Two Mountains and a Wedding

This year, we were invited to Washington to witness our niece Kerissa marry Randy. While there, we took in a few sights.

Wednesday, June 29

We left Orlando on an early afternoon Delta flight to Seattle. It was nice to drive to the airport in the daylight, but there was some severe weather in the area and I thought our flight might be delayed. The flight was typical, right up until the end.

Approaching western Washington, the clouds were low, but the mountains were out. We were on the right side of the plane, so we didn’t have the killer view, but we could see hints of the peaks by looking through the windows on the opposite side of the plane. We approached Seattle from the southeast and I thought we were going to land to the north, but then we turned north and flew up the Puyallup Valley, past Lake Sammamish, over our old neighborhood, then around the north end of Lake Washington, back to Seattle. It was so fun seeing old the familiar sights once again.

Rays of light over Puget Sound

Thursday, June 30

For our first day, we decided to go visit Mt. St. Helens. Everyone was working, so we picked up Mom and headed to the mountains. At the intersection of I-5 and US-12, we had to make a decision. I haven’t been to Windy Ridge in a very long time, but it was too nice a day to not go to Johnston Ridge. Later, we found out that the road to Windy Ridge was still closed due to snow, so luckily, we made the right choice.

David and Susan at the entrance to Mt. St. Helens

The view from Johnston Ridge Observatory was spectacular. The last few times we drove up there, it was too cloudy to see anything. Not this time.

Mt. St. Helens from Johnston Ridge

We first walked down to the little gathering spot to listen to a Park Ranger explain the events of May 18, 1980. Then we went inside and watched the video presentation. Finally, we took a short hike up to the top of the ridge.

Next up was lunch. Mom offered to take us out to lunch at the Fire Mountain Grill. She was going on about how good the cobbler was. I tried my best to save some room for dessert, but I was too full. While we finished lunch, we could smell the cobbler baking. Between the wonderful smells and Mom’s recommendation, we decided that we’d better order a piece to go.

Fire Mountain Grill

Back in Chehalis, we dropped Mom off at my brother’s house and stayed to visit for awhile. I placed the cobbler next to my brother to torment him while we talked to everyone, including Randy. Apparently, Randy had been mowing the grass before we arrived and was anxious to finish it before dark, because, you know, you can’t leave it for the next day because then it would be uneven.

When we left, I grabbed my cobbler and headed for Safeway. I figured you can’t have cobbler without ice cream. We went to the ice cream row, but they didn’t have any one pint vanillas, so we ended up buying a half gallon, certain in the knowledge that we’d finish it off before the end of the weekend. Back in the motel room we heated up the cobbler and started  scooping out ice cream. Mom was right – the cobbler was fantastic!

Then we realized the mistake that we made. The room had a refrigerator, but the freezer was way too small to fit a container of ice cream. Also, there was no way that we could eat it all before bed. We ended up filling the empty cobbler bowl with ice cream, then we smashed the ice cream container as small as possible and managed to fit both in the tiny freezer.

Friday, July 1

Friday was Mt. Rainier day. The weather was not great. It was pretty much a typical Pacific Northwest day – gray, low clouds, and misty. But we know better than to let the current weather dictate our planning. Mom was busy with wedding preparations, so it was just the three of us. Along the route, things were not improving. I remembered Tom had mentioned that he’d be coming back from work along our route. Sure enough, I saw a white and green log truck pass in the opposite direction. Susan called him and he told us that the weather was clear just up the road near Morton. We continued onward with a renewed expectation of seeing the mountain in all its glory.

Within the hour, we were pulling up to the park. There was a bit of a line, but a Park Ranger walked up and asked about a National Park pass. We showed ours and she directed us past the line of cars and directly into the park.

Entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park

Our first stop was at Longmire. We stopped to get a map and we ended up discovering a road that had a narrow, one lane suspension bridge that crossed the river. We just had to go explore the new area.

Our next stop was Narada Falls. This has always been one of my favorite stops. The falls were spitting off a shower of cold mist that created a beautiful rainbow. The only problem was you had to get wet to see it! It was worth it.

Rainbow in the mist at Narada Falls

Our next long stop was at Paradise Inn. The parking lot was completely full, but we eventually found a spot to park. Andrew wanted to create a motion lapse video, so we found a good spot and set it up. It turned out amazing.

We had a quick lunch, then continued to explore the area. The area was still mostly covered in snow, but there were a lot of people hiking. With a good lens, we could see hikers all the way up at the base camp around 10,000 feet.

Mt. Rainier from Paradise

We then continued along the road towards the reflecting lakes. We stopped briefly a few times along the way before stopping again at Reflection Lake.

Susan and Andrew near Reflection Lake

Andrew wanted to create another motion lapse video, so he started setting things up. Meanwhile I walked further down the road to see if I could find a better viewing spot. And found one I did. Andrew stopped the camera and we drove to the next spot.

Mt. Rainier from Reflection Lake

Back in the car, we continued driving east. After a few miles, we reached a roadblock and had to turn around. It was time to go back and help prepare for the wedding.

We met the family in Tenino at an old building that was customized for special events. The tables were all out, but there was a lot of decorating to do. We pitched in and helped until we felt that it was as good as it was going to get.

On the way out, I was prepared to go straight back to the motel, but Aunt Cathy mentioned Dairy Queen. I’m not one to pass up ice cream, so we got in line and followed Tom to the nearest Dairy Queen.

