30 Things #7: Visit Ben Out West (PART 1!)

I am still alive.

Please do not take my blog silence in May as a sign that I have forgotten you, dear list. May was a month of working on several different items and therefore, since they are in process and cannot be officially checked off, I could not blog. The one thing I DID check off in May, however, was a pretty big one.

So big, that I have decided it simply needs a 2-part post. I have been paining over what pictures to post without making it insanely long and I realized I just need to split it up. It makes sense, really, since this trip was essentially 2 parts--one part beautiful nature, the other part fun city!

I am pretty sure I literally took 1000 pictures. It was hard not to. I love to play with cameras. Add that to Olympic National Park's amazing coast line and all I wanted to do was play. My family was quite patient.

My brother Ben lives out in Bellingham, WA and while I have been to visit him before, it was such a fun place I put this on my list to make SURE I went back. Since my parents were already planning on a trip, it seemed perfect to tag along and make it a family thing! (Minus poor James who had to stay and study all his special PA school stuff. Almost done Jamesy!)

I have now flown into Seattle twice and it is one of the most beautiful places to fly into because even when it is cloudy or rainy, the mountains are so tall they peak through the clouds. This day, however, was gorgeous. Mt. Rainier could not have looked more magnificent!

So the plan was for Ben to pick us up and head a few hours over to the coast of Olympic National Park, and more specifically, Ruby Beach. 

This place is special...40 years ago, my dad hitchhiked across the country from Connecticut to Washington at the ripe old age of 19. He ended up on this beach, staying in a sort of lean-to on a rock that was cut off from mainland at high tide. It was there that he read the New Testament, namely the book of Matthew, and decided to give his life to Jesus. 

He has always wanted to go back and it was so special to be part of that pilgrimage, 40 years later, celebrating all God has done in his life since that time. Truly, it was a memorial to his power and work in my Dad's life, as well as the legacy that has been passed to me.

Stopping there was the first thing we did once we got to the area. The fog and mist provided an ethereal and beautifully mysterious feel to the place...

How Ben and I felt about everything we saw :)

Driftwood everywhere

For the next 2 nights we stayed in a cute little cabin with the Kalaloch Lodge in the park and enjoyed unplugging from life and exploring! It is right on the beach so it was a perfect setting to unwind.

We spent one afternoon touring 6 different beaches all along the coast--there are stops all along the coast within the park ending in Ruby Beach. Even though each beach was essentially just a mile or two up from the previous one, they were each beautifully and uniquely different. 

"Beach 2" had a path all along the coast in a forest of funny looking trees full of tumors

Black sand...that was really just a smaller version of the beaches covered in bigger rocks

Beach 3 was my favorite--its beauty was a surprise that was almost overwhelming to me

Mom and Dad at "Beach 3"

It felt very "other worldly" due to the smooth/unique rock formations

When the tide is out, many of the rocks have tide pools just asking to be explored

We finished out the day back at Ruby Beach with a little clearer day and some precious time to enjoy the amazing power and beauty of this place.

I had the chance to go back to Beach 3 in the morning before we left to spend some time with the Lord and sit in awe at everything I was trying to take in. It is hard to verbalize how beautiful I found this place...there was just something about the smooth strange rocks, the driftwood, the black sand, the powerful waves, and the hiddenness of it that just...well it almost brought me to tears. God is so amazingly creative and I was just full of joy to have been able to experience a different aspect of his artwork. 

In front of the spot where my dad spent his first days with Jesus!

Honestly if we just had these days in this place, it would be have been enough. Visiting this place with my parents and Ben (of course!) was so fun! BUT, there was more...