Well, the forests here are not like the ones in North Carolina, that’s for sure. When we went out for walks, I thought some of the trees 
were going to uproot themselves and chase me. It was so creepy. All Papa and Mama said was, “Oh isn’t this so beautiful! Have you ever seen anything like this before?” Well, no, I haven’t, and I don’t want to again! Neither does Zoe! Sometimes it looked like you couldn’t even get through the branches to continue on the trail. And, let me tell you, size does 
count! These trees are the biggest in the world. I hear California has bigger ones, but I don’t think I’m going to see anything bigger than these.
Camping on the peninsula was fun and different. Usually, we stay in bigger campgrounds with lots of people. These campgrounds were small. In Sol Duc, there were 8 other campers. It was right in the forest but close to a lodge where there were hot spring swimming pools. The water was so hot I am sure I wouldn’t like it. The air was cold, though, so none of us went swimming.
We did enjoy traveling around, though. We went almost everywhere the folks went this time. Hurricane Ridge was way up a mountain road and was very curvy. We kept on 
going and going – glad I don’t get carsick! When we got to the top, WOW! Even I appreciated the sights! When we were having lunch out of the back of the truck bed, we had visitors. A mama Black-tail Deer and her fawn lunched on the spring flowers just a few feet from where we were in the truck. We didn’t even bark!
The next day, we went to a place called Cape Flattery, which is the farthest point north and west in the US. The Lower 48 States, that is. We drove and drove and drove. Finally, we arrived on the Makah Reservation and kept on driving and driving. When we reached the end of the road, all of us hiked a half-mile straight down. Guess why we took this trail? If you figured out that there were birds at the end of the trail, you are right. You know Mama is crazy for birds. Her favorites are Blue-Footed Boobies and Puffins. Well, this one was the Tufted Puffin. It was actually really cool! There was a lighthouse on an island just off the coast. Plus, there was a 
little island that had – wait for it, wait for it – Stellar Sea Lions. Papa had said he heard barking dogs when we first started down the “mountain” and a tribal representative told us it was the sea lions. The walk back up wasn’t so much fun and Zoe and I kept having our feet fall in between the boards on the walkway. We made it somehow, though.
We, also, went to the Hoh Rain Forest. You know, when you are hiking in a rain forest, all the trees look just the 
same. No wonder this is Big Foot Country. I think I saw a Big Foot, too. It was spooky with all the lichen on the trees that looks just like Spanish moss. The good thing about this lichen is that there aren’t those little red bugs living in it like there are in Spanish moss. Zoe tried to eat some, but Papa pulled her away. One never knows about that Zoe Girl.
Do you know about Twilight? Well, we went through Forks, WA. Yup, that Forks. Of course, we had to stop at A Shot In The Dark for coffee for Mama. She hasn’t turned 
into a vampire, yet, so I guess it was all right!
The second campground we stayed at was right on the shore of Lake Quinault. There were some nice cabins along with the campground, and it was really pretty there. But, that campground had only 4 campers the last night we were there. That was a bit creepy, too. Every day, Zoe and I got to chase sticks on the beach. Both of us dipped our feet in the COLD water but didn’t get to go in for a swim.
Just down the road was the Lake Quinault Lodge, which was built in 1926. This lodge was styled after the Old Faithful Inn where our Parker and her family stayed. It was built in 53 days by working around the clock using big bonfires so the workers could see. Papa and Mama went there for breakfast one 
morning. They, also, sat on the deck overlooking the lake everyday and had coffee. The excuse was to use the WiFi or the phone because there wasn’t any connection anywhere else. I heard them talking one day about how Franklin stayed there and during his lunch the topic of making a national park in the area came up. Nine months later, Olympic National Park was created. I was so proud of my cousin, Franklin Rosenberg for doing that. Then I found out it was Franklin Roosevelt. You can understand how 
I made that mistake, right?
Quinault is a temperate rain forest just like Hoh. Imagine this, it gets 12 to 14 FEET of rain each year. Lucky for us, though, it was sunny every day. We saw every mountaintop and every treetop every day. If it was foggy in the morning, the fog was gone by the time Zoe wanted to eat lunch. Sometimes that’s 15 minutes after breakfast, but usually it is around noon.
All of us really liked the Olympic Peninsula. There was one bad thing, though. It doesn’t get dark until around 10pm. It was difficult to get Mama to go to bed before midnight because of that. Then she was really a grump when she had to get up early. Early to her is usually around 9 or 10. We always jump all over her when we get back from our morning walks with Papa. That wakes her up and she’s nicer to us than she is to Papa if he wakes her up!
Well, I guess Zoe will write you next from Mount St. Helen’s. I wonder what that will be like…
Phaedra
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