Reflecting lake at Mt. Rainier

Thursday, July 8, 2010

This is to be our last day in Seattle and Nina is able to take the day and spend with us. We decide to take a trip to nearby Mt. Ranier National Park, pronounced "rain-ear". Since we were taking our rented vehicle and not the RV, I had to actually pack food and drinks. There are some advantages to hauling this thing around this country. Our departure started about an hour later than we had planned, however, our attitude of not being on any schedule prevailed. Nina's plan was to make sure we saw a part of the park called Paradise. Sammy drove for quite some time before realizing we were halfway around the mountain on the opposite side of Paradise. He was quietly aggravated and just kept driving. The closer we got to the mountain and the higher the elevation, we were delighting in the fact that the outside temperature crept lower and lower. Before climbing to the cooler temperatures, we stopped and took a short hike and it was hot and uncomfortable. We could see the snow and were anxious to get there. Finally, we arrived in Paradise. We pulled out all our picnic paraphernalia and tried to enjoy. They made fun of the fact that I brought a table cloth until they saw the table, then they shut up. Pfffllttt!! That is the sound of me sticking out my tongue and, well, you know. The first thing we noticed was a sharp-beaked bird loitering around the picnic area. Nina HAD to mention that a bird of the same species was quite aggressive in an previous encounter. So now Addie is worried about this bird trying to get her food. The altitude here was so high, the unopened potato chip bags had expanded, as if someone filled them with air. While we were eating, and keeping our eyes out for attack birds, Addie kept complaining about bugs on her and her food. After about the third time of hearing, "there are microscopic ants crawling into the crevices of my bread", we checked it out. Sure enough, there were tiny ants all over her food. We quickly terminated our meal and checkout out the visitors center. The hill behind the visitors, the one covered in snow, was our ultimate goal while here. Nina hiked up the hill with the kids and Sammy and I practiced being old and stayed towards the bottom. The snow was melting rapidly and, while trudging the mountain, you could actually hear the water running underneath the snow. The snowmelt did make for beautiful waterfalls and rushing mountain streams. We would have pictures if we could have gotten Sammy to stop. By the time we left the park, we all had cold wet feet and loved it. We knew we were headed back to the heat and tried to soak up as much cold as possible. It amazes me that there is still snow in July. After spending the day in a rented vehicle, you can't imagine how thankful I am we are in an RV, even if it is a small RV. My biggest laugh of the day came when I tried to remove the headrest off Nina's carseat. She caught me and then we both started laughing, snorting and snotting. The kids stop fighting just long enough to quietly wonder what was so funny about that. When Nina and I were little and our family on vacation, we had to find ways of entertaining ourselves on the long car rides. We didn't have electronic devices so we invented our own version of fun. One thing we did, and let me apologize to Mama now, is remove the headrest from Mama's seat. It was a team effort and we were quite stealth in our manuevers. Once we had the headrest removed, we would almost burst waiting for Mama to try and lay her head back to rest. The second she made her move we got the laugh we had worked so hard for. We did it several times before she wised up and checked to make sure there was a headrest there before trying to lean back. Our poor mama, I think she might still love us anyway. Back to our day on Mt. Rainier, we left the park and Sammy got caught behind the slowest driver in Washington. I took a nap rather than have to listen to him rant. I was just sleepy, so I would have taken a nap, regardless. That driver did need to pull over and have some respect. Nina stayed and had supper with us at the campground and we said our goodbyes. It was good to see my sister in her neck of the woods.

Wild animals on the path or, as some might say, idiots

They were playing a game of "see-how-long-you-can-hold-your-hand-in-ice-water-before-crying". Nina's arthritis started kicking in so she gave up. The rest agreed to quit simultaneously.

Purple mountains majestic

Sammy had to have his feet in the snow on this record-breaking hot day

This was taken of one of the fallen trees in the park