The Adventure begins

Jeff and I left Eugene at noon and headed north for Mt. Rainier National Park.  We got to Cougar Rock campground at about 6 and set up camp. The campground was quiet clean and uncrowded and the weather was overcast but warm.  Jeff made a delicious dinner and later, made conversation with our neighbor in the next camp.  His name was Marco.  He is a native of Greece who is currently living in Amsterdam.  He joined us at our campfire and we turned him on to the uniquely American delicacy---S'Mores!  It was a very interesting evening.  Finally the wood was gone and the fire burned down and we climbed into our little home and settled down for the evening.

J and K Adventures finally on the road

Our Home on the road

The next day when we woke up there were sprinkles of rain.  After an omlette and lots of coffee, Jeff taught me how to play backgammon......of course he beat me.  We packed up and headed for Paradise (no really....the name of the town at the base of Mt. Rainier is called Paradise.  On the way we were amazed at the scenery.....waterfalls, rivers, glaciers, and the huge hulking Mt. Rainier which kept his summit hidden in clouds.  We stopped at the Paradise Lodge for lunch.  On our way down the Mountain, we took a hike to some old growth trees. They were huge old Cedar and Douglas fir trees.  Amazing!

One of the falls we saw

Part of the Tatooche Range--Across from Mt. Ranier

The Paradise Lodge

After our hike, we had a lovely drive down the east side of the cascades.  Each turn in the road revealed amazing vistas.  Finally we found ourselves in Naches where we got a bag of fresh dark cherries to enjoy on the road.  Originally, we were going to try to get to Idaho on Tuesday, but after all the driving, walking, hiking and driving, we decided to stop in Ellensburg for the night.  We head east on I-90 tomorrow.....headed for Spokane and a campsite somewhere in the panhandle of Idaho. The shower felt really good at the Nite Inn. K

Kathy covered things fairly thoroughly but I do have to add that if you have never visited Mt. Rainer Park, then it is a must to add to your bucket list.  Tons of wild life, thousand year old tree's, waterfalls around every turn, friendly folk and lots of warm feelings. If I wrote a script for the past two days, I couldn't write it better. J