Mounthaven Cabins, Trailer and RV Park Ashford

Thursday we took a day trip to Mount Rainier. We started on the eastern side at the Sunrise lookout point and then at the Sunrise Visitor Center. The views are spectacular of course, but I really had no idea how impressive it ...

... and he’s a bear. He’s above me on the ridge but he starts to head my way, I’m excited but then I ask myself, where’s mom? I keep one eye on the baby and the other on the surrounding woods in case I need to make a quick getaway.

Heading upward a couple of more miles I reach one of the smaller summits and I can grab this shot ...

... and mud. (It made us feel, "outdoorsy!") There's a real magic to being in the heart of a forest, watching the birds check you out and spying various animal tracks in the dirt. We encountered a black-tailed deer on our hike, although I wasn't able to get a good picture of it. But there's a certain point where the "magic" turns into "where the Hell are we and why haven't we reached the campground that was supposed to be less than a mile ...

... and headlamps on, we started out across the Cowlitz Glacier. The push to the top consists of five one to one and a half hour sections with four breaks. The second section was the toughest and included the climb up the Disappointment Cleaver, a section of rock that protrudes from the mountain and separates the Ingraham Glacier from the Emmons Glacier. The climb up the Cleaver is pretty steep (by regular folk ...

... yesterday. Well $30US.. and they are much more comfortable - seeing the sole on these aren't flapping in the wind. Oh, I want to go back to the market today to see if there is anything else I want. I bought a cute little painting of 2 dragons. I checked out the science fiction musuem. It was great, I loved it. It was even better because Hel went into the science museum she was excited by next door - so we could both just move through at our own pace. Not ...

... for our classes in Germany (which will be taught in English) and my initial reading has given me an idea of what to expect with classes, many hours of in-depth study and discussion accompanied by an itinerary of walking-tours (I hope I can get the itinerary up here, it is quite expansive and fun looking!). My latest read is Stasiland which chronicles victims of the GDR (East Germany) Stasi police state by going through ...

On my way back to the midwest, I got to spend a day with my cousin Ingrid and her family in Seattle. I was going to visit before, but stomach flu had gotten Hailey (Ingrid and Sky's daugter) and threatened the rest of the house. We decided that it would be best to come after Orcas Island. That time had come and I got to Seattle. Turns out that the flu ...

... a stop at the Calafia Hotel. The hotel has info on the early missions and patios with great views of the ocean. We had a drink there and enjoyed the sunshine. A nice place for chillin' by the sea. Back to TJ to gather our stuff before heading back across the border to Chula Vista. Tony had to leave to get back to El Segundo for work. It was great of him to drive me all around to see my friends. Marcela and I went to the marina for sunset. It got a bit cold out (I ...

... t late we would walk to the Motel we had booked for 2 nights. Walking to the Motel was an experienc in itself! We thought Vancouver was over populated with homeless people and drug addicts but Seattle really opened our eyes. The 20 minute walk seemed like an eternity..one guy shouted some abuse to me as I was crossing the road! There were literally no normal people around and it was quite a scary experience! We dropped our heavy ...

... what can we say about Yakima, Washington, if you ever get the chance to go....DON'T BOTHER!!!! This place sucks. It was very hot with not much to do and downtown was decidedly dodgy. This time we rented a Kabin which was good and it sat by a little duck pond. We purchased a fishing rod kit for $20 and I passed some time fishing. I caught a small perch ...