When I decided to bring my family with me on my October business trip to Seattle, I began researching ideas for the following weekend right away. There are so many incredible destinations in Washington State, but I knew I wanted something within fairly easy reach of Seattle. A repeat trip to the San Juan Islands was out, because the San Juan Clipper season ended the week before we were scheduled to arrive, and the ferry had been unreliable due to COVID-related staffing shortages. So I hopped on a call with a colleague (who loves planning vacations for people) to discuss options. I told her I wanted something outdoorsy, within a couple of hours of Seattle. We kicked around Leavenworth, Bainbridge Island, Mount Rainier, and even driving as far as North Cascades, but ultimately settled on Olympic National Park.

Any travel book or tour guide would tell you that one of the things that makes Olympic special is that it’s really three parks in one. There’s the rugged Pacific coastline, the hauntingly beautiful Hoh Rainforest, and the Alpine expanses of the mountain section. With my colleague’s help, I planned a packed weekend that would allow us to experience all three.

The coastline was first – I was so stoked to show the kids the wonders of Washington tidepooling. As it happened, time was not on our side – low tide was at about 5:00 a.m., and the closest beaches (Ruby and Kalaloch) were almost a two hour drive from our hotel in Port Angeles. Tidepooling would have to wait for a future trip, but we still had plenty of visual treats in the pounding waves and towering sea stacks. We made for Ruby Beach, keeping Kalaloch in reserve if time and weather allowed.

There’s something so wild and compelling about rain at the beach, isn’t there?

It was wet and cold, but we layered up and kept our feet moving, and it was totally worth it. I wouldn’t have missed Ruby Beach for the world.

Wet but happy family! A little rain won’t get in the way of our beach day.

We started out walking up the coastline, but the tide rushed in and cut off our path, so we turned and headed in the opposite direction, exploring as far as we could.

Although I would have loved to tidepool with the anklebiters, Ruby Beach was well worth the drive even without tidepooling – the trees, dramatic sea stacks, and crashing surf were spectacular. Someday we’ll make it back when the tide tables are our friends, and it’s not the worst thing in the world to have something to look forward to!

Next week: a truly magical walk through the Hoh Rainforest.