We awoke to another beautiful, sunny day, with just a few low hanging clouds, but lots of sunshine.  We took our time getting ready, ate muffins in the room, and went back and forth between the room, the lodge, and the lake, with no real rush to get anywhere, which was nice.  The morning sun was at a perfect angle to get some good pictures from the dock, so we took that opportunity before hitting the road.

After everyone was ready, at about 10am, we headed west along picturesque Highway 101, that goes along the bank of Lake Crescent for several miles.  After about an hour, we made it to the town of Forks, where we stocked up on more food and snacks at the grocery store, and had lunch at Taqueria Santa Ana, a small family run Mexican restaurant.  While I remember being more impressed on the last trip, it certainly helps that they have a salsa bar with many varieties to choose from, which made this salsa fiend happy.  The younger two girls were a bit cranky, so after walking around outside a bit, they cheered up some, came in, and we all ate our food.  From there, we headed back over to the grocery store, which has an attached outfitters store, where we bought a new pair of shoes for the youngest, as the only pair we could find in time to leave for the airport the first day were dressy, and not good for hiking.  Luckily we found a cheap pair, and headed west toward the coast.

While it was sunny in Forks, it got cloudier as we headed west, and by the end of the 30 minute drive to La Push, there were low clouds and lots of fog.  A far cry from the sunny days we had at the coast on our first and third trips there, but much like the weather on our second trip.  Regardless, the girls had a great time playing around on the beach with the sand, rocks, and driftwood.  We spent an hour there, before heading back into Forks, where it was still sunny.  We made one last stop at the grocery store for snacks, and made our way back to Lake Crescent, arriving at about 4pm.

As the sun set around 6pm, which was around 9pm at home, we were fine just hanging out and enjoying the sunshine and the lake, mostly snacking on leftovers form lunch.  We walked to the opposite side of the lodge along the lake, which we’d never done before, and had fun following some ducks around as they swam.  After some time back in the room to goof around and sing silly songs, we headed back over to the lodge for more puzzles, along with beer, cider, and hot chocolate for me, Laura, and the girls respectively.  We headed back out to watch the sunset over the lake, and spent more time by the fire before taking the girls to the room to go to sleep.

I headed back over to the lodge for a few minutes to enjoy the fire, then a little ways down the shore, I spied someone having a fire at the fire pit right by the lake.  Those who know me know that I’m a huge fan of fires, indoors and out, and especially in beautiful places, with the company of both friends, family, and strangers.  I cozied up on a bench and started talking to the other guest who were there, a woman in her early 60s, and her daughter along with her wife who were around my age.  It turns out that the older woman lives in Indianapolis also, and was visiting her daughter who now lives in Portland.  After talking a bit, I returned to the room to find Nala still up, and wanting to go outside.  I took her out to see the stars again, then back over to the fire, where the women who were there loved talking to her and singing Girl Scout songs.