We started off Saturday seeing one of my favorite artists, Shakey Graves, perform in Sandpoint, Idaho. We had to drive ~7 hours to get back there, but it was worth it for sure. The event was hosted by a local festival put on throughout the summer - byob, byo-food, very convenient! Ben sported his newest hairstyle. This was the first concert back for both of us since the heat of the pandemic.

Sunday we drove back to the Cascades to secure a permit for our canoe trip - psyche! It was super smokey there so the canoe rental place recommended we push back our reservation. It was really really smokey. We decided to just have a laundry/work day and ponder what to do next. Ben was thinking we could head further west in Washington to escape the fires. He read the area closer to Olympic National Park was clear.

While our new plan was fleshing out, Ben got a text from a group chat - one of his closest college friends, Joe was in Olympic celebrating his 30th birthday! They were about to go backpacking with another couple and just so happened to have 2 extra permits. Are you kidding?! We drove about 4 hours to meet up with them Monday evening.

We backpacked for 3 days and had an amazing time with our 6 person crew. So much so, that we barely took any pictures! It was absolutely stunning though, and we will definitely be checking this park out more in the months to come. I had an especially great time talking with Joe’s girlfriend, Abby. She is 2 years into owning her own graphic design company which was really inspiring to hear about. We agreed that it was just too crazy it all worked out this way without us planning a thing. It really felt like it was meant to unfold this way.

Thursday we sadly said our goodbyes and headed straight for a proper gorge. The waitress got confused when we ordered 3 entrees. She said, “you know this is a lot of food…” and we laughed and I explained how we’d been backpacking. She was delighted when we ate every last crumb and told us how impressed she was.

We headed north to Port Townsend, a town recommended to us by the backpacking gang. It was so cute! They have “music on the dock” on Thursdays, so we boogied for a bit, got pizza, and zonked.