Day 2: Proud to Be a Wet American

We had planned to get up early to go to the tide pools. I had read a little article online about some tide pools that are about a 20-minute drive away from Forks. The article said that they were the best tide pools in the Pacific Northwest and that the best time to go was in the morning, right after the tide had receded for the day. I was uber excited for the tide pools. Nephi and I went to some tide pools in San Diego and the were L-A-M-E. I was so disappointed. I wanted to see sea stars and all kinds of cool stuff and San Diego did not deliver. I hoped Washington would.

We woke up late. Of course. This is Brianne and Nephi we are talking about here. It is really hard to motivate yourself to wake up when there is nowhere you absolutely have to be.

After waking up an hour after the time that I wanted to be at the tide pools, there seemed no point in rushing. We showered and got ready for the day. Then we decided that since it was later, we better get some food. We chose a place that served breakfast and lunch so that it didn’t matter what time we got there…they would be serving something. We went to a little dive called Forks Coffee Shop. I did some quick research online and it had the best reviews in all of Forks. We got there and they were still serving breakfast, so Nephi got the logger’s special (biscuits and gravy with hashbrowns), and I asked for the picture which I could find nowhere on their menu (eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, and hashbrowns). It was just standard diner fare, good but nothing special.

After finishing our brunch we headed out to Rialto Beach. Driving there, I really got to know my inner tree-hugging hippy. Her name is Brisa (or Breeze in Spanish). Brisa was heartbroken by the sweeps of land we passed that had been deforested by loggers. I mean…I know this used to be a logging town, but seeing the aftermath was depressing. Not only are you so very aware that you are supposed to be surrounded by huge, beautiful, green trees, but also you are forced to look at piles of unused wood (the branches) covered in weird plastic that the loggers left behind in their place. It was so sad to me. Yuck! I vowed to never use paper again. We’ll see how that goes for me. Brisa is resolute…but I am far too practical to vow never.

Thankfully, the state of Washington replants these areas that have been cut down. Nephi calls these areas “baby forests.” One of the baby forests we saw was planted in 2004. Right now it looks like a big field filled with perfect Christmas trees (of course that defeats the purpose). While they are kinda cool looking…Brisa remained depressed that she was missing out on the BIG trees—with soul and wisdom—that were supposed to be there. We also saw a not-so-baby forest that was planted in 1984. I called this bit of forest Nephi’s forest…since that is the year Nephi was born. These trees were starting to really get big and in probably 20 more years will look like the originals. I am glad that the state replants…but they should be aware that it definitely isn’t as cool as if they just left it be. It also got me thinking…how exactly do they replant these forests. Surely they don’t just walk around flinging seeds everywhere. But surely they don’t dig a hole for each of those trees…that would take an eternity. I would like to know how they do it.

Eventually we made it to Rialto Beach. Rialto Beach itself is pretty cool. Instead of sand the ground is covered in trillions of perfectly smooth stones of all colors. All over the beach lie trees that the ocean pitilessly took out. Looking out toward the great expanse of water, there are some cool islands that tower, with cliffs and trees. It is way cool.

The lady who wrote the article on the internet said that the tide pools were an easy 30 minute walk north along the beach…so we started walking. The lady on the internet is a liar. First…the walk is not easy. Yes there is no incline, but all the while you are sinking into the rocks, or the sand, or a strange mixture of the two. You are also on a slight slope and so my ankles kept bending all wonky. It was no fun…but it wasn’t the end of the word and I really wanted to see those tide pools. Then…it happened. We realized the internet lady was an even bigger liar! We had to cross a river—yes a river (and not a little Colorado river either with rocks and stuff)—in order to get to the tide pools. We surveyed the area and determined that there was no way to cross at the beach. We started walking up the river inland and eventually found a couple perching by a section of river that was covered in logs. I asked, “Did you cross here?” The man answered, “Well I did, but then I turned around and had to cross back.” I responded, “Did you get wet?” “No…I didn’t, but she did!” I look to the woman as she wrung out a sock. I said, “Was it very hard?” He said, “No…it just depends on your confidence level because those logs are slippery.” I thought that was a little thoughtless considering his wife had clearly fallen in…like he thought she didn’t have enough confidence, but Nephi and I just sorta giggled, thanked them, and decided to go for it. We crossed on the logs no problem.

When we got on the other side we continued trekking. After about five more minutes we saw something amazing! Flying high above us…wings expanded…it was a bald eagle! We watched it fly around and then it found a tree to perch in. It clearly had a power trip as it chose the very highest branch of the very highest tree. It was cool to see it flying, then to see it perch, and then to see it ruffle its wings and kinda groom itself. I never in my life thought I would see a bald eagle in the wild. It was so cool! I am now a true American. The people walking by us must not have been American because they looked up at what we were looking at and kept on walking. I guess they just didn’t understand how special it was to see a bald eagle so close like that. It was pretty amazing.

After watching it for a couple of minutes we continued our adventure to the tide pools. The whole hike there we saw throngs of people walking the other way so we thought it would be busy, but when we got there…it wasn’t. In fact, we were really the only ones there. It was really cool. I think people had gone early to avoid the high tide, which we started to encounter…but not before seeing…SEA STARS! I was pretty excited. The tide pools themselves weren’t all that amazing, but I was pretty excited I got to see some sea stars. Nephi and I climbed around on the rocks for a bit and took some pictures. I got wet in pursuit of a picture of a sea star, but I decided it was worth it.

We started walking back to where we had parked our car. After we had re-crossed the river, we saw something that didn’t quite look terrestrial. It honestly looked like a white squid mixed with some sort of crab. As we got closer we realized it was a bird. The bird was on its back and clearly in duress. I don’t do so good with that kinda stuff…so we tried to help. We flipped the bird so that it was right way up…but it still seemed to be struggling. I didn’t want it to drown so we used my coat to pick it up and take it further away from the water. I hope it is okay…but it probably froze to death to be honest.

When we finally made it back to Rialto Beach we decided to take a couple of pictures. Nephi wanted to get some pictures of the big waves, so he started doing that. Then I realized that the wave he was taking a picture of really was big…really big. I screamed, “Run Nephi!” but it was too late. We totally got clobbered. We were completely wet…but honestly it didn’t matter. We were already completely wet. Why you ask? No we didn’t go in the water. We were completely wet, soaked head to toe because of the rain. Yes…in Washington, when you go to the beach, be prepared to get soaked whether you get in the water or not.

All together…our trip to the tide pools (not including driving time) took 3 hours. According to internet lady it should have taken about 1.5 hours…so we are that much more convinced of what a big, fat liar she is.

We drove right back to our hotel to dry off. From there we showered for a second time and decided to wash some of the clothes that had gotten so wet (and my coat…since it touched the bird).

We decided to drive to First Beach in La Push just to check it out. It wasn’t really any different from Rialto Beach so that was kinda boring, but I got a picture on the treaty line…which is just totally nerdy of me, but I am okay with that. We all know what side of the treaty line I would be on. ;)

We ate dinner at this little place called The In Place. It was okay. I got chicken fingers (what else?) and Nephi got a TBLT (turkey, bacon, lettuce, and tomato). He said it was really good…but he is pretty easy to please with a sandwich. After dinner we continued our laundry and spent the evening reading. Unfortunately the internet at the hotel is broken right now so I am typing this on Word. Hopefully I will get to post this early tomorrow so you all get to read it!