Ah, you guys! I have been wanting to visit the Olympic Peninsula since moving back to Washington and it FINALLY happened! I may or may not be already planning our next trip there too because it was MAGICAL — all caps and all of the emojis worthy🤩✨. Truly though, it was everything and more I thought it would be, even in the dead of winter. Planning a trip at the end of January may seem like a dicey plan because the weather out there is pretty unpredictable but even with a few detours in our original plan we had the best time! So today I’m sharing all the dets to help you plan your own trip.

Kalaloch Lodge

First things first, where to stay?! I’ll be honest… this was a question that stumped me for a while. Like, I may have spent hours looking at Airbnbs trying to decide where would be best. Here’s why… nothing is very close together. I’m talking it may more than an hour drive to get to what you want to visit. Being that it was winter and I had ruled out hiking or visiting Hurrican Ridge, most of the other things I wanted to do were along the coast or further south. There’s definitely a lot more options of places to stay up north though, especially in the Airbnb category. There are also a ton of campgrounds all over, which would open up options for the summer but again.. January! After doing a little hunting though we decided to stay at the Kalaloch Lodge. It was one of the closest options to the beaches and the rainforests I wanted to visit plus I really wanted to stay in a cabin and they have some right on the bluff.

The cabins also have wood-burning stoves which was so cozy plus super handy because the power went out the first night we were there! I told you it can be an adventure out there haha! For real, in the 4 days we were out there we had a windstorm, rain (lots of rain as expected), sun, hail and snow! Honestly, though, don’t be afraid to plan a trip in the winter because even with all the rain — they were supposed to get 6 inches that weekend — we still had such a blast and actually had a lot more sun than we thought we would.

Now back to the cabins, I loved staying here for so many reasons. The cabins were super adorable and cozy, it was close to some of the top things on my to-do list and they also had a great little store and restaurant and bar right there in case you needed anything. Which was great because, like I said, nothing is super close out there! Another thing to note is the cabins and rooms at the lodge don’t have Wifi, TVs or much cell phone reception. It’s funny that disconnecting has become an amenity but as someone who is always plugged in for my business, this was nice. This also brings up the fact that you may want to carry a map for your adventures. The lodge gave us one and it was super helpful as we were driving around because our Google Maps didn’t always work. There’s really only one main highway out there too so that also helps when you’re directionally challenged like us.

Kalaloch Tree of Life

Even if you don’t stay at the lodge, you should definitely add the Kalaloch Tree of Life to your to-do list! This tree is crazyyy! The ground has eroded below it, but somehow, it has managed to hang on and thrive despite it’s roots being exposed. You can see the tree by entering through the Kalaloch campground and when you get to the beach entrance, take a right and the tree isn’t too far of a walk down. Definitely worth a visit.

Visit Some Big Ol’ Trees Throughout the Peninsula

The Olympic National Forest is home to some of the biggest trees in the world — some even holding world records!

We visited two of these giants, Big Cedar and the World’s Largest Sitka Spruce Tree. Big Cedar is located a few miles north of Kalaloch Lodge right off of the main highway. There are signs for it too so you can’t miss it. This one actually used to be even bigger but it split in a storm in 2014. Even with the storm though, the tree is still MASSIVE and worth a visit. The Sitka Spruce Tree is located in the Quinault Rain Forest, not far from the Lake Quinault Lodge and is one that holds a world record. This one also has ample signage and isn’t a far walk off the road. Definitely make sure to bring appropriate shoes too — especially during the winter. I had rain boots, but it was one of our first stops and Evan hadn’t changed his shoes yet and the trail was filled with puddles that took over the path. Legit, I ended up carrying him on my back through some of the wettest parts. 😂Worth it to see the tree though!

Explore the Beaches — My Picks being First, Second and Ruby Beach

The beaches on the peninsula are just glorious! They have such rugged beauty and I just could not get enough. It was stormy the weekend we were there but I’ve never seen such powerful waves before. It felt like Mother Nature in such a raw state that’s both beautiful but also slightly terrifying. That’s the best way I can describe it. You do need to be careful too, because all of those logs and rocks on the beach that give it its rugged beauty, come right out of the water. There are also signs warning about logs that can shoot out from the surf so definitely pay attention to your surroundings. It’s mother nature’s house, you’re just visiting!

If you’re coming from the south, you’ll need to head north to get to all of these beaches. We started by going to First Beach and then worked our way back to our cabin. If you’re headed north, Forks will be the biggest town you’ll encounter. The power was still out when we drove through so we just made a short stop to be tourists by the welcome sign, but there are a variety of stores and restaurants that you could stop at. We just continued through and headed for La Push though. On our first attempt, the road leading there was closed so we tried to go to nearby Rialto Beach only to find that road was closed too from the storm from the night before. If you have service, definitely check the road reports before heading out because things can change on a day-to-day basis. We thought we had struck out on our luck for the beaches but we drove back to the road that led to La Push and by then the water had receded some so they had opened the road, YAY!

