Wifenapping--August 22 and 23, 2011

No, this entry is not filled with pictures of me sleeping! When I got home from all of my visits, Tim whisked me away on a fun adventure together!

Can you guess where my sweetie took me?

Hints:

1. We did not need a plane.

2. We drove in the previa. (324,000 miles and still going!)

3. It is in the mountains.

Doesn't it remind you of a chalet in Europe? Silly people, the Previa can't swim or fly...

Tim decided we would visit places in Mr. Rainier National Park; no sleeping bags required! That's right folks, no sleeping bags required. He had RESERVATIONS :)!

First stop was National Park Inn atLongmire. Tim and I lounged out on the deck for a while (they had beverage services outside...posh),

Then we explored around the museum at the old gas station. Love those visible pumps that I see occasionally on TV. But our reservations weren't for this lodge... so we drove on up the road.

We stopped to look at Christine falls; it required a very short walk down the path. Pretty. My sweet man looks happy doesn't he?

Near the top of the climb to our destination for the night we passed these falls. Lots of water everywhere. It was a longer hike to the bottom to take some more pictures...

Tim liked this one of me. We got wet off the fall's spray. It was a nice warm day, so the spray felt good! Have you guessed yet where we stayed the night?

Paradise of course! We were up pretty high when I snapped this picture! Aren't the glaciers magnificent?

We stayed the night in Paradise Lodge. Tim had a hard time getting a reservation so we took what was available, but we moved the two twin beds together. The room was tiny and fun. The wall is 6" from the end of the bed! Bathrooms and showers were down the hall! (giggle and snicker)

So the accommodations included a bathrobe and shower slippers! (And yes we did use them----awkward, but a fun memory----actually the showers were very nice!)

Even had the towels done up all fancy! There WAS a sink and mirror in the room. Some of the rooms had bigger beds and bathrooms in them, but I liked ours!

View of the Tatoosh mountains out of our room window.

We could have had dinner in the dining room, but we opted for sandwiches on the deck with a view of the Tatoosh again! ---Had this three layered cookie bar for desert; it was yummers.

View of the Tatoosh Mountains that are opposite Mt. Rainier. Beautiful! We tried to hike up the mountain in the evening light, but the weather moved in very quickly and we got damp! So it was time to hang out in the lodge with everyone else that was staying the night. It was funny watching people entertain themselves without modern technology. Mostly an older crowd, but there were families there too.

The inside main floor of the lodge. This picture doesn't really capture the feel of the place, but it was very national park. No TV, no cell service, no radios, nada. To the right there is a piano from the 1930's (covered in wood log trimmings). A guy sat there probably three hours playing show tunes. Gave it a nice atmosphere. There were two huge fireplaces and lots of seating. We ended up being in the upstairs gallery for much of the evening...

At night it was very romantic, with enough lighting for reading, which I did, Tim read his map and watched people until we got sleepy. We had some yummy hot chocolate too. We snuggled on the couch for a while too.

Next morning we gathered ourselves, ate a very nice breakfast in the dinning room then went about exploring the mountain. This is the inside of the NEW visitor center. They board up all of the windows in the winter. Lots of snow up there!

The snow has been very slow to leave the mountain so we weren't sure how far we would get. These falls were a pretty side trail...

End of the trail. After a short hike of maybe a mile and a half, the trail was basically all snow. It was eerie hiking and not being able to see the mountain; talk about blue screen... it was like you wouldn't know it was there, it was so enshrouded with clouds.

So we stopped since I was hiking with a bum foot and tennis shoes. As we came down we watched the Marmots play and the mountain climbers (about 20) head up to Camp Muir and then make their assent to the top of the mountain in the morning. Tim said that 10,000 climbers start for the top with only about half actually getting to the top, the rest turn back. The group that passed us had a guide.

Pretty scenery everywhere. --wildflowers were just coming out on top as the snow was receding. Much of the snow probably will not melt this year!...mountain Lupines...

A tiny waterfall

Near the bottom there were flowers, so we took the opportunity to document this years crop...

...paintbrush, asters, lupine, and several that I did not know the name of...

Climbers hut near the lodge...

Bear grass is the big white flowers to the mid-left. Tim's favorite....lots of avalanche lillys too..

As we left Paradise and made our descent to continue our explorations, we noticed the changing face of the mountain...

By Reflection Lake it peeked out for us...

Near Box Canyon, Rainier was boom, right to our right, and Mt Adams was to our left, boom!

It was 115 feet from where I took this picture on a bridge to the bottom of the slot. Pretty. Imagine being a hiker in the old days coming upon this and wondering how you were going to get around it!

Neither one of us had ever been to Sunrise so we traversed the park to see what it looked like there! Wow!

6,400 feet up and tons of wildflowers in the alpine meadows! (Rainier is 10,414 feet up)

There was a telescope out on the patio and you could see the people climbing the mountain from this side. I learned that Rainier is an active volcano. At the top there is a crater and when people climb to the top they warm themselves near the vents around the edges (if they can stand the sulfur smell.) Way cool stuff!

The buildings at Sunrise, remind me of old forts that I have visited.

View out the visitor center's window at the mountain. Wouldn't you love to have that view out your window...until it was buried with snow...

Inside the building. It was old, but had been recently refitted and re-floored. This particular park seemed to be less visited. It was way nice, with flower filled alpine meadows, just about 360 degrees all around. (video)

Rainier is in front of me, we are way up there!

Another view of Mt. Adams. On a clear day you can see, Baker, Glacier, Rainier, Adams, Mt. St. Helens from this location. Wow talk about a ring of fire! And those are just the Washington volcanoes!

On the way down the mountain (we saw Big Foot), there was this little guy digging in a rotting tree stump; my first bear in the wild, even if it was a cub, I will count it! No mama bear in site but you know she was near!

What a fun overnighter we had. Although we were prepared to camp out one night, we decided to come home to complete some home tasks that were needed. I painted the front door black, Dad mowed the lawn and watered and worked on a project he needed to have done for work Thursday.

I loved being wife-napped sweetie, you can do it anytime! Thank you for a blissful couple of days with just you and me! Maybe next time I should leave my book at home?

XOXO