The final chapter of our Zany Vacation

Despite our vacation being over two months ago, I didn't want to leave you hanging on the zany saga.  So why have I waited two whole months to write the ending?  Could it be because it's too painful to write the last chapter which would signify that it really is over and we are back to reality?  I don't think so...It's more like I have three zany kids that keep me busy at all hours and I am just trying to keep afloat.  This is actually the first chance I have gotten to write a post.  All three monsters, I mean darling children, are asleep snug in their beds.  I must admit, I'm not accustom to the silence because it is piercing my ears!

So where did we leave off?  Oh yes, we had spent our final day at "See Attle" on our "cation" and decided to take the most direct route home and head due North then West to the Olympic National Park.  After looking at maps it quickly became obvious that there was no direct route to this national park.  We had to drive through Seattle, take a ferry, stand on our head, and wink while crossing both eyes to get there.  Papa Z handed over all responsibility of getting us there to myself and that smooth talker, Javier (AKA Our GPS).  I had to continue to reassure Papa Z we were not going to "accidentally" drive to the border and end up in Canada.  If truth be told, I was not sure if this would happen, but I pretended to know exactly what we were doing and where we were headed.

After a very long drive we finally made it to the Olympic National Park and drove to Hurricane Ridge.  Of course once on top of this breathtaking mountain, Wacky Zacky did not want to get out of the car.  He kept complaining, "Why do we always have to get out and look at everything?" as he stomped along behind us.  Lucky for him we were short on time so we didn't get to look at "everything", but we did look here:

And here:

The little sourpuss got over it quickly when he got to eat a treat while taking in all the beauty.

It did get exciting for a few minutes when Zany Janie and Wacky Zacky came face-to-face with a bear!

Since we were pressed for time we all got back in the car and continued driving around the peninsula.  It just so happened that the path around the peninsula took us smack dab into Forks, WA!  If Forks, WA doesn't ring a bell to you, then you must not be a Twilight fan.  Papa Z begrudgingly stopped to take a picture at the "Welcome to Forks" sign and wouldn't you know, Mr. Sourpuss Wacky Zacky was actually excited to get out of the car and wanted to be in the picture too, despite not knowing a single thing about Twilight.

Lucky for Papa Z, I am not a big enough fan to want to pay over $100 for a tour of the Sheriff's Station and a glimpse of Bella's house. As we drove through the town, we noticed all the hotels had no vacancy signs.  That would make sense since they all touted having "Twilight Rooms"...Which I'm not sure what that would mean-are the rooms freezing cold with a musty dog smell in them?

Our next stop was the Hoh Rain Forest.  We hiked on the famous Moss Trail.  It was amazing to see all enormous trees and ground cover.  Everything was so green.

I'd like to say the Zany family hiked the one mile trail without incident, but that would be a lie.  The kids decided to play superhero in the rain forest and were running up and down the trail when Zany Janie's little foot caught on a root and she took a tumble resulting in a small cut on the palm of her hand.  You would have thought she had broken her arm from the shrieks and high pitched scream coming from her.  For the rest of the hike she cried and shrieked making the rain forest oh so enjoyable for anyone and anything within a 1/2 mile radius from us.  She did calm down once we were back in the car and she was given a Twilight Band aid to cover her battle wound.

The rest of the day was a little nerve wracking with a very long drive to Vancouver, WA where we had a hotel room booked and waiting for us.  We had to deal with a bridge being out, a poorly marked detour, Silly Jilly screaming and crying, a huge building on fire causing more detours, smoke blocking our view, an entrance ramp to the I-5 being closed and another detour 6.5 miles the wrong way before finally getting to our hotel. 

The last two days were fairly uneventful as we made our way home.  The kids were good for being in the car a couple of long days.  The final day they were feeling loving and colored several pictures for Papa Z, myself, and even for each other. We all breathed a sigh of relief as we pulled into our driveway, happy to be home.  The good feelings of being home continued as we unpacked the car, but quickly diminished when we noticed Wacky Zacky's artwork in the back of the car:

I guess he had not been feeling all that loving since he scribbled in crayon all over the upholstery of the car!  New rule for the car:  NO CRAYONS!