Saturday, July 2

Saturday was Kerissa’s wedding day. The wedding was scheduled for the late afternoon, so we had some time in the morning. The plan involved arriving early for pictures, so we spent some time getting ready.

Part of the getting ready involved a first for Andrew. Andrew's facial hair was getting to the point that it was pretty obvious and visible. So, we decided it was time to do something about it. Andrew and I went into the bathroom, lathered up his face, and slowly and gently started shaving. Susan joined for this important milestone. It was a long process, and everyone was a little on anxious. Andrew completed the job with not a single cut.

After the shave, we got ourselves dressed up and headed for Tenino. We arrived early for pictures, but they weren’t ready for us, so we walked around town.

A few blocks away, we discovered a park with a little museum. The coolest part of the museum was what was parked outside. Right out by the street, we found a Great Northern caboose in pristine condition. Usually, they are wore out and rotted with the paint peeling off and the logos painted over. But not this one. We climbed up onto the deck and looked inside. It was as nice inside as it was outside.

David near a restored Great Northern caboose

We walked up the sidewalk to the museum and entered. It was quiet inside, but the door was unlocked, so we assumed it was open. We started looking around at the various train artifacts and eventually, we found the curator in the back. We started talking about the museum and the exceptional caboose out front. She told us that it was restored to factory specifications – the same wood, paint colors, and everything else. No wonder it looked like it just came from the factory.

About this time, we were texted to come back for pictures. We did the various group shots, then waited for the wedding to begin.

The wedding was very nice and intimate. After what seemed like 15 minutes, it was over and it was now time to eat and party. In lieu of a cake, Kerissa and Randy chose to have cookies and cupcakes.

Cupcakes and cookies at Kerissa and Randy's wedding

The party continued for several hours. It was great getting to hang out with all of Tom’s friends that I rarely get to see. It was also great to hang out with the newest member of our family – Aubree.

Aubree at Kerissa and Randy's wedding

Sunday, July 3

Sunday was hang-out-with-the-family day. We all went to Tom’s house and ate, watched TV, and rode around on his side-by-side. Lanna took Andrew for a ride and let him drive it back part of the way. Then Andrew and I went out again and he showed me where they went. When we reached the bottom of the hill and started to turn around to come back, I warning light came on and I shut it down. There we were, miles from home on a closed logging road, broke down. Luckily we had cell service. I called Tom and he suggested we let it cool off for 10 minutes, then try again. We did and the light was no longer on. Phew.

Later that day, we decided we needed to get out of the house, so we drove to Olympia. We parked near Capitol Lake and walked the full loop around. Then we drove up to the capitol building and walked around. Surprisingly, there was a few places where you can see Mt. Rainier, so Andrew raced the setting sun to try to get some pictures.

Washington capitol in Olympia

Monday, July 4

Monday was Seattle day. We had a redeye flight scheduled, so we had most of the day to do whatever we wanted. I had a few things on my list, and Susan wanted to spend time with a former co-worker. First we said our good-byes, then we headed north.

Our first stop was Cedar River Trail Park. This park is located next to Renton airport – home of Boeing’s 737 factory. We walked along the trail to the south edge of Lake Washington, then near the factory. It is so cool to see all the new planes, still in their protective green paint, with partially painted tails.

New Boeing 737's in Renton

Next we tried to stop at the Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park, but being the fourth, it was packed solid. We continued north and ended up in our old neighborhood. The plan was to do a quick drive through, but then we saw Al and Sue and had to stop. And since we were stopped, we also had to go visit Sook and Marty.

Eventually, we got back in the car and continued. It was time to eat, so I headed for one of my favorite burger joints – Kidd Valley. We ordered some food to go and took it to Log Boom Park, located at the north end of Lake Washington. We ate at a table near the water and hoped to see some Kenmore Air float planes arrive. Unfortunately, none were flying while we were there.

Menu at Kidd Valley

Next we drove to Ballard to drop off Susan at her friend’s house. Andrew and I continued up to Carkeek Park, where we walked in the woods, walked on the beach, and saw a train go by.

After a short stop, we continued on to the Ballard Locks. I love stopping there because there are so many things to see. The locks are usually busy with boat traffic, the railroad crosses the river over a drawbridge nearby, and there’s usually salmon swimming up the fish ladder. We saw all of that this time, plus an extra bonus. We saw a Sea Lion hanging out in the water.

It was starting to get late, so we picked up Susan and started working our way towards Sea-Tac airport. Along the way, we made one last stop at the Museum of Flight. The parking lot was barricaded, so I let Susan and Andrew jump out while I double parked nearby. They walked to the covered outside exhibit and took some pictures. When they returned, we drove to the airport and dropped off the rental car.

In the airport, we had some food that we needed to eat before going through security. As we ate, the security line nearest us closed for the evening. By the time we finished and were ready to be screened, several others had closed as well. We ended up walking to the opposite end of the airport to go through security, then walked all the way back again.

By now it was dark and we were hoping we might see some fireworks from the plane. We boarded our Alaska Airlines plane and waited for pushback. While waiting, we got to see several of the unique Alaska paint schemes, including my favorite, the salmon.

Salmon paint schema on Alaska Airlines 737

Our flight departed to the south. As we climbed out of Sea-Tac, we could see hundreds of small fireworks popping below us. As we turned east, we could also see a very faintly lit Mt. Rainier. What a cool final memory of our brief visit to the Pacific Northwest.