Our first stop was First Beach, which again was just magical! It’s right off the road so it’s easily accessible. You just need to climb over some rocks to get down to the actual beach. There were so many HUGE logs washed up and it was just such an experience to watch the waves go in and out. There is also a restaurant nearby if you’re looking for a bite. Like most towns out there, La Push is pretty small and on tribal land so nature is definitely the attraction.

Next up was Second Beach (my personal favorite) which isn’t too far of a drive south from First Beach. There’s a short hike to get to this one but it’s less than a mile and there isn’t much of an elevation change. If I could have just stayed here all day I would have. Second Beach is quite a bit bigger than First Beach and it just had a ton of rock formations that were so pretty. If you look closely in the pic above, there was also a keyhole in the rock where waves would come crashing through, and I really mean crashing through, it was insane to watch! I must have taken 10 videos of it I just thought it was so cool. I’ve never really considered myself much of a “beach person” but these beaches were my kind of beaches.

Closing out our beach tour for our trip, we also stopped by Ruby Beach which some say is the most beautiful beach in the state. We didn’t go too far down on this one because the tide was in, but just walking down there I can see why people say that! The landscape was really pretty and definitely one I can’t wait to explore more on a future trip!

Quinault Rain Forest

Like I mentioned, we had to make a few detours in our plans. One being visiting the Hoh Rain Forest. Unfortunately, the road washed out a few days before we visited, but I still wanted to get in some rain forest time though so we decided to visit the Quinault Rain Forest instead. Oh boy, did I get my dose of mossy trees too! We decided to do the Quinault Rain Forest Loop Drive coming from the north side and it was really a treat. If you do the full loop, they say you should allow 2 hrs but we turned back at the Upper Quinault River Bridge which was still a decent drive.

I was truly just blown away by all of the trees in the rain forest. Not only were they HUGE! I mean look at the circumference of this one they had to cut apart from a storm… Evan is over 6’ for reference! The amount of moss on the trees is so crazy too! I loved it. Everyyyy single tree! The loop was mostly paved until you got closer to Bunch Fields where it turned into a dirt road. We were driving a car with all-wheel drive and were totally fine but just something to consider! I’m also a little chicken and there were some parts of the road that were on dropoffs right above the river that kind of freaked me out on the dirt road. So just a few things to consider! The north side of that road was really where it was at though. Once you get on the south side, it’s not as foresty and eventually you hit a residential area. So I definitely recommend going in from the north side!

Lake Crescent

If there’s one place I definitely want to explore more our next trip, it’s Lake Cresent. Originally, we had planned on taking the long route to our cabin on Friday and hitting up north first, but since there was the storm coming we switched up our plan and went home this way instead. The lake was absolutely gorgeous though and there’s definitely a lot to explore around there as well. Although, honestly I could have totally just sat by the lake all day and been happy without exploring. It was truly a slice out of peaceful heaven. Since we explored a lot of things down south this trip too, for my next trip I’d probably want to stay around the lake. Which is a closer hub to get to Hurricane Ridge (about an hour) which would have been closer to 2.5 hours from where we stayed. There are also a ton of hiking trails around there that I would love to check out!

Ah, just writing this post is giving me the itch to go back… I loved the peninsula SO much! In many ways, I feel like it still has an undiscovered vibe (even being one of the top 10 visited national parks). The landscape… the views… ah, it’s just the best. Beyond my suggestions on where to go, my biggest advice for planning your trip is to plan where you want to go ahead of time so you understand the lay of the land and how far away things are from each other. Also, pack for all kinds of weather (even during the summer) and just enjoy your time of being a little more disconnected from the rest of the world for a while!

P.S. If you like keeping up with my PNW adventures, Evan and I started an Instagram account focused on just that! Follow along at @TheHicksintheSticks

Since I decided to move home, something I have been really looking forward to going to is the Puyallup Fair aka the Washington State Fair! I honestly can't tell you the last time I went, but I know it's been at least 10 years! Going to the fair was always one of my favorite memories growing up, so I was really looking forward to a day filled with a little nostalgia. 

While I was excited for a lot of different things, I definitely went into the day with two top missions... To see alllll of the animals and also eat allll of the food. Clearly, my priorities are in check! Ha! We kicked off the day getting a jumpstart on one of those missions by starting with a fresh scone! A fair must-have. So simple, and yet so delicious. 

After we were fueled up on scones it was time to get a little bit of the lay of the land. A lot of the buildings definitely have had a little facelift since the last time I was there. Since when has there been a beer garden and multiple bars too?! Things have definitely grown up a bit since the last time I was there. We started the day off by making the rounds through the 4-H, hobby and vendor halls. Checking out all of the goods in each of those! After that, we also stumbled upon a pretty hilarious variety show by the Stooge Dudes, which was fun.

Once we went through most of the halls it was back to my missions. On the food end, realistically, I needed like 4 or 5 visits to be able to try everything I wanted to. Occasionally, I watch the show Carnival Eats so being at an actual fair again with all of the ridiculous food options was AWESOME! Since I was only there for one day though, I decided to stay true to my classic favorites I haven't had in awhile. 

