Zeus XxX: Cascade Loop and More

Two weeks ago, Steven and I took a few days off to travel around Washington. The weather was great and the colors were bright as we drove across the Cascade Loop, around the Olympic Peninsula, and through Seattle. Enjoy the sites and scenes we did as you scroll through the pictures.

Day one was starting from Chelan as we headed toward Twisp and found our way onto Hwy 20. The leaves were bright, the sky was blue, and the mountain tops were speckled with white snow.

Time for a top - Ross Lake and Dam. We found this old tug sitting along the road as we walked down to check out the dam.

The Skagit River provides power for Seattle and still has an operating power house and old intake. This train was rebuilt and placed here for tourists to enjoy.

Time for Autumn and beautiful colors!!

Catching a glimpse of this waterfall in the garden area behind the powerhouse. The area was previously set up with lights and evening music for guest enjoyment as they walked along the paths to glance at exotic plants.

Steven was fascinated by these fish and kept pointing out schools of them as we walked along a bridge. Salmon spawning for the season....or so we think.

Power House

The first day ended along Widbey Island and we made it there just in time for an amazing sun set. One of our favorite places was Fort Casey. You will notice that I was working on my sunset pictures during this trip and trying my hand at some flare.

The beach at Ebey's Landing

Fort Casey

Oh yeah...sunsets and silhouettes. I love this picture of Steven looking out over the fort into the water.

Lighthouse at Fort Casey

There goes the sun

So we will add a cool silhouette! Any guesses on who that might be??

We stayed with some friends on Widbey Island that first night and were served a great meal! Thanks to Eric and John (and family) for giving us a comfy bed too. The next morning we rose early to make the 7:15 departure on the Ferry to Port Townsend. Here is a picture from the ferry looking towards the town.

First stop - the harbor! Check out some of those sailboats and I (of course) like the reflection of the sky in the water. There were boats everywhere! Most of them had people living on them...or so it appeared.

Another boat

After spending some time in Port Townsend, we headed toward Olympic National Park. One of our stops there was the Hoh Rain Forest. It kinda looked like the Congoree Swamp in SC, but we did see this elk there and thought he posed nicely in front of the colorful trees.

Hurricane Ridge...more snow covered peaks and sunny skies. We found a dirt road to drive down and caught some distant glimpses of Mount Rainer when looking down at Port Angeles.

As the day came to an end, we decided to drive all the way around Lake Quinalt. It was a neat drive and we saw a family of elk as well. While coming to the end of the loop, we glanced across the lake to see these great view! We made it to Rochestor that evening to stay with Katie (the one featured in previous posts) for a day or so. Steven made a trip to Cabella's, we enjoyed a party complete with karaoke, and went for a great trail ride. A big thanks to Katie and her family for having us for two nights.

The plan for the last day was a few hours in Seattle. It was great to walk around the market and enjoy all the stands selling flowers, produce, and fish.