We made the decision the day before to head directly to Olympic National Park instead of Seattle like we originally planned. This would reduce some of our driving time and give us a little more relaxation time in Seattle.
We are documenting our cross-continental road trip over 4+ months. Follow along to see what we get up to as we explore from NC to CA to AK to Canada! We are making this trip in our EV, a Ford Mach e, which we will also camp INSIDE during portions of the trip. It's going to be a true ADVENTURE!
Thursday, May 29, 2025
May 28 - Olympic National Park and onto Seattle
Leon got us up extra early (daylight began before 5:00) and we were on the road before 6:00. We ran into traffic in Tacoma and continued to the park, charging at a Wal-Mart just before we arrived. At the visitors' center, we spoke with a volunteer and came up with a plan. We learned that the massive size of the park and the distance between points of interest meant we couldn't do or see the highlights in the six hours we planned to be there. So we had to adjust our plans and expectations accordingly.
First, we did a scenic drive to the high point in the park. From there we could see far away destinations including Mount Baker and Vancouver Island in Canada.
We enjoyed our picnic lunches, then headed back down to a hike to see the Marymere Falls off Lake Crescent. While they were cool, they didn't hold a candle to the Silver Falls we saw the day before in Mount Rainier.
At this point, Haley was suffering travel fatigue, so we called it a day and headed towards Seattle. We got a quick charge at the Wal-Mart again and headed towards the ferry landing to take the ferry across Puget Sound and avoid the traffic. We arrived ahead of time and enjoyed watching some small sailboats doing a course while we waited for the ferry. It was massive, probably 10 times the typical ferry size we have in NC. The ferry over was very scenic, with views of downtown Seattle, Mount Baker, and Mount Rainier all visible on this clear afternoon.
From the ferry landing it was a short drive to our VRBO just south of downtown. We made a quick stop then walked a few blocks for dinner in a local brewery, where the food was really good (and we did not try the beer). We had tapas and they were all good. We walked back "home", unloaded the car, started laundry, and relaxed a bit before we went to bed around nightfall.
May 27 - Mt. Ranier
As usual, we woke up early with the light and got an early start heading up the coast along the Columbia River, and over to Mount Rainier National Park.
Along the way we were surprised to see large sand dunes, and amazed to see how far they went. There must have been 30 miles of continuous, large dunes that attracted all manner of kids and ATVs enjoying the area.
Mt. Ranier makes its own weather and is often shrouded in clouds. But we were very fortunate: the mountain was booming on this clear day, and we were awestruck by the views as we approached. We stopped to charge and lunch in Morton before we headed to the park.
We drove along the southern scenic road until we reached the first ranger station. However, the ranger was "out to lunch," meaning there was only 1 on duty, we expect due to budget cuts, so we drove along until we reached the next station. This was around 6,000 feet and there was snow everywhere!
After talking to the ranger, we decided on a waterfall hike near the southeast entrance, so we continued along the scenic road until we reached the trailhead for Silver Falls.
This was a short 1.4 mile out and back. The second half traveled along the Ohanapecosh River. The river was steep, narrow, full of boulders, and booming with the heavy snow melt. It was a spectacular watch the whole time. It also provided some welcome cooling from the spray off the falls. Even better, we had the trail almost completely to ourselves, a welcome change from the crowded waterfalls in Yosemite.
We made our way back and headed back to the main entrance across the park. We headed into Elbe where we could charge and have dinner. While the charging was convenient, dinner was awful. Overpriced and poor quality by many degrees, with poor service and an unruly nearby toddler nearby made this our worst meal of the trip.
We made it to our campground about 1.5 hours before dark. This was our first campground in a National Forest, and it showed. The entire area (including our campsite) was thick with vegetation and a dense tree canopy which created a private and somewhat spooky camping experience. All in all, we enjoyed the unique setting and were in bed just after dark after we enjoyed a campfire.
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