BREWW Travels 3.0 - Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

We lucked out and had about 2 weeks of great weather. Even when it was cold the rain stayed away, until we got to Mount Rainier, our last National Park on the list. Unfortunately because of the weather most of the hikes were blocked off by snow and the rain kept the mountains fog covered. We only stayed the day in the park because there wasn't much we could do - weather permitting. Mount Rainier is definitely the biggest mountain we've ever seen, for the few minutes it wasn't completely cloud covered. When we were ascending up the mountains that surround Rainier I remember looking in the sky and only seeing Rainier's peak encompassing the entire sky. I wish we could've spent longer in this park but we were able to see a lot of waterfalls as we rode through the park.

BREWW Travels 3.0 - Multnomah Falls, Oregon

Multnomah Falls has been on my list for quite some time and it was just as beautiful as I imagined it to be. The tallest waterfall we've ever seen I think, 542 feet tall! Unfortunately the trail and bridge were closed down so we had to enjoy it from the bottom.

BREWW Travels 3.0 - Mount Hood, Oregon

We first went to Trillium Lake to get a good view of Mount Hood, which was so beautiful to see the reflection in the lake. There were so many people on the lake kayaking and fishing, so we just hung out taking in the scenery for a bit - wishing we had our own kayaks. Then we decided to go on a hike to Ramona Falls, which ended up being 9.5 miles roundtrip. This to date has been the longest (consecutive) hike I've ever done. It was a challenge but for the first time, maybe ever, I'm starting to feel progress in my endurance - but only by a little haha. I was worried we wouldn't be able to complete the hike because we kept seeing signs posted saying we would have to cross the river because the bridge was no longer there. I was mentally prepared to turn around if the river was high because it is very dangerous to make a maneuver like this when there is rushing water and you can't see your footing on the rocks and trees below. Luckily the river was low enough that we were able to walk across some fallen trees over it without having to get wet.

BREWW Travels 3.0 - John Day Fossil Beds, Oregon

I saw a post on instagram where someone had visited this national monument and it immediately reminded me of the Badlands. I knew I had to add it to the list of stops. Oregon was really cool because there were so many different terrains and ecosystems throughout the state. We started on the coast, then drove through the forest, saw some mountains and volcanos, visited a waterfall, then wound up in the desert. I have a connection to the desert that I don't have with most other places. Maybe it's because it is nothing like what I grew up seeing, and is so different from where I live now. The deep reds and yellows against a blue sky are really eye-catching to me. Basically I really enjoyed this part of the trip. We started at the Painted Hills unit first. This park was a little different in that there were 3 units that consisted of the park but they are all about an hour away from each other. We only were able to see 2 out of the 3 but I quite enjoyed both. The painted hills unit were these rolling mounds with striations of color, each layer of color represented various geological eras. For example the red coloring is soil that has been broken down from the trees and agriculture that once thrived there. The black soil is broken down vegetation that once lived there. The purple / grey soil is old volcanic ash that covered the forest and solidified. It is amazing to me what hundreds of thousands of years - millions of years will cause the environment to do. The other unit we saw was the Clarno unit. This unit is known for its fossils, The Palisades are the most prominent landform and are volcanic mudflows that formed almost 40 millions years ago! It was once a semi-tropical rainforest where 4 toed horses, huge rhino like brontotheres, crocodilians, and meat-watching creodonts once roamed. Their fossils have been found amongst the rocks, along with a huge range of plant life. There was a museum that had wax figures of what these creatures once looked like.

BREWW Travels 3.0 - Tumalo Falls, Bend, Oregon

We wanted to see Tumalo Falls on our way to the next stop, so we put the address in our GPS and proceeded forward. We ended up at some dirt road where all of the trees seemed halfway burned down, we drove around a bit looking for a trailhead but no luck. We then decided to do a little investigating before wasting any more time. We found out that there was a random road we drove to called Tumalo Street, and we still had an hour to go to get there, so we continued forward. We then reached another (steep) dirt road where we saw some bikers emerging from so we decided to entrust in our GPS and go down it. Bad mistake. Little did we know at the time we were literally driving down a rocky dirt trail used for bikers and hikers in our little hybrid ford fusion! After our GPS tried to reroute us deeper into the woods we decided to turn back again and head to the nearest trailhead we saw. Needless to say, Tumalo Falls was not a very easy waterfall to find. We finally found it but our expectations were to hike 7 miles (roundtrip) to see it.... it ended up being about 200ft to the overlook from our car. I wasn't too disappointed by this because I was kind of over looking for this waterfall and was glad it was a park and look situation. Since we had a little extra time we decided to just go into the town of Bend and get some dinner and treat ourselves to a nice hotel for the night.

BREWW Travels 3.0 - Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

Similar to Lake Tahoe, the water here was spectacularly blue. The color ranged from deep dark blue to a turquoise hue. This crater in the center of the lake is called Wizard island and is actually a dormant volcano. The more intriguing aspect of this area is the fact that the island is a mere mini volcano that resided inside a much much larger volcano. This volcano used to stretch the entire span of the lake! The remains can be seen around the edges of the lake where the mountains look as though they just drop off entirely, When we started driving to the lake it was a warm and comfortable 70 degrees. When we reached the optimal viewpoint of wizard island it was close to 40 degrees! Lots of elevation brings cold and snow which prevented us from hiking around the lake. All the sites were blocked off due to heavy snow accumulation. It was peaceful to just sit above the lake, feel the cold nipping at our cheeks, and just enjoy the beauty and sheer size of what was left by this huge volcano erupting many years ago.