I'm all about getting as many options in as possible so having someone who is down to share is key when doing fair food! Something I had to have once I saw was a blooming onion. I first fell in love with them at the 9th Avenue Food Festival in NYC. It was the only street fair of the year that had them and was something I'd look forward to. Until a few years ago when the booth was nowhere to be found! And yes, I know you can get them other places... but there's just something about getting them at a fair that makes them so much better so I was PUMPED to see them at the Puyallup!

Beyond our scones and blooming onion, we also had another fair classic -- a crusty pup. There are just some fair classics that are hard to beat! Then we closed things out at their DIY slushie stand -- which I also love. 

I have to be honest, it was really hard saying no to some of the other options! A girl can only eat so much though.. So here's a look at some of the options! Some of which I'll definitely be trying next year and others that I'll save for some other brave people.

The delicious...

• Elephant ears: Another one of my absolute favorites at the fair are elephant ears! Cinnamon and sugar for me!
• Curly fries: These were another one of my picks as a kid. They come in a huge block which is kind of insane, but dang are they good.
• Turkey legs: The turkey legs were looking on point! If I didn't just have one at the Renaissance Fair, I may have had to pick one of these up!
• Chicken and waffles and Nashville hot chicken: Two things I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong with.
• Apple fries with caramel: Is there anything more perfect for Fall? These sounded delicious!

The ridiculous...

• Everything at Totally Fried: Which was you guessed it... totally fried. The stand had fried classics like deep fried pickles, oreos and mac and cheese. Then they also had deep fried pop tarts, cinnamon rolls, hand pies and cosmic brownies
• Funnel cake with bacon, maple syrup, and whipped cream: While totallyyyy ridiculous and over the top, I would 100% try this.
• Fire Cheeto fries: Also ridiculous, but also probably delicious!

The downright cray cray... 

• Deep Fried Butter: I've seen this on carnival shows so I shouldn't have been surprised, but something about seeing it in person just seemed crazy to me. 😱 Like guys... they were eating deep-fried butter. Like who decided that was going to be a thing?! Despite what I think though, people were lined up like crazy so it's certainly a hit.
• Everything in the exotic food stand: Python, alligator, bugs, and Kangaroo were all on the menu here. None of which sound like things I'd personally want to try.

Needless to say, the fair food options were popping! And I may be eating all vegetables for the next 3 days to make up for all of the food we ate.. totally worth it though! Besides, calories don't count at the fair right?!

Now onto the second mission for the day... seeing all of the animals! [Insert little kid squeal here] Okay, I may be 28... but I was definitely more like 28 going on 8 during my visit. I don't know why but I was so excited to hang out with some of the farm animals. I have also been obsessed with goats as of lately. So you can imagine my excitement that it was goat weekend in the barns!

If you follow me on Instagram, I half apologize for all of my goat Instagram Stories for the day. Only half though because I still thought they were pretty adorable! 

Needless to say, I was in goat heaven and even made a few new furry friends. The goat above and I were totally having a bonding moment. Ha!

After going through barn after barn of goats (and not getting sick of it) we also saw some other cuties.

This furry little (ok kind of big) guy's name was Finnegan, which I thought was super adorable.

Unsurprising, I also could not get enough of Piglet Palace with all of the baby piggies! There were reallyyyyy tiny piglets and then these little striped ones that are just too cute. That one up on the right was my absolute favorite too 😍. He woke up from a nap and decided he was hungry and then one by one the other piggies woke up too. They were really funny to watch! 

And just like that both of my missions were complete! It was such a fun day and I have to say it even surpassed my expectations for what I was hoping for. I already can't wait for next year!

Alas, after 9 years (yikes 😳) I have made my return to Washington for a proper PNW fall! Giving credit where credit is due, I owe this trip back to my high school bestie Ang! Because when your friend from New Zealand lets you know she's coming home and you work for yourself you get on a plane and get your butt to the west coast!

Thanks to technology we get to chat a bit in between her trips to America every two years but danggg the years just keep flying by so I am so thankful I got to make it home to visit with her and meet her hubby (outside of Skype!) We may live on absolute opposite ends of the Earth (literally) but every time we're together it's like no time has passed. 

We totally lucked out and had a beautiful day in Seattle to play tourists. I've been to Pike Place more times than I can count, but I never quite tire of it and I'm pretty sure if I lived there I would totally buy myself one of their bouquets every week. 

After a really fun day of exploring together they headed off to their next adventure and I caught up with another one of my favorite people, Lindsey! With some impending storms in the forecast for the weekend, she suggested we spend a little time outdoors (good call!) So we headed over to Green Lake to walk the lake and take in some fall colors and boy was that a treat.. OMG 😍. 

I always joke with Lindsey that Seattle is so intimidating to me.. I know, I know I live in NYC, but Seattle just has so much variety and different neighborhoods that frankly I know very little about., plus there's that driving thing. So it is always such a treat for me every time we get together and when I get to explore new areas like a local. Ah, I just love it! Seattle you're dreamy.

I know I've already said it but I am SO very thankful for this time home -- and I still have over a week to go! Getting to visit with Angie and Lindsey was such a fun way to kick off my trip and I'm already itching for another day trip up to Seattle. So, so, SO happy this is real life and that I'm getting to spend more time at home. It's such a change of pace that really makes my heart full and I can't wait for the other memories to come from this trip!