August 17, 2025

I got up early today and got to walk around and enjoy the quiet – it was nice to see the light illuminate the beach and the world start to wake up – I am so often running out the door that the slow start felt refreshing.

We got breakfast at the lodge – Elliott got steak again and I added a side of bacon. Now, bacon is perhaps in my top five favorite foods but I am not a big fan of crispy bacon – my friend feels…keep cooking it until it’s nearly burnt is his game. When the bacon came out, it was his style all the way.

After breakfast, Elliott and I took off for a walk down the beach to the Tree of Life – Elliott did not know what to expect but I had seen some pictures. I think it turned out pretty cool.

The cool part (and hard to capture on camera) is that there is a stream flowing through the tree – the stream clearly hollowed out the tree but having a waterfall in the roots is a beautiful thing.

From there we made our way back to the lodge and took off on our journey. The next stop was the Quinault rainforest – I had been Hoh a number of times but have spent less time in Quinalt (although we did stay on the south side in 2016). The forest was lush and lovely.

We also went and found Merriman Falls. Elliott was able to climb up pretty close.

We were worried we would not get to a waterfall but we were able to check that off of our scavenger hunt!

From there we drove south to Ilwaco where we stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast – the Pearl Inn. Ken and Candi wee lovely hosts. The lodging was amazing and they had this great game and hangout space in the basement.

Before dinner, we decide to check out Cape Disappointment. This state park sits in the Washington side of the Columbia River. The Columbia river apparently dumps 1.5 Billion gallons of water into the Pacific each day…that is a stat for Arlo.

The inn keeper recommended the lighthouse and we went first to the North Lighthouse. It was stunning and recently renovated.

The lighthouse keeper quarters were also giant – this was the bougiest lighthouse I have ever seen. After walking back, we realized there was ANOTHER lighthouse!!!

We were shocked to learn there was a second lighthouse in the same state park….apparently we had happened into the only place on the west coast where things true. All because they built the first ones and the boats could not see it well enough…how about that for luck 100 years later.

The hike to the the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse was much more involved and less clear. However, we guessed right.

We too a detour to Deadman’s Cove and were hoping to find treasure – the cove was quiet and lovely.

The steps are daunting to say the least but we made it out alive. Then on to the lighthouse. The lighthouse is on a Coast Guard installation that is complete with old bunkers.

Onward to the lighthouse. The walk was nice but the lighthouse was…a bit of a disappointment. You may be shocked to learn that the Coast Guard is not spending lavishly only keeping old lighthouses looking sharp.

Now 4 lighthouses in 48 hours is a personal best for me! Pretty cool and unexpected.

From there we made our way back and got dinner. It was a great day and here is looking forward to tomorrow.