in the Moses Lake Triathlon (swim, bike, run). He finished 3rd in his division. This is a training race for his ½ ironman in mid July (1.2 mile swim, followed by a 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run!).
Moses Lake is several hours from Seattle and is a completely different climate. Once you cross the mountains, the terrain changes into a more desert like. It is also farming region with fields labeled so you could identify the crop being grown.
View our Moses Lake Triathlon Photos
We wanted to travel a little further away over the holiday weekend to hike a trail we normally wouldn’t have time to do. We picked a hike that was near Yakima (about 3 hours away) because the description said this hike was great for viewing wildlife (big horn sheep, elk, eagles etc.). It also mentioned that in late summer rattlenakes could be seen on the trail.
The terrain was much different than in Seattle. It was dry and dessert like with very few trees.
Within the first mile we saw our first snake (Z was out front as the “snake charmer”). Later we saw a snake then heard the infamous rattle…. Sara and I immediatly frooze and (freaked out!) and as soon as he slitherd off the path we hurridly passed. We warned two men passing us that there was a poisionous snake ahead and they responded “oh cool, can you show us where it is.” After shaking ground debris to make the snake rattle, they located the snake and picked it up (with a tool)! They offered us to take a photo but we didn’t want to get too close because that snake was NOT happy and we didn’t want to be around when they let it go. We saw 5 snakes that day and honestly, I think I want to stick to the Seattle area where there are no poisionous snakes. Watching for snakes kind of takes the fun out of hiking!!
View our Umtanum Hiking Photos
Just over an hour drive away is an area that grows fields of tulips and daffodils. The first time we drove there we were a little early and the tulips had not started coming out. We had hoped to return during the Skagit tulip festival but were both on work travel and didn’t make it back until the first week in May. Luckily, one farm had not yet cut the tulips so we were able to take some pictures. The day was gray and gloomy but it was still amazing to see the fields of yellow and red from afar and to see the many different types of tulips! We also saw a huge hawk but it flew away before we were able to take a photo.
View our Tulip Photos