Where You Lead, We'll Follow: From the East to the West

Hello again, friends! It's been two months since the last blog post. During the month of August, we decompressed from our many travels in July, and then September hit and we've been traveling quite a bit again.

In our in-between times at home, we've been working and continuing to prepare for moving to England in just a few short months. However, most of those details are likely boring to all but our very closest family and friends, so instead, here's a look at our September travels:

First, for Labor Day Weekend, we headed to the East to visit Andrew's grandparents in Ocean City, NJ for a few short days. We also squeezed in a visit with one of my cousins who happened to be in the area also on vacation as well as a lunch visit with some of our contacts from the UK who were in NJ, too.

Upon arrival, we spent a few hours with my cousin, Lindsay, and her family:

Our time in Ocean City was filled with all the annual traditions - walks on the beach, afternoons playing in the waves and lying in the sun, a long bike ride on a tandem bike, time on the boardwalk, eating excellent seafood, watching the sunrise, playing games/visiting with Andrew's grandparents, and the most wonderful doughnuts in the world (an even greater treat as Andrew ran 5 miles to the doughnut shop before getting to eat them; I helped out by driving so he didn't have to run back :P)

Just a week after our return from the East Coast, we headed West to visit my sister Emily and her husband David in Port Angeles, Washington. Our first morning there, Emily took us hiking up Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park.

On Thursday, we hiked to Marymere Falls, and spent time by Lake Crescent and Salt Creek:

Friday, both Emily and David were off work, so we traveled even further west to Neah Bay to hike to Cape Flattery (the northwestern-most point of the continental US) as well as to Shi Shi Beach.

We were back in Port Angeles for Friday evening as Aunt Kathy arrived for a visit!

Saturday, all five of us went whale watching. We saw Dall's porpoises, Harbor porpoises, a humpback whale, dozens of Orcas, seals, two kinds of sea lions, and a sea otter. It was a great tour!