Anacortes from the Olympic National Park was a short ferry ride from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island, then another half hour to the RV park. On the ferry we were in the front row with a great view of Puget Sound. It would not have mattered how long the ride was since the views were amazing. Our goal was to meet up with family on Whidbey then see the North Cascades National Park.
Olympic National Park has 4 regions: alpine, Pacific coast, rainforest and the drier east side. It was designated a National Monument by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1909 then a National Park by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1938.
Mt Rainier, like Saint Helens and Mt Hood, are snow capped volcanos in the Cascades. The Cascades are a mountain range extending from British Columbia to Northern California and are part of the Pacific Ocean’s Ring of Fire.
Troutdale was a great location to stock up at Costco and see a few of the many waterfalls along the Columbia River Gorge. Along the way to Troutdale, we stopped at Mount Hood to enjoy the snow capped views.
Crater Lake National Park is just breathtaking. The north entrance and all the hiking trails were still closed because of snow, but we wanted to see it anyways. We left the wineries of the Willamette Valley and headed for mountains.
Willamette Valley wine country was a couple hours drive southeast of Astoria. It was beautiful to see acres of grape vines and sunshine again. The area is known for the best Pinot Noir wineries in the United States.
