One day last week Rich and I decided it was time to go to Mount Rainier. I love seeing it in the distance and have wanted to drive over to see it up close since we got here. We checked the weather forecast to see if it was supposed to be a nice, clear weekend (after the Mount Rushmore debacle, we knew seeing something high on a cloudy/foggy day wasn't much fun!) and it was! We decided Saturday would be the day.
I made a mental plan of all the things to pack (sweats for the ride home in case we got wet, rain coats, food for a picnic, dog toys and treats, you'd think we were going for a week!) and we went to bed. Sadly, we woke up in the morning to find it cloudy. We had read about an arts festival in a town at the bottom of the mountain and decided that that would be our destination and if we couldn't see the mountain, at least there would be something to do. We also staked out at 32 acre dog park along the way for our furry friends, to offset the long day in the car. And, to make sure they were comfy, I made them a fort in the back of the Honda Fit, much like Otis's fort across the country.
Usually when you are heading off the peninsula you can see Mt. Rainier rising majestically in front of you. Yesterday, you wouldn't even know there was a mountain over there...just thick gray clouds. We drove the first hour and got to the dog park. It's called "Grand View" and boasts a fantastic view of Rainier. Well, you know all we saw was those gray clouds! People are very chatty at dog parks. You always have to tell them what kind of dog you have, how old it is, ask them what they have, etc. In the midst of one of these conversations, I mentioned to the woman that we were headed out to the mountain. She looked at me and said "you know, it's better on a clear day..." Oh, really? After an hour of running we packed them up and headed out. The next hour was fun with good conversation but no hope in the sky. I knew we were getting closer and closer and that I should be able to see it the whole time and I was starting to feel pretty disappointed. As we came into the town of Ashford, we saw the sign for the arts festival and followed the arrow in that direction. It was a very small town with an old country store, the stop for the scenic railroad dinner tour that goes up into the mountain (well be doing that the next time) and old railroad cars turned into a cute restaurant. After we had passed that, we realized that we were out of town and had missed the arts festival. But we also noticed that just ahead of us the clouds stopped in a perfectly straight line and that it clear and sunny ahead!!!
Into the Mt. Rainier National Park we went and very soon got our first glimpse of the peak. It was stunning! We hadn't planned on going into the park in any of our conversations because we didn't really know what it would be. Luckily, we did because it was beautiful! It wasn't crowded and it was really just a nice drive up into the mountain. Along the way we stopped and looked at every point of interest. There were water falls and river beds and views of the peak and, finally, the alpine meadow that we had chosen as our final destination, called Paradise. We spent about four hours driving around to all of these sights. As the sun started to go down, we headed back down the mountain. Just as we hit the last viewpoint, we could see the clouds rolling back in. By the time we hit the bottom where we had seen our first view of the peak, the clouds had completely hidden it! It was one of the best un-planned trips ever! We bought the dogs some hot dogs at the country store (somehow in all my packing I had forgotten to pack their kibble!) and then we ate our dinner at the train car restaurant and relived our beautiful day! I hope you like these pictures!
