The American northwest state of Washington is known for its beautiful scenery, its pristine waterways, its rainy weather and its coffee.  Most of that sounds perfect to us.  But Washington is also home to one of our American nephews so when Ross announced his wedding date Julie and I packed our bags.  Because we know from experience there’s nothing better than combining a holiday to new places with a fantastic family wedding.  And this one was a ripper!

The state of Washington is more than the corporate home to Starbucks, Microsoft, Amazon and Boeing.  It has the spectacular Cascade mountain range, glacier-capped volcanoes, vast waterways dotted with forested islands and the beautiful city of Seattle which enjoys views of all these features. Ross and Lenke have been living in Washington for a number of years and chose a beautiful place in the Cascade Mountains to exchange their vows.

For Julie and I their wedding was a great chance to catch up with family and friends, enjoy the festivities and explore a beautiful part of America.  And we even snuck across the border to Canada for a quick glimpse there as well!

Julie doubled down on this trip by spending the first week in Hawaii with some of her really close friends, one of whom now lives in Maui part of the year (as you do!).  She enjoyed some relaxing time sipping colourful drinks with umbrellas, practicing her hula dancing and snorkeling with turtles before joining me on the trip to Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.

Our first stop was Orcas Island in the San Juan Island group.  These islands are in the north Puget Sound, tucked up against the line on the map that marks the border between the US and Canada.  We drove our hired car onto the first of five ferries and stood at the front rail as we weaved our way through these beautiful islands.

Once on shore we headed for Moran State Park and did a 7 mile (11.5 km) walk around three hidden mountain lakes.  These islands are frequently covered in snow in the winter due to their high latitude and their dense forests are thick with huge spruce and fir trees draped in green hairy moss that create an other-worldly experience as we walked amongst them.

We stood on the banks of one small lake marveling at its peaceful and hidden setting when a large bald eagle, distinct with its white head and long graceful wings, flew across the lake in front of us.  Later on we gazed down on the ocean below and saw a pod of Orca whales lazily swimming by.  We’re not in Kansas any more.

That night we stayed at the quaint and historic Orcas Hotel overlooking the dock and spent the late afternoon and early evening – it doesn’t get dark until around 10 pm here – watching the ferries come and go, connecting these isolated islands with the rest of society.

Two ferries the next day took us to the port town of Sidney on Vancouver Island in Canada.  The Immigration official, who checked our passports as we sat in our car after driving off the ferry, asked us where we were from and then had the rare chance to say “So you’ve travelled from Sydney to Sidney, right?”

Right indeed, but not for long.  We drove down the coast of this huge island, exploring some of its windy and rocky beaches (not like our Sydney!) until we arrived at the historic town of Victoria.  Victoria is the capital of the Canadian province of British Colombia and hosts a number of distinct features, including the stately and imposing Legislative Assembly building that was built in the 1890’s.  We immediately liked the place but had a night time ferry to catch back over to Washington, USA.  We’ll be back, for sure.

Olympic National Park, and Mt. Olympus which dominates the park, make up the furthest northwest corner of continental United States. We followed the road through the park to the mountain’s western slopes, regarded as the wettest place in the country.  We spent most of the day walking up the Hoh Valley through the stunning Hoh Rain Forest, the largest temperate rain forest on the continent.

This area gets 140 inches (355 cm) of rain a year and is home to some of the largest trees in America.  One tree we saw, known as the Big Spruce, was a Sitka Spruce that was over 550 years old and had a diameter of 12 feet.  What a beautiful monster!

We walked a total of 10 miles (over 16 km) through the Hoh Valley, following the fast moving glacier-fed Hoh River with its distinct cold milky appearance due to its high mineral content.  This was a walk for the ages, striding amongst these giant trees, some of them over 300 feet high, their branches covered in long thick green moss, the forest floor covered in fern, lichens and dozens of different plants competing for space and nutrients.  A surreal experience, one of the real highlights of our trip.

After a night in the small town of Forks (home to the allegedly famous series of books and movies called Twilight, something about vampires….) we headed to the Makah Indian Reservation and Cape Flattery which marks the most northwestern point of continental US.   We drove through the Indian town of Neah Bay and walked out to the tip of Cape Flattery, the jagged coastline partly obscured by thick cloud.  We also walked two miles down to Shi Shi Beach and strolled along the sand in this remote and inaccessible coastline.

That night we stayed at the historic Lake Crescent Lodge on the shores of this glacier carved lake with its steep forest-carpeted walls and tranquil blue waters.  Sitting amongst giant fir and hemlock trees, the lodge was originally built in 1916 when dinner jackets, long dresses and rough dirt roads were the norm.  Today the mood is much more casual but the setting as spectacular as ever.

The next day we were back in Seattle as the family started to accumulate for the approaching wedding day.  We spent the day exploring Seattle, a beautiful city on the shores of Puget Sound.  The highlight for me was catching the lift up to the top of the Space Needle, 600 feet (184m) high and the endearing symbol of Seattle.  It was built for the 1962 World’s Fair and on a family holiday to Seattle that year I enjoyed the views from the top as a young boy.  And now 52 years later I’m back to do it again.

The wedding venue was nestled amongst the northern Cascade Mountains near the Bavarian-styled town of Leavenworth.  We spent two days in this delightful setting, catching up with family and friends, enjoying the clear mountain air and celebrating the union of Ross and Lenke.

What a grand day it was, a perfect setting, a beautiful bride, a personal and touching ceremony followed by copious amounts of eating, drinking and dancing.  You can’t beat weddings as a time for celebration and reunion, they bring out the best of everyone and stay frozen in people’s memories.  We are seriously hooked on weddings!

But wait, there’s more.  With two more days in our holiday before the long journey home we headed south with my parents to Mt. Rainier National Park, the centerpiece of which is the glacier-capped active volcano of Mt. Rainier.  Mt. Rainier is the fifth highest mountain in continental US at 14,417 feet (that’s about 4,400 metres, twice the height of Mt. Kosciusko in Australia!) and on a clear day is visible for hundreds of miles.

We stayed in the National Park Inn, originally built in 1917, and woke up to clear blue skies and Mt. Rainier dominating the views from our window.  We explored the park that morning, taking countless photos of this massive snow covered mountain so close we could almost touch it.  With a thick forest of huge trees, snow all around and Mt. Rainier looking down on us from all angles it was the ultimate in brief mountain experiences.

All too soon we were at the airport and starting our 20 hour flights back to Australia.  But we packed a punch over a short period of time – beautiful islands, stunning mountain walks, glaciers, volcanoes, ancient trees and most importantly – a glorious family wedding complete with all the hugging, toasting, dancing and celebrations that fit such an important occasion.  We can’t wait to do it again soon!