Recently, we visited Washington State and the Pacific Northwest for the first time in years as the guests of our friends, Jennifer Parker & Steve Clagett. They are wonderful hosts, and their longtime, but recently renovated residence, made a great base of operations. Joining us were several of our frequent traveling companions, including Blythe Tennant, Mart & Bob Larson, and Kat and Tom Nolan.

After a couple of days in Seattle, our group of nine headed out to the Pacific coast, staying at the Quileute Oceanside Resort in La Push . The Northwest Pacific beaches are so different to the Mid-Atlantic East Coast beaches we are familiar with, notably its sea stacks, massive piles of drift wood, and smooth sea tossed rocks. No swimming for us, but great walks with fantastic vistas and scenery.

There were nine in our traveling group, but we somehow never got a group picture that included us all. The above photo taken on an outing to Rialto Beach includes Bob, Kat, Steve, Mart, Sue, Blythe, and Jennifer. I was taking the photo and Tom was under the weather. It’s hard to describe the otherworldliness of the landscape; that’s perhaps why they used this locale to film the “Twilight” movies.

Another day included a challenging hike through a temperate rain forest to Second Beach. Giant Douglas firs, often covered in thick moss, cedars, huge ferns and lush, dripping foliage populate the green tinted landscape.

And this was only the first part of our stay!