Prologue

The Great Washington Loop. This is the result of a crazy idea which began with the thought – what would be the biggest road trip to do within Washington State. What would it be like to go from Seattle to North of Washington, then East, South and West. What would it be like to do a crazy large loop around Washington state? Not because it is scenic or there is something to see there, but just because. That is how this road trip started. Read on and I hope you enjoy this account of the trip as much as I enjoyed writing about it (or experiencing it 😉 )

If you thought this was a plan that has been a long time in the making and something that I planned long and hard for, that is not the case. This was a plan conjured in 2 weeks and the decision to do this drive was made in one day. The idea for this trip popped in my mind at the time I was writing about the trip to Palouse falls. 

A little more insight on how this trip came up for those interested. As I mentioned in the Palouse falls travelogue, Palouse was a place which was close enough that I could reach it in a day and but far enough that a round trip in one day would be tiring. But still not far enough that in a good mind I could justify staying overnight there. So the last time I travelled to Palouse falls, I didn’t go all the way to Palouse and instead turned around at Palouse falls (Palouse was another 50 or 80 miles from the falls). At the end of the trip, I sorely missed not going to Palouse and started working on a plan for it. 

So I came up with this idea to draw out the trip to be long enough that a single day trip would be tiring and the way to do that was that instead of going straight to Palouse like any sane person would, go north and then come down to East, where Palouse is. And instead of going west and straight home, go to the south and then go home. And well, since we are going south anyways, might as well go all the way to the West. And if we are already in the west, might as well loop the olympic peninsula before going home. 

So what could have been a 2 day plan was drawn out to be a 3 day plan. Day 1: reach Palouse in the East for sunset. Day 2: See Sunrise in the east, and reach the west coast for sunset and on Day 3, loop the Olympic Peninsula and go back home. I looked for an opportunity to do this trip for a couple of weeks but it did not happen because of either work or rain. The 4th of July weekend was coming soon, but I had planned a trip to Glacier national park with some friends, so it would not have been possible. The plan remained in paper, or rather as a vague instagram highlight on my profile. 

Fast forward to the 1st week of July. The preparation for Glacier National Park was made, but it fell apart on 1st July evening because some could not make it for the trip because of personal commitments and I was left without a weekend plan. I did not want to spend the long weekend at home. So on 2nd July, I picked up the old Washington Loop plan, dusted it and added some new way points (I was crushing on Ghost towns at the time), booked which ever stay was available at Palouse, WA and Arlington, OR (All the stays in Washington at the time was booked in the area). I booked a rental car (and I was happily – kind of – upgraded to an Audi Q7) and in one evening the plan was made. Camera was cleaned and charged, bags packed and I went to sleep early. The drive will begin on Friday early morning and I was excited for the drive.