Although I have been there before, this visit to Mt. Rainier was truly spectacular. On our way we stopped to have a picnic at Alder Lake. We sat down at one picnic bench and set up our meal, only to be swarmed by bees. No problem we thought, we'll go sit at the next picnic bench. Nope, the bees followed us. Ok fine, we'll skip the picnic benches in the woods and go down by the water. We found another picnic area, complete with more benches! Yay! Nope...... the bees had followed us all the way down there too! Ugh! So back to the car we went. We ate our picnic in the car! We had to if we wanted to enjoy it without the sound of bees swarming around your head. This is Alder Lake. See why we wanted to picnic there!
So after we ate, we continued on with our journey to Mt. Rainier. There is a place on the mountain called Paradise. That is where we were headed. On our way we saw a church on the side of the road. It had the greatest sign I had ever seen on a church. More on that later. We found our way to the entrance to the park, and went in. -Side note- I didn't know it cost $15 per car to get in. And that ticket is good for a week! -End side note- We started our ascent up the mountain. First we came to this really cool waterfall. We stopped to take the following pictures.
Then as we climbed the trail back up to our car, Sydney came across this cool tree sticking out of the side of the ground, and they all wanted to take this pic with it.
After that we continued on up the mountain. As we were winding some turns we came across a mother deer with her fawn. They were so close to the car and didn't even care that we had slowed down to take these pics of them.
Isn't that truly astounding! That must be why is quote was written on the steps leading to the trails.
So, we hiked around for bit, all the while I was taking more stunning shots of the mountain side. Finally, we were all pooped so we walked back down the trails to the visitor center.
Sydney is such the drama queen, isn't she? Hee hee hee.
While we were at the Visitor Center the girls got some booklets from the park rangers, so they could fill them out to become Junior Park Rangers themselves! Each one had to do a certain amount of activities in said book in order to earn their certificate and badge. Yes, a real shiny one! (Plastic, but shiny nonetheless.) So a fast as their little fingers could, they filled out these very informative and educational booklets. And the best part is that they were age appropriate, meaning Sydney's was harder than Kassie's, which was harder than Madeline's! The girls really seemed to be enjoying doing their badge "homework." After they all had completed the books, we took them back to the park ranger to verify them. He looked each of them over and proceeded to do the paperwork for each of the girls certificates. He made them take the "Junior Ranger Oath" and then presented them each with a badge and certificate.
They were so proud! After that we went to the gift shop and bought a few things. We were tired and hungry from all that walking, so we got back in the car and began our descent down the mountain. Outside the park, a few miles down, we found this quaint place to eat called Copper River Inn. The place was packed! But we waited and it was definitely worth it! Great food! With stuffed bellies, we continued on, until Andy and I remembered a place we had passed on our way up. It was an ice cream place with over 24 flavors of Soft Serve! So we stopped there (of course) and each got a different flavor! Yummy! After that, we got back in the car. I knew I wanted one more picture before we went any further. A few yards down, there was the church I was telling you about earlier. I asked Andy to stop so I could take a picture of it. This sign just couldn't ring more true. Take a look.
Isn't that cool!?! I thought so. Well, that was our awesome adventure this week. I can't believe only 2 more weeks before school starts! I am on top of it though, and have already bought all their school supplies and clothes! Yay me!
Until next time, take care!
And the last picture is the view from the top. Our car was but a tiny speck from way up there! All in all, it was a fun time, and I'd love to do it again soon. If you are ever up there, we rode at Eagle Creek Ranch in Leavenworth. They are fantastically priced, have awesome horses and have a very kind family that runs it. You should check them out.
