Washington, in review

"It's hard not to fall in love with Seattle on a beautiful summer's day."
-Robert Spector

A week and a half ago, Rob and I set out on our most distant adventure yet. Unlike our last big trip (to Arizona), this summer we decided to beat the heat. We left 95 degree highs in Georgia and escaped to the cool mountain air of the Pacific Northwest. We spent 8 days exploring three distinct areas of Washington State: Mt. Rainier, Olympic National Park, and the city of Seattle. For more pics, check Flickr.

1. Which of the three destinations was your favorite? J: Mt. Rainier / R: Mt. Rainier
   
2. What was you favorite hike of the trip? J: Hurricane Hill / R: Carter Falls
   
3. Which hike disappointed you the most? J: Hoh River trail, aka "10.2 miles to nowhere" / R: Sculpture Park walk
4. What was your favorite waterfall? J: Sol Duc Falls / R: Comet Falls
   
5. What was your most defining hike experience? J: descending the snowy side of Comet Falls trail / R: descending the snowy side of Comet Falls trail
6. What was your favorite of the new hiking gear? J: couldn't have made it without the REI trekking poles / R: REI Sahara shirt and Eddie Bauer fleece vest
   
7. What was your favorite meal of the trip? J: Steak Kokopelli from Kokopelli Grill / R: Brisket sandwich from Rhodie's Smokin' BBQ, eaten under the Space Needle
   
8. Which was your favorite area of Olympic Park to visit? J: Second Beach / R: Lake Crescent
9. What was your favorite Seattle attraction? J: Pike's Place Market / R: Woodland Zoo
   
10. Which hotel provided the best experience? J: Paradise Inn / R: Paradise Inn
    
11. What was your favorite animal we saw on the trip? J: meerkats and sea otters / R: getting almost trampled by the deer at Hurricane Ridge
    
12. Which place did you most dread, but turned out pretty cool? J: Weyerheuser campus and Bonsai Garden / R: Museum of History and Industry
    
13. What memory of your spouse do you not want to forget from this trip? J: when Rob took the wrong exit off of the interstate on our first day, his excuse was "Sorry, I was just mesmerized by Mt. Rainier." / R: waiting for our late-night flight at Sea-Tac, Jana saw a Qdoba Mexican Grill in the food court and eagerly said, "I want a burrito." Rob asked, "Are you hungry yet?" And she replied, "No, not really." We did eventually eat burritos for dinner though.
14. Which was the most refreshing Coke you drank on the trip? J: at Jack-in-the-Box in Tacoma on the drive from Rainier to Olympic, after almost 2 days without caffeine / R: at McDonald's for breakfast the first morning in Port Angeles
    
15. How many miles do you think we walked this week? J: 65 miles... well, it felt that far / R: 30 miles
    
16. Where did your feet hurt the most? J: between mile 3.3 and 5.2 of the Hoh River trail /R: "my feet didn't hurt, but my ankles and knees did on the Comet Falls descent"
17. What was your favorite souvenir that we brought home? J: photos of course, but also the postage stamp Christmas ornament from Seattle / R: besides the 2,969 photos... probably the chocolate bear "poop" we bought for Chase
    
18. What is your favorite memory of the locals? J: the "who gives a flip?" aura about the clerk at the Downtown Hotel, who took 30 minutes to be located and then arrived wearing no shoes / R: the cyclists everywhere... Seattle has its own bike lane
    
19. What is your least favorite moment with the rental car? J: losing a Red Hot, when it rolled through the gap between the back of the seat and the seat itself / R: "every time I started it"
    
20. Which situation were you most grateful to have your spouse along? J: "the night before each day, he made all of the little detail plans that cause my head to spin, without him, we would never have picked which hikes to take" / R: "she had everything planned out... we always knew where we were going"