Olympic NP Vacation Day 7: Drive to Seattle

Today we end our Olympic National Park vacation, because tomorrow we fly home. We checked out of Quinault lodge around 9:30 AM, after eating our last “Logger’s Breakfast” on the lodge deck, and then started our drive back to Seattle with a slight detour to Staircase Ranger Station. Staircase was kind of on way and only added two hours to our journey due to the up and back nature of the drive. We got to Staircase around 11:30 AM got out of the car walked around briefly then head back down the road stopping to view a few waterfalls. Once we got to the bottom of mountain, out of the park, and into the very tiny park gateway town it was a bit after noon so, we stopped at the “Burgers, Teriyaki, and Ice Cream Shack” for lunch. Lunch was surprisingly good, Jim got the bulgogi burger and I got teriyaki chicken, it was nice to have something different for lunch then the basic food around Quinault. After lunch we continued our drive into Seattle, to check into a hotel near the airport for our flight tomorrow.

Overall, the trip was good even though we were traveling during a pandemic which put a damper on a few things, such as getting true first-class service on our flights. Also, the pandemic did limit the things that were open and the food selections at the lodge. So instead of having a full menu and eating in the historic restaurant where F.D.R ate in 1937, we got to order at the bar off a limited menu of the same 6 mains and 2 deserts every day for take out only. While we did mix it up a little with some MREs and eating at Dino’s; overall the food was not very exciting. One of the nice things we did like about staying at the lodge was due to the pandemic they only clean the rooms when people check out. Thankfully all the restrooms within the park were open, even though several of visitor centers were not fully opened. I was happy that I was still able to get a park stamp for my park passport. Overall, we drove 1139.2 miles, hiked 25.9 miles, and took 1225 pictures. See chart below.

Vacation Day	Miles Driven	Miles Hiked	# Pictures
Day 0	139	0	0
Day 1	80.9	6.1	273
Day 2	199	6	271
Day 3	42.1	6.8	175
Day 4	283	1.4	144
Day 5	109	1.6	97
Day 6	72.2	4	231
Day 7	214	0	34
Total	1139.2	25.9	1225

In conclusion I think it was a very good trip. It was good to get away from the house and away from the consistent new about COVID since the hotel had little internet. Also the park was good way to get away from people and “social distance”. The trip was relaxing.

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