Mt. Rainier- West- Part 1 (9-5-24)

 After resupplying in the small town of Packwood, and doing laundry, we headed to the western section of Mt. Rainier National Park. This area is called the Paradise Corridor. 

At the entrance to the park there was someone selling cherries from a table. Clever idea, since the line to get in the park was very slow, so people had time to jump out of their cars, buy the cherries, and jump back in before they moved too far. We took advantage and bought some ourselves- they were very good- so good we stopped for more a few days later.

This side of the park also has timed entry, but our campground is inside the park this time, so our reservation is our ticket to get in.

Day 1

It didn’t take us long to set up so we went off to explore the Longmire area of the park. This national historic district has a small museum, and a hotel with a restaurant that was built in 1926.  We ate at the restaurant twice during our stay, and the weather was finally nice enough to sit outside both times.

(this is me, taking a totally crappy,  fast picture with my phone).

The area was first developed by James Longmire in about 1886 when he discovered the nearby hot springs, and bought the land. He set it up as a tourist destination, raised his family here, and after his death the land was sold to the national park. The best part about this area is that they have Wi-fi, and its only two miles from our campsite.

From there, we drove 13 miles in the other direction, to the Paradise corridor, stopping at some viewpoints along the way. The most impressive was Christine Falls. It’s right near the road, so, easy to visit.

At this point, we have yet to actually see Mount Rainier, although the ranger assured us the weather should be clear enough tomorrow to see it.

The first thing we noticed up at Paradise is that this is the BUSY part of the park.

Even though there is tons of parking, the closest spot we could have parked was over half a mile from the visitor center. We didn’t need to see anything that badly so we left it for another day. We did take advantage of the cell service to do whatever we needed.

Day 2

With a zoom meeting scheduled for 1 pm, we elected to hike a short-ish trail in the morning. In fact, the trail to Carter Falls is accessible from our campsite so we didn’t have to drive anywhere. Once we were in the open, we got our first clear view of Mt. Rainier!

This is when we could see the steam escaping at the top.

The trail starts by crossing the Nisqually River.

It continues through the woods to the falls. Paul was really impressed with the old wooden water pipe, wrapped in metal. It has to be over a hundred years old. I enjoy these types of trails- the only sound is the water running in the river, and there are no bugs.

The falls themselves weren’t very impressive, and it was hard to get a good picture of them . We continued a little further and turned around when we got to Madcap Falls.

Done with the hike, we headed up to the Paradise area again. All we needed was cell signal, so once we had it, we parked. We thought we would grab lunch at the inn up here, but the place was so crowded we skipped it.

Day 3

Today was a bit of a “push” hike for us. We hiked 5.5 miles r/t up the Rampart Ridge, with a total of 1300 ft of gain. The stone columns are called ramparts. 

The views weren’t really worth all the effort, but we got a good workout. The name of the ridge sparked a hilarious conversation between us about the words to the national anthem. We both drew a blank on some of the lines (mostly the one with “rampart” in it- but luckily we had cell signal at the top of the ridge, so I “googled” it).

After eating lunch at the camper, we had to go into town to get propane. We have a leak in a hose, so we are going through it pretty fast. It was a long drive but we had no choice (we took advantage and got more cherries).

Day 4

Sometimes we don’t realize how much we depend on our cellphones/electronics to stay connected. Right now we are hyper aware- we had to find someplace that actually sells propane, and we were trying to make plans to spend the day with our friends Liz and Randy, who happen to be in the area. Anything we need cell signal or internet for, requires us to drive somewhere. Liz and Randy were trying to get timed entry into the park but we wouldn’t know if they did or didn’t. We gave them our campsite information and said we would just wait there until they showed up.

Once they did, we were off and running. We stopped by to get another look at Christine Falls, and stopped at several of the viewpoints as we drove deeper into the park. Our goal was to hike from Reflection Lake to Narada Falls.

 
We actually didn’t have to hike to the falls, its right on the road, but we wanted to hike. The weather was absolutely perfect, with bright blue skies as a background for the mountain. Later in the day a few low hanging clouds started to develop.

The trail wasn’t very crowded, but that’s not to say we were all by ourselves…

We hung around Narada Falls for a bit- long enough to get a selfie, of course.

Along the 3.5 mile trail there was plenty to see-

We also got our first glimpse of Mount Adams in the distance.

Done with exploring, it was back to the camper for dinner…and margaritas. And then it was time to say goodbye, for now.

Obligatory Winter Post (01-23-23)

 Pretty much every winter now, I first decide I am not going to write a blog post, then I change my mind, and then the post becomes HUGE because I try to fit everything I want to say in one post.  This year is no exception.  I am writing it sooner though, because we are actually on the road now, exploring. 

