Fitting It All In

Well over a year ago, I happened upon an article in The Smithsonian Magazine about a little town in Washington called Gig Harbor.  The Smithsonian is also where I had read about Kennebunkport, MA which ignited my trip to Maine nearly two years ago.  So when I read this article about a quaint and charming town just outside of Seattle, I had added that on to my list of to-do's when I first wanted to take this trip last fall.  However, when I made plans for this trip, fitting Gig Harbor in didn't seem doable since I had so much planned in such a short amount of time.  I fit it in!

I knew that I wanted to visit both Seattle and Portland on this trip and what I found to be most cost effective was to fly in and out of Portland and rent a car for the three days to drive to and from Seattle.  On my way up, I took the long and scenic Highway 101 from Portland to Seattle.  On my way back, since I was flying out later that night, I took the more direct Route 5 back down to Portland.  This route was just as exciting and helped me to take in every last drop of the Pacific Northwest.  On this drive south I couldn't help but to be mesmerized as I could see Mt. Rainier for a good portion of the beginning of my trip.  This route also took me close enough to Gig Harbor that I had to stop.  I only stayed for a couple of hours... enough to walk around and have lunch with a perfect view!  And my final stop en route to the Portland Airport was none other than Mt. St. Helens.  I didn't get very close, but I could certainly see it from a distance and it was grand.  It actually worked out perfectly that I did in fact have to drive back to Portland, otherwise I would have missed out on them. 

Hope you have not tired of my photos and my trip, this is the last of them (photos that is, I have a bit more to say about the trip :))

 

Mt. Rainier from Gig Harbor

Mt. St. Helens...  I wish that it wasn't so faint, but it was approaching sunset and there wasn't anything that I could do about the lighting.  This was the last photo taken on my trip and despite the faintness, one of my favorites.