My sister Andrea came to visit this past weekend from Maryland. We had a great time! We whale-watched, went to Hurricane Ridge, took a ferry to Whidbey Island, went through Deception Pass, walked around Seattle, and then chilled in Olympia for a few days. I'd never been whale watching, on a ferry around here, or at Deception Pass, so those were good times.

These are a couple of the orcas we saw. There were four or five swimming around - under the water for the most part. We didn't get any fancy breaching or swimming tricks. Bummer. After seeing about 4 orcas, we grabbed lunch in Friday Harbor:
Above the clouds on the way up to Hurricane Ridge:
No line on the horizon of the Puget Sound / Pacific Ocean:

At Hurricane Ridge: Deception Pass Bridge - Whidbey Island, WA Important Reminder:

Eagle Peak Trail

On Friday Matt, his friend Mateo, and I tried to hike to Eagle Peak, which is on the edge of Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park. It was overcast and cold, and the snow kept us from getting very far... so that was a bit disappointing. But we still had a fun time away from town and wandering around the woods. This is another hike that I'll have to try again when it's actually hiking season.