Once we arrived home after our White Rim Road trip in late October,  several things happened. Liz and Randy arrived soon after us, so you would think the partying would have begun.  Well, it did, for a short while.

In early November Paul and I left for California to help friends Kirk and Karen celebrate their new cabin with an Open House.

Its always a fun time with Paul’s fraternity brothers, but when we got back home a few days later, we both tested positive for Covid. 

Of course we isolated ourselves, and Liz and Randy were kind enough to drop meals off to us on the back deck, saving us from having to cook.

Once we were recovered, we took two trips to El Paso to see Paul’s mom.  She had doctor/dentist appointments and we prefer to be there for those.  We weren’t missing much in Havasu- the weather was so cold and windy, we never heated the pool after coming home from our summer trip, and we never got a chance to take out the boat.

We were very happy that we were recovered  in time for Thanksgiving. Paul’s brother and his wife came in their RV, and brought their grandson for the weekend.  I think he had a great time being the only kid around all of us adults.

It always makes us happy when our Jess comes to visit, and this time she brought her boyfriend, so it was double nice!

Adults Only entertainment included a trip to our favorite country bar- in fact we actually went there a couple of times before Christmas.

We decided to skip the Christmas Boat Parade this year, but we did walk around the London Bridge, to enjoy the Christmas lights.

December brought more illness- first Liz and Randy were sick, and then Paul was sick again.  It wasn’t Covid this time, but it lasted quite a while.  So, we were back to isolating for a while. The weather was still very cold and windy for the most part, so there wasn’t much to do anyway.

With the empty “cold and flu” shelves in the stores, we knew we weren’t the only sick ones in town.

Everyone was finally healthy just in time for Christmas. And the weather improved too- for a couple of days anyway.

It was actually warm enough to eat outside on Christmas- a nice perk. By this time our Canadian friends Brad and Marilyn had arrived, and Jess was back again.

New Years brought the Californians, and we had quite the party!

Once things got quiet again, we made an executive decision- it was time for a road trip!  Lake Havasu is a lot of fun, but we are tired of the wind and the cold so the 4 of us decided to leave.

The one thing we never get tired of though, is the sunsets!

Autumn In Havasu (12-19-21)

 I think, actually, that when using the word autumn in relation to Havasu, it really needs quotes-“Autumn” in Havasu is more like summer in the rest of the country.

Once we were settled in to the house, we spent our time in our usual manner- partying, and projects.

Soon after we arrived home we were joined by our friends Liz and Randy. Every warm and calm day we had was spent on the boat.  Although the water was starting to cool off, it was still warm enough to laze around in the lake.

Other warm days were spent in the pool.

One of the things we like about Havasu is that there is always something going on- our outings included:

Live music at the local bars---(our favorite bar is too crowded, so we avoid that one)

… car races at the local track…

And, of course, no autumn would be complete ( for me) without football.

My cousin Linda decided that since she is working remotely, it was worth the trip from Phoenix to Havasu to spend a week enjoying the weather and company.

At the end of October, Paul and I made the trek to Fresno for the wedding reception for the son of one of his fraternity brothers.  In typical Covid fashion, the actual wedding took place the year before. It was a great weekend with our California friends.

Thanksgiving this year was quieter than usual, but Jess came, and its never totally quiet when she is here!

She expressed interest in shooting when an outing was suggested, so we all went to the outdoor shooting range, where she first got a gun safety lesson before being handed the first gun.

She did pretty darn good for a novice…

By the end, she had shot 6 different guns.

On the project side of things, there wasn’t anything major being done- except Randy re-caulking his rig. Luckily the weather was warm enough that he could use the “dunk in the pool/work, dunk in the pool/work” method.

Paul and I have been working on going through all of our old family papers and photos.  A major chore, and it is one of those things that won’t get done in one sitting.  I found a picture of my grandfather that I had never seen before. He died long before I was born.

We have been in buying mode lately and one of our purchases classified as a project as well.

We drove to Fresno to pick up a new saw Paul bought.  He has many many tools and saws already, but this one is particularly nice and as a perk, he got to sell some of his other tools.  The project part was getting it off the trailer and into the garage. It weighs well over 500 lbs.  He used the winch on the Teryx to coax it off the trailer.

Our two other major purchases were “mine”.  I finally decided what I want for  new furniture for the back patio, and bought it.  I love my new space, and weather permitting, that’s where you will find me. It makes a very comfortable space for coffee or happy hour.

With Covid going nowhere anytime soon, I decided that I am not going back to a gym anytime soon. I already bought an elliptical, but I wanted something for upper body. After a ton of research, we drove up to Vegas to pick up a used functional gym.