Road Trip Fun- Minnesota to Washington

Our family loves road trips, it is what we do best! This time we were off to Washington state for a week on the water. On our road trip we hit scenic highways in Montana, tubed down the Madison River, road on the Seattle–Bainbridge Island Ferry to our home The Bend on Hood Canal. While in Washington we took multiple hiking adventures, found great places to eat fresh seafood, and even took a yacht ride.

We were off on early Wednesday morning from our home in Minnesota and headed straight west to make it to Bozeman, Montana to meet up with our friend Nicole that moved out there for college. She loved the outdoors so she took us tubing down the Madison River. We rented out tubes from the Madison River Tubing Co and loaded them up in our suburban to hit the water. It was around a three-hour float with very light rapids. The water was pretty high at the time we went so we did not have to worry about hitting our butts on any rocks! On our way back we wanted to hit a few hot springs before we headed out to put dry clothes on but all were closed for the day. We then decided to watch the sunset at one of our friend’s favorite places in town. We then we headed to MacKenzie River Pizza Co. for some gourmet pizza! If you ever stop in Bozeman I would definitely recommend this place as this was some of the best pizza I have ever had.

We hit the road a little later than normal because we wanted to see Many Glacier in Glacier National Park. This was beautiful and I really like these types of stops so I would definitely recommend. From the drive to the stop everything was beautiful. What was even more perfect was that we then took the Going-to-the-Sun Road close to sunset and wow was that an amazing view. There were mountain goats and waterfalls everywhere, it was perfect. We arrived at Best Western on Flathead Lake late that night. We woke up in the morning and had continental breakfast right on the patio! Nothing beats a breakfast with a view. We then hit the road driving through Idaho and into Washington. Halfway through Washington our AC in our suburban went out! It was over one hundred degrees in the car! Luckily we were able to take turns switching out of our cousins car to catch a break. With a log hot last sprint through we made it to our Belleview Washington hotel as we had a few flying in early in the morning. We woke up, picked up the rest of our crew at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and headed to the Seattle–Bainbridge Island Ferry. There are other ways to get over to where the Hood Canal but we decided this would be more of an experience. We paid the toll and loaded our vehicle up onto the ferry. You could stand inside or outside the ferry which was nice out so we all were at the peak of the ferry. We then unloaded and headed to our home named “The Bend on Hood Canal”. Check-in was not until 3:00 pm so we waited for a bit until we got our code to unlock the door and rushed in to explore. Our home was HUGE, it even had a movie theatre! All the parents loaded up and went to the local grocery shop to get the food for the week. One major thing that I love about these trips is the great food we all make together as a family. Each night is planned out so when the adults go to the grocery store each one has a list of what to get. The first day we were in the house we decided to stay in and enjoy for a bit. Our home overlooked the canal and was positioned on a cliff for a perfect view of the canal. At sunset, you could see little seals jumping out of the water. 

While in Washington we did a lot of hiking. The trails were unbelievable, but this was definitely difficult being from Minnesota, our “easy” hikes were not the locals term “easy”. We asked a local while at a gas station where would be the best hike near where we were at. He gave us quick directions and said it was very easy with a beautiful view. We then hauled ten vehicles up the side of a mountain to a stop. The suggested “easy” hike was 1.5 miles all uphill. As much as we wanted to give up we knew our grandpa was not too far behind us so if he was not giving up, either were we. We made it to the top and boy was it beautiful. It was a special moment we got to share with our grandpa that we will always remember. We then had to quickly run down as we had a tee time at Lake Cushman Golf Course near our home in Union Washington. Most of our family golfs so this was fun the play a quick 9 holes.

A great thing about being in the canal was all the fresh seafood. We bought fresh salmon from Skokomish which was a few miles down the road. We cooked in on the grill with lemon. To this date the best salmon I have ever tried. We also tried out Hama Hama Oyster Saloon where we had oysters on ice and grilled. It was fun to try new flavors and different fresh seafood you don’t necessarily get in Minnesota.

Midway through the week, we stopped at a local lake where were we hung out and floated all day. The water was pretty chilly but warm enough to relax. About midway through our day, we saw a bunch of people going back and forth on this path so we decided to check it out. There was a rope swing where we spent most of the afternoon jumping off of. 

We spent a day out on a friends yacht where he was able to hold all forty of us on his boat! He and his wife spend a lot of time on the boat and take multiple trips around.  We stopped to watch the sunset and jump off into the water a few times. We spent our last day out at Alderbrook where we swam in the pool, laid on the beach, played a water golf game, and went paddleboarding. We rented one paddleboard and two kayaks for an hour right on the resort. This was a blast getting out on the water and what was even cooler is there were seals swimming under our kayaks! 

We spent every night in the master suite as there was a hot tub surrounded by windows looking into the bay. This was such a relaxing and fun vacation. Our drive home was pretty miserable as we tried stopping in Montana but due to Sturgis all rooms were booked, so we had a full twenty five hour drive straight home. Once home we were able to relax but wow was that a lot. Overall I would definitely recommend this road trip to any nature lovers or anyone that loves to sightsee. This was one for the books and definitely would satisfy any type of traveler looking for a little nature. Check out more fun adventures on my page!