My iPhone went to Washington.

I took a zillion photos while we are gone and have yet to begin the downloading and sorting process. Those will have to wait for another day and another post. I did, however, pull all the fun snaps from my phone and saved them to a file on my computer. And thus this post is going to a be a glimpse into what my iPhone experienced along our journey. She was a little selfish when it came to sharing the driving duties, but was overall a lovely travel companion nonetheless.

I'm going to split this up into a couple posts. iPhone was awfully snap-happy, you see. Today's adventure features the lovely state of Washington. Please keep your arms and legs inside the bus at all times.

I'll warn you now... sooo many sunsets. Every single one astounded this country bumpkin.

1// Driving down the Olympic Peninsula was amazing. I had to resist the urge to stop at every scenic turn-out.  2// The Cascades. Boy did they remind me how small we are in the grand scheme of things.  3// Cheeeese cuuuurds. I could eat squeaky cheese all day long. I abandoned my dairy-free ways like a naughty teenager rebelling against her mother. I still maintain it was worth it.  4// We spent the night in this cute town. I wanted to pinch its little cheeks.  5// Like, OMG. I had to stop and and take a picture of the Forks sign like a good Twihard would do (the rest of the town was, well, unattractive). Team Edward forever.  6// We spent the night at the Rain Forest Lodge in a quaint little cabin. I appreciated the exhaustive list of potential activities on the directional sign.  7// What the typical morning (and afternoon, if I'm honest) looked like.

1// Remember Ellensburg from above? We stopped at The Palace Cafe for breakfast and decided we had to see for ourselves what stuffed hash browns were all about. Uh, deliciousness, that's what.  2// Mount Rainier at sunset. Taken while in the backseat of a car flying down the interstate. My photography skills at their finest.  3,4// A visit to the Pacific Northwest isn't complete without a stop in downtown Seattle... Pike Place Market in particular. We visited the birthplace of a caffeine addicted nation and appreciated the wonder that is the Space Needle. 5// I had some seriously off-the-hook baked salmon one night. Because there wasn't a breakfast place nearby, we ate the leftovers cold on saltines the next morning. It still astounded.  6// Wind turbines as far as the eye could see. At sunset, of course.  7// Has anyone else heard of "Starbucks Evenings"? They serve appetizers and tapas and alchy-hol. There is a wine and beer shelf behind the espresso machine. What sort of voodoo magic is this?!

1// A lovely lighthouse in Mukilteo, an oceanfront town where we spent the night before picking Kiddo up from camp. Have I ever mentioned my love of lighthouses? It runs deep, y'all.  2// A ferry ride from Whidbey Island to the Olympic Peninsula. We saw porpoises. And jellyfish.  3// Again with the lighthouse. I want to live there. At sunset.  4// Mario enjoying the view. He's a handsome devil.  5// I was not previously aware of Mario's obsession with zen rock piles. Which, thanks to Google, I now know are called cairn. He literally plopped down on the beach and started stacking. I was slightly worried he'd turned into some sort of zen Rain Man. This log was actually lined with them. Apparently it's a thing.

1// Just north of Seattle lies a jazzy little town called Fremont. It had the best vibe. As in, I could totally live there.  2//  Mario made it a point to visit the Fremont Vintage Mall where a scene from the music video to "Thrift Store" was filmed. The jury is still out on how I feel about the fact that he knows such a weird bit of teenage pop culture. Too much time on our hands, perhaps? Nah. We're just that hip.  3,5// Okay, so the store was totally amazing. We could have spent hours in there. Their Pyrex collection brought me to tears. Seriously. I could have sat on the floor and wept like a child. It's my bakeware mecca.  4// We dined at a restaurant in downtown Fremont called Blue C Sushi. The food circles around the island and you grab what looks good. Then you are charged based on the color of the plate. It was my first time eating at a restaurant with this format and I found it to be fun and deeelish. Although I was sure we were going to have to sell our 2nd born to pay for the meal, it was surprisingly affordable. Mario did end up leaving the hotel for an emergency taco run a couple hours later, however.

Speaking of Pyrex (sort of), I scooped up this little gem during our Montana visit. I wanted to score at least one cool piece (our luggage situation made a Pyrex bonanza out of the question) while were away. This fit the bill. It's a casserole on a Sterno base in mint condition and unlike anything in my collection. Swoon.

By far Washington was my favorite leg of the trip. Time alone with Mario spent driving along the ocean was a dream come true. I have always loved Puget Sound and could see myself settling down there one day. Except for Forks. I can see why they didn't film there. To their credit, however, there is a place that offers vampire and Bigfoot hunting excursions simultaneously (known as "Twifoot" tours). Shazam.