Hurricane Ridge for New Years

After the Christmas holiday, the three of us needed a break from home, so we decided on the spur of the moment to spend a couple days on the Olympic Peninsula and to go snowshoeing at Hurricane Ridge.  We left on New Years Day but didn't arrive in Port Angeles until about 2:30 p.m., which was a bit late in the day to try to make it to the Ridge and do much of anything.

Instead, we opted to get an early start to the mountains in the morning.  We explored the kids' Discovery Room at the Olympic National Park Visitor Center before heading to town and checking into our motel -- the Port Angeles Inn.  The room was simple and clean, and had a nice view of the lighthouse, which was super interesting to at least one of us.  In search of dinner, we took a terribly cold walk the three blocks to downtown and chose between the few places that were open.  The Crab House it was.  All I can say is they have a tasty hot fudge sundae. 

In the morning, much to Wyatt's delight, we got to make hot waffles in the breakfast room of the motel.  Then we headed into the mountains.  We saw deer and lots of snowy trees and some great views despite the overcast day.  After stuffing Wyatt into his snow suit, we gave our snowshoes a spin and it began to snow on us.  It was Wyatt's first try at using his snowshoes and poles but he got the hang of it pretty quickly.  He answered to Yukon Wyatt most of the way. After about an hour of walking (mostly downhill) we headed back to the lodge.  Wyatt made it all the way albeit with a few rests and some motivational snacking provided along the way. The snowball fights made his day.

By two we had eaten lunch, snooped around the gift shop, and Wy had vetoed the sledding idea.  At his request we headed "straight back to the Port Angeles Inn," and he slept the whole way. Once back to town we managed to hit a great sale at the local Brown's Outdoor clothing shop and find dinner at Bella Italia.  Little did we realize we had chosen at a restaurant made famous by the Twilight books/movies.  The young woman filling our water glasses clued us in.  In any case, the food and wine were outstanding.

After another breakfast of motel waffles, we checked out and headed for home via Port Townsend for some wandering, lunch, and a stop at one of our favorite book shops. We had a really nice time on our adventure.  Nothing fancy or resort-like about this getaway, but it gave us quality time together playing and eating and goofing around.  Just right for the start of a new year.