It happened. We crossed off several bucket list U.S. locations in the Pacific Northwest in early July. Our Pacific Northwest itinerary was a literal dream. This trip wasn’t just a vacation—it was a celebration of a decade of love and exploration with my main man. A literal decade of life together. Whoa!
We booked most of our trip’s costs with credit card travel points. I learned how to work the system, worked it, and it paid off…literally. We had ten days of just the two of us—seven in the PNW and three at home recovering. Truly the perfect timeline, highly recommend it. We took our fancy cameras, kept our iPhones charged, and Google Photos backed up. The amount of content we have is UNREAL. Ridiculously thankful that we have technology like this so that we can relive the memories and share them with the people we love.
I’m genuinely so anxious for as many people to experience what we did through pictures, mostly because I’m in shock and awe of God’s amazing creations, and I know some will never make it out there. So I’m breaking up the content into multiple posts! In this post, I’m sharing the outline of our trip. Later I’ll write a post filled with fun details and images for each location, excursion, travel tips, and more. 🙂
Note: we will be selling professional landscape images from this trip. I will share on social media when those galleries are available and update this post with links.
Our Route
Here’s what over 35 hours of driving after 4.5 hours of flying looks like! It was 120% worth it. Highly recommend this route. Slight change to the map pictured below: at the last minute, we decided to drive the southern part of the Olympic loop back to Seattle. More on that later.
Day 1: Seattle
Our journey began in Seattle, where we dove headfirst into the city’s eclectic energy. We had a nonstop, four-hour flight from Nashville and landed with enough time to spend half a day in the city. From walking the waterfront to watching the iconic fish-throwing spectacle at the Public Market, we hit up all the must-sees. We also ate at the best waterfront restaurant, Elliot’s Oyster House. There’s truly so much to see and do in Seattle, but we were really excited to get into the mountains. Spending half a day here was just right for us.
Day 2 & 3: North Cascades National Park
Leaving the urban hustle behind, we hit the road towards the North Cascades National Park. The drive alone was a scenic wonder, winding through pine forests and along crystal-clear rivers. It took us forever to get to our destinations because we stopped every quarter mile to take pictures. I’m not kidding. Strenuous hiking trails also beckoned, promising epic views of jagged, snow-covered peaks and pristine alpine lakes. We did a hike with 2200 feet of elevation gain and was 8 miles round-trip, a good bit of it was in the snow. The amount of variety of kinds of landscapes throughout this hike. Was. Amazingggg.
Day 2: Diablo Lake, Thunder Knob Trail and old western town Winthrop
Day 3: Maple Pass Loop Trail (FAVORITE HIKE EVER AND EVER AND EVER!) and Bavarian town Leavenworth
Day 4: Mount Rainier National Park
Next on our hit list was Mount Rainier National Park, where the majestic peak loomed large against the sky. We trekked on trails that led us to thundering waterfalls and serene forests. Mount Rainier blew us away (pun intended) with its raw beauty and outdoor playground vibes. They had the most beautiful lodge right inside the park with epic views of Mt. Rainier and the Tatoosh Range. We have a lot of feedback about visiting this park specifically, so if you’re interested in visiting it, make sure to follow along for the upcoming posts about it.
Day 4: Paradise side of the park, Myrtle Falls Trail, Reflection Lake Trail, and Ukranian village in Ashford
Day 5 & 6: Olympic Peninsula
Venturing westward to the Olympic Peninsula, we found ourselves in a haven of lush rainforests, rugged coastlines, and Hallmark-y, coastal towns. Port Angeles welcomed us with open arms (and fresh seafood), with an amazing, luxury resort and casino, 7 Cedars. Port Townsend’s Victorian-style town was so cozy perfectly situated in the Puget Sound. We set off in open waters from this port for a four-hour whale watching tour, and in no time, our experience became very Nat Geo. It will be forever imprinted on my mind.
We couldn’t resist the call of the iconic rugged beaches, so we continued our drive around the northern tip of the peninsula, stopping at Lake Crescent for a hike and unexpected swim in glacial lake (#2 fave experience)! We also received our permission slip from the Makah Indian Nation to visit Cape Flattery, the northwesternmost point of the continental United States. It was a moment of quiet awe as we gazed out over the endless horizon of the Pacific Ocean with towering sea stacks and British Columbia in our sights.
Then the beaches…oh the ginormous driftwood, tide pool, and sea stack-filled beaches. My eyes welled with tears when I laid my eyes upon the first one. We did a special hike at low-tide at Rialto Beach to see the iconic Hole-in-the-Wall. We saw tons of starfish, sea anemones, a shipwrecked boat, and a seal!
Day 5: Hurricane Hill via Hurrican Ridge Trail, Port Townsend, Puget Sound Express whale-watching tour, infamous Twilight town the Forks
Day 6: Devil’s Punchbowl Trail, Lake Crescent Lodge, Neah Bay, Cape Flattery, town of La Push
Day 7: Rialto Beach, Ruby Beach, Kalaloch Lodge, World’s Largest Spruce Tree, Lake Quinault, and back to Seattle via southern side of the Olympic loop
Hidden Gems
Between major stops, we stumbled upon hidden gems like a town set in an old western movie, Winthrop; Leavenworth, a slice of Bavaria in the heart of Washington; and Ashford, a Ukrainian village at the base of Mount Rainier. There was a Norwegian one, Poulsbo, that we drove through but didn’t stop to experience. These towns added unexpected flavor to our trip with ethnic food, Disney-like sights, and good conversations with people with vastly different cultures than our own.
Tips and PNW Hacks
When reaching out to Facebook groups for the national parks we were planning to visit, there were a lot of discouraging comments from locals and past visitors. They were telling us seven days wasn’t even worth going out that way, that we must only come if we had a longer stent available. We found they were 100% wrong and big party poopers, ha! Buuuttt…to make all this happen in seven days did take some serious planning and intention. I could give a crash course in travel hacks and how to maximize every moment in these parks and probably any vacation, really, especially when it comes to credit card travel hacking! More on that later, so stay tuned!
PNW State of Mind
As I reflect on our whirlwind adventure—I’m filled with immense gratitude that Jimmy and I got to celebrate our 10th anniversary in this way. Our Pacific Northwest itinerary may have been greedy for some, but it was perfect for us. Should we be blessed with 30 days out there, we’d take it though. The Pacific Northwest isn’t just a destination for me; it’s a state of mind. It’s a love affair with nature, culture, and God that’ll have you planning your next trip before you’ve even unpacked your hiking boots…or in my case bought yourself a new pair because this trip will wear them out in all the best ways!
Cheers to 10 years with a top-tier man and cheers to the PNW and all the magic it holds. Getting the next post ready….NOW! 🙂
