From Rain to Shine in Sequim, Washington
Last fall, my mom and step dad packed up and moved from Boise to the (true) Pacific Northwest: the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. They left in search of a slight change in lifestyle and because they are avid sailors. I hadn't had a chance to visit them until a work trip brought me to Seattle this week. I flew up to Seattle a few days prior to the start of my meeting and caught the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island to meet up with my parents and explore a bit of their new home.
On a chilly and rainy day, our first outing took us to Graysmarsh Farm in Sequim (pronounced SKWIM) for U-pick strawberry picking...except we discovered that the farm was closed due to being picked out the days prior! Boo! It was something I was looking forward to, so that was a bummer. With that plan foiled, my mom and I headed over to the Happy Valley Alpaca Ranch for Dyefeltorspin (get it?). Turns out it was their annual alpaca shearing day!
Have you ever seen (or heard) alpacas waiting to be sheared? Those poor things were basically begging all the visitors to let them out of the pen! Haha. They actually don't hate the shearing that bad; they hate it at the beginning and then most of them calm down when they realize how much weight (and heat!) they're losing. ;) The younger alpacas fight it more than the older alpacas do!
After watching the shearing of a couple of the alpacas (including one that was heavily pregnant, which you could easily see after she was sheared) and picking up some dryer balls made out of alpaca fiber, we ventured back outside to pouring rain. We snapped a few photos before calling it good—it was so cold and raining heavier every minute—and heading back home to warmth.
Of course, the skies cleared a couple of hours later, so we ventured back out with my parents' goofy labradoodle, Marley, in tow for a quick frolic along the beach. There are actually very few public beaches along the peninsula; most are privately owned by whoever happens to live in front of that section of beach. Not a bad deal for the homeowners! My parents don't live on the water but they're only a short drive away. We could see the San Juan Islands and Vancouver Island (in Canada) from shore and watched as more storm clouds rolled in.
Marley found himself a nice stick on the beach, which was absolutely littered with shells of all shapes and sizes. The waves were nearly nonexistent; the setting with the pine trees and calm water felt more like a lake than the salty Strait of Juan de Fuca that leads out to the Pacific Ocean.
I checked the forecast prior to the trip, so I felt like I was going to be prepared with plenty of long-sleeved tee options, a variety of jeans/pants, a sweatshirt, a cardigan, a sweater blazer, my trench coat, and my shiny new Hunter chelsea boots. I should have packed more warm layers! 50-60 degrees felt really cold after a week of near-90s back in Idaho, haha. It didn't help that it rained three of the six days I was here (two of those in Sequim, where it was about 10 degrees colder than Seattle).
I originally planned to wear this outfit sans the sweatshirt, but I'm glad I added it last minute, especially since it stormed at the alpaca ranch and felt much colder with the wind! The sweatshirt allowed my striped tee to peek out from the wrists and the hem so you could still kind of see the look I was going for. ;) I'm so happy my new Hunter boots showed up in time to bring them with me! They're perfect for the summer months, even though it felt much more like early spring in Sequim, haha. I probably should have brought my packable down coat in hindsight...
OUTFIT DETAILS
Ellen Tracy coat / old; similar by Halogen or Tommy Hilfiger
Everlane sweatshirt / exact (review here)
Uniqlo tee / old; similar by Marks & Spencer
Madewell jeans / old; similar
Hunter boots / exact (also available from Nordstrom)
Moorea Seal sunglasses / old; similar by Le Specs
Dior Addict Lip Glow in pink / exact