BREWW Travels 3.0 - Cannon Beach, Oregon

I really loved cannon beach in particular. Haystack Rock is the giant monolith in the ocean by the shore. We made it here just in time for sunset which caused for some really interesting lighting for my photos. I particularly loved these mossy rocks in front of Haystack Rock, the vibrant green color was very pretty. Within the pools of water surrounding these mossy rocks were tons of sealife - crabs, mussels, snails, goby's, and even anemones! It was so cool to see saltwater life in its natural habitat since we have a saltwater tank at home.

BREWW Travels 3.0 - Olympic National Park, Washington

What a park! Never have we been to such a diverse and expansive set of ecosystems. We were up 5,000 feet and saw mountains that were 8,000 plus feet tall. We saw overgrown flora in the rainforests. Then we ended up on the coast with the drift wood and mountains in the sea. When we first entered the olympic national park we drove all the way to the top of a mountain and had incredible views. The snow capped mountains were breathtaking and there were deer and other critters all along the way. There was a trail there that took us up even higher into the clouds and gave us 360 views of all the surrounding mountain ranges. After that we dipped down and headed for the forest. The Hoh rainforest to be exact. It was sooooo green there! Everything is thriving and competing for life there at the forest floor. What was interesting is they do not attempt to clear any trees even when they fall over and this is due to the fact that as the trees break down, other seeds will grow ontop of it and use its nutrients to grow. The tree seeds will compete with other trees and the tree with the biggest strongest roots will prevail. Cougars and bears are apart of the wildlife found there and we were sure glad not to find any of them on our hikes! Once we finished exploring the rainforest we drove out to catch the sunset at the coast. The coast was great and had all sorts of crabs, snails, anemone and fish hanging out in little pools all over. The sunset was beautiful and the contrasting "haystacks" (which are mountains that have been worn down over time in the sea) looked pretty amazing. It was a long two days but full of new experiences and perspectives! On to the next state!

BREWW Travels 3.0 - North Cascades National Park, Washington

WE GOT ENGAGED!!! Will told me he wasn't sure when he would actually pop the question, that he would do it when it felt right on the trip. We drove up to Washington Pass where we hiked up the the viewpoint of the glaciers of the North Cascades and we were the only ones up there. After I took a bunch of landscapes I started taking a few photos of Will and I and he felt like that was the moment. As the timer is going off he got on one knee and asked me to marry him!!! What an amazingly beautiful moment that I will forever hold in my heart, which means this national park will forever be a favorite of mine. North Cascades is made up of lower level forests, lakes, and mountains with glaciers. It has breathtaking views, Washington Pass being my favorite, followed by the overlook of Diablo Lake. Diablo Lake is the most beautiful aqua color in the valley of glaciers and mountains. We also hiked Thunder Creek Trail through the mossy trees and huge trees along the super blue Thunder Creek River. As you are driving through the park there are countless waterfalls because of all of the runoff from the glaciers. The reason the water is so blue is because when the glaciers melt there is a mineral in the water that flows into the runoff. That ultimately turns into silt which colors the water. I wish our rivers and lakes looked this way, theres something really inviting and pretty about blue water, no matter the shade.

BREWW Travels 3.0 - Anacortes, Washington

We drove to Anacortes, WA, to get on a charter boat to search for orcas. They said we lucked out because they spotted a family of orcas fairly close to the shoreline and we wouldn't have to go far to spot them. The tour was about 3.5 hours and during that time we saw a family of killer whales at two separate locations, a bald eagle, and a bunch of seals on an island. We also went under Deception Pass which is a bridge that connects two islands, a lot of people go to see the current in the water that flows under the bridge. During the ebb and flow tide current speeds will rise, flowing in opposite directions. This swift current can lead to standing waves, large whirlpools, and roiling eddies. If you find yourself in the middle of this current and put your boat in neutral the boat will spin 360 degrees in place. The water in the strait we were riding through was so blue, which has been a common theme in all of the water we are seeing around Washington, it is so beautiful!

BREWW Travels 2.0 - Badlands National Park, South Dakota

I love The Badlands. It was my Papaw's favorite place he visited with my Mamaw when they would travel across country. I definitely understand why. These buttes, pinnacles, and spires made of sand and clay at first glance look so delicate. They have been forming, evolving, and standing strong for millions of years, almost 75 million to be exact. The other thing that makes the badlands stand out is that they are surrounded by the biggest protected grasslands in the US... So basically they are in the middle of nowhere! There was an area in the park that showed the fossils of animals and sea creatures that once inhabited the park - Will's favorite being the ammonite. I thought this was really special because in the place that my Papaw once adored lived the very thing that the love of my life is inspired by through his pottery, and actually collects. It's the little things. I could go on about the science of the park and how erosion and deposition created these buttes, but lets just say nature and time are very powerful and beautiful things. Speaking of time. I can't believe it has already been a week since we were hiking through these incredible sandstones. Traveling for a long time gets hard because you start to miss home, but my urge to travel will never go away. It only gets worse when I get to experience a life of constantly being amazed by the earth we live on. The badlands will always hold a special place in my heart. When I'm there I feel as if my Papaw is there with me, almost as if I'm looking at it through his eyes, and seeing what he loved about this special place.

BREWW Travels 2.0 - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

May is not the time to visit Yellowstone, only because most of the park is still shut down. There was still a lot of snow, and some roads were still closed. Aside from that, May is good for seeing tons of wildlife, which was a cool trade off. I personally preferred the areas with the mud pots and hot springs because they are so other worldly. I seem to like things that are completely out of the norm for me to see. It's strange to become familiarized with the sulphur smell that lingers in the park, but it would be weird to not smell it while visiting. It was also interesting to see how the climate and season effects the water flow in these springs which change the entire look of the environment. The more water shed the more microbes which give the springs color, but take the water away and it looks more like dried up chalk. There were parts that looked like what I would imagine the moon to look like because of the destitute dried craters that were left.