Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks in the fall
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After we found out that there are some flights from Willard (a regional airport in Champaign) that are inexpensive, we started flying out from here instaead of Chicago. We got a really good price of plane tickets to Seattle, so we decided to go to more national parks! The two parks that we visited were Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks. We thought about going to North Cascade as well, but the time was limited so we planned to visit there next time. Visiting these two popular national parks in the fall was such a good choice–less crowd, nice weather, and fall foliage!
We began our trip on September 28, although we flew out of Champaign the evening before, on the 27th, and spent most of that night traveling to Seattle. Our first adventure was a visit to Olympic National Park, which spans a vast portion of Washington. The first stop within the park was Hurricane Ridge. My fiancé hadn’t quite prepared me for the length of the hike—I initially thought it would be a short walk. Instead, it took all my strength to reach the top. Despite the challenge, the view from the summit was absolutely breathtaking, and I couldn’t help but forgive him.
Our next stop was Port Angeles, where we enjoyed a poke bowl and some ice cream. Although I didn’t include a picture here, the ocean was a strikingly vivid blue.
From there, we drove to the Hoh Rainforest, another part of Olympic National Park. The rainforest was lush and incredibly mossy. Every tree was draped in moss and ferns, transporting us back to what felt like the age of dinosaurs. (And yes, my fiancé couldn’t resist channeling his inner child by role-playing as a T-rex.)
Just before sunset, we arrived at our final stop of the day: Ruby Beach. Although there are many beaches along the Pacific coast, we chose this one because it was the most well-known (as indicated on Google Maps).
We instantly fell in love with the beach. The sunset painted beautiful silhouettes across the landscape, and the mist added an ethereal quality to the scene. After soaking in the magical atmosphere, we left the beach once the sun had set and headed to a supermarket to pick up some sushi and noodles, bringing a perfect day to a close.
The next day, we began our adventure at the Paradise corridor in Mount Rainier National Park. The name couldn’t have been more fitting—it truly felt like paradise on Earth.
We spent time walking around, taking in the breathtaking views of the mountains and lush surroundings. One particularly adorable moment was spotting a groundhog gazing intently at the mountain, as if it, too, was marveling at the beauty of the landscape.
Next, we visited Reflection Lake (pictured below), but the water was not completely still, so the reflection wasn’t as clear as we had hoped. We also explored the Grove of the Patriarchs, a peaceful walk along a shallow creek. The atmosphere was incredible, and we were fortunate to have the area all to ourselves at that time.
Before wrapping up the day, we decided to visit the Sunrise Corridor. While it wasn’t as striking as the Paradise Corridor, it felt quieter and brought us closer to Mount Rainier, offering a different perspective.
We then returned to Seattle, enjoyed some amazing ramen, and endured a red-eye flight back to Champaign, marking the end of our trip.
Before this trip, I had never been to Texas or New Mexico. Initially, our plan was to visit only Big Bend National Park in southern Texas, near the border with Mexico. However, we stumbled upon a blog where the author mentioned that there are several other national parks not far from Big Bend. In fact, the area is home to four remarkable parks– Big Bend, Guadalupe Mountains, Carlsbad Caverns, and White Sands. Despite their proximity, these parks are incredibly distinct from one another. We thoroughly enjoyed exploring the unique natural beauty each had to offer.
Midwest surprisingly offers us many national parks to visit all year round. One of the national parks near Illinois is the Mammoth Cave National Park in Cave City, Kentucky. We rented a car from Champaign and drove around 5 hours, excluding small stops in Indiana. We had never been to Kentucky before, and we believe that not many international students had been there. Plus, this was the first time we visited a cave in the US, and we start with the world’s longest known cave system!
We’d been thinking of visiting South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore and Badlands national park for almost a year. Then an opportunity came when one of our friends gave us a buy-one-get-one-free coupon from Delta. We did not hestitate even a bit in buying two tickets for a round trip from Chicago to Rapid City, SD. Although it was an impulsive trip, we had a lot of fun observing the wildlife in the great plains of South Dakota and North Dakota.
Although Poy graduated from the Scripps-Oxford joint Ph.D. program in Biochemistry for half a year and already started working at UIUC as a post-doctoral researcher, his graduation ceremony was held way later in May 2024. His family also came from Thailand to attend his graduation ceremony in San Diego. We then spent over a week afterward traveling around the west coast, including California, Arizona, and Nevada. It was my first time (and his family’s first time) doing a road trip in the west coast. We enjoyed a huge variety of natural wonders that the west coast has to offer.