Hoh Rainforest

Hi All. Donna here. Yesterday we slept in a bit (if you can call 9:00am sleeping in), packed the camping gear in the van, went grocery shopping, then headed for our next destination. Before leaving Port Angeles, Dr. Birch brought a couple of pairs of binoculars by so that we could see the bald eagles that were perched out on the pier. From there we headed to LaPush where we had lunch and walked on the beach (in the rain) where the girls collected some rocks to bring home as souvenirs. From there we drove through Forks and counted all the signs and businesses that contained the word “Twilight”. There must have been 25 or so. We then drove on to the Hoh rain forest and man is it beautiful. It rained all the way and was a downpour when we arrived at the campsite but the girls took it all in stride and set up the campsite with a little improvisation (I’m so very proud of them!!). We strung several feet of rope to the trees and setup a tarp over the picnic table and began the prep of our dinner which was stone soup and garlic bread. The girls then setup the tents, got the pads and sleeping bags setup, then completed the stone soup. It was yummy and provided much needed warmth to our tummies. We cleaned up after dinner, sang a few songs, then changed into our dry clothes before heading to bed. We were extremely thankful to awake to sunshine this morning which was a great start to the day. Everyone said they stayed warm and slept well but were a bit tired (it was again around midnight before we went to bed last night). We had a breakfast of pancakes and sausages then were off to met the Hoh Ranger for a hike and bug hunt. The girls had a blast catching bugs with nets and just enjoying the sounds and scenery by the river. This afternoon has been free time and the girls are enjoying just hanging out in the river bed by our campsite. Some are walking in the edge of the river (which is very cold) with others are sitting in the mounds of trees that are laying on the river bed right beside the water. It’s about 6pm here and we are headed back to our campsite to start dinner. We hope to have enough time tomorrow for one of the girls to post to the blog but don’t be too concerned if they don’t. We have had such a busy schedule that it has been hard to find the time to fit it in. Cheers!!