Mount Rainier

by Rosemary

Mt. Rainier is an active volcano that last erupted more than 100 years ago. It is considered extremely dangerous; a major eruption would be deadly and would likely send smoke and ash throughout the entire area between San Francisco and Vancouver, BC.
The indigenous people called this mountain Tacoma or Tahoma. The ubiquitous George Vancouver named it after his pal Peter Rainier.

On our way up, we stopped at the Riffe Lake Overlook.

I liked this couple, driving through the park on a cool day with the top down.

There are beautiful views around every bend in the road.

The forest is lovely, but it can be hard to see when all those trees get in the way.

There are 25 glaciers on Mt. Rainier, although they are melting fast. The one most visible from the road, Nisqually Glacier, is shrinking 120 feet per year.

Nisqually Glacier drains into the Nisqually River. At this time of year, there isn't much water in the river. The width of the riverbed and the huge driftwood hint at the power this river will have when it fills with rain and meltwater in the spring.

Small as it looks now, the river runs pretty fast, and the bridge isn't much more than a log. We decided not to cross.

It's not possible to drive any closer to the top than an area called Paradise, about 15 miles from the summit. Here are sightseeing paths, colorful meadows and hillsides, small waterfalls, and the trails that lead serious hikers and climbers to the peak.

(This quotation is engraved on the staircase.)

At some point on the way home, the car decided Steve had done too much driving.

We were here in early October. The day was sunny; despite a prediction of 50F, the temperature was around 65F.

 

To Seattle and Beyond!

by Steve W

After leaving Portland, we headed north to Seattle. We had been there a couple of times before, but only for short periods. We hoped to be able to spend more time and see more this trip.

One of the things about Seattle is that there is one main freeway that runs through the city, which means that everyone has to use it. Even though we passed through about 1 PM, you would have sworn it was rush hour.

Rushing to lunch?

We settled into our hotel in Shoreline at the northern end of Seattle and had dinner. The next day we went to the Seattle Center, home of the Space Needle, Museum of Pop Culture (MOPOP), which was formerly the Experience Music Project, and Chihuly Garden and Glass.

Dale Chihuly is a world renowned artist who creates incredibly colorful and wild glass sculptures and pieces of art. He has had installations all over the world and this is the largest collection of his works.

Looks like a plant but is made of glass.

Someone is having a bad hair day.

The Seattle Center is a large park-like facility that has many features in addition to the ones listed above, and serves as the city's cultural center. On the day we were there, it hosted a Polish Festival, the Sikh Youth Association's 4th Annual Turban Day, giving away free turbans, and a beer festival.

After cruising the park, we took the monorail downtown, avoiding the traffic and parking issues, and went to Pike Place, the marketplace for fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and meats of various kinds, and arts and crafts designed and made by local artists. Pike Place is right on Puget Sound and near the football and baseball stadiums for the Seattle teams. One of the sights you can see from many parts of Seattle and the surrounding areas is the peak of Mt. Rainier. Here is a picture taken from the edge of the Sound, with the frame of a stadium in the foreground.

Across the street from Pike Place is the original Starbucks, with lines of people waiting to get in and others having their pictures taken outside.

The next day we went to Discovery Park, the city's largest park with miles of walking trails and access to the beaches on Puget Sound. It's a steep climb down to the beach on trails and lots of wooden steps and, as you might expect, a steep climb back up. Rosemary's Fitbit gave her credit for 31 staircases, but I gave her more credit just for getting up and down the steep stairs.

When we were there, it was low tide, so a large portion of the beach was exposed, as were the shells for some sea life. And still more great views of Mt. Rainier looming in the distance.

This could have been someone's dinner. Or maybe it was!

We went to Mercer Island the next day and visited a couple of the parks there. All very beautiful and peaceful. Walking along the shore of Lake Washington, there were signs about the quality of the fish in the lake and how often they could be eaten. Yikes!

Who said fish is good for you?

Next: off to San Juan Island and a visit with good friends and our former cats!