Thursday, August 6, 2009

Next stop Mt. Rainier, and then home for me :(

From GNP we drove west towards Mt. Rainier National Park and I was very surprised at how dry the climate was in western Washington. It was kind of a quiet drive as we both knew that our awesome road trip was coming to an end. Jacob and I headed into Mt. Rainier National Park and had already decided on either Cougar Rock camping area or Sunshine Point. When Jacob asked the park ranger at the gate whether either of these camping areas were full yet she said "Oh, Sunshine Point washed away in 2006." So, needless to say we headed to Cougar Rock. By the way, how does an entire camping area wash away? Where does it go? Mt. Rainier is an active volcano that is prone to mud slides and could erupt at anytime (according to the information on the park map). We headed towards the camping area and it was a beautiful, clear blue sky so we had a great view of Rainier. After picking our campsite we didn't have much time left so we toured the visitor's center and went on a short hike up the mountain. We were graced by a fantastic view of the mountain and its many glaciers. We were also pleased to smell the abundance of wildflowers along the trail. We then headed back to the tent and bought some hot dogs to cook on the campfire. Jacob asked the couple next door for some ketchup. It was an older couple staying in an RV and they had a cat that was so big it needed its own chair to sit in. But, we got the ketchup and were able to enjoy the hot dogs. After dinner we played the Warner-Kuperstock all time card game; Egyptian War. I actually won a game or two for the first time "since 1992".

The next morning we headed to Seattle and to the airport. There was an appropriate amount of fog in the air. We ate breakfast and then Jacob dropped me off at the airport. Have fun at Sequoia National Park Jacob, I had a blast and I will remember our trip always. Good Luck at Stanford School of Medicine!

P.S. After looking at every car we could find the only license plate to elude us was Rhode Island. This is kind of funny but at the very beginning I had told Jacob that it was one we probably wouldn't see. If only Peter Griffin and family had been taking a road trip too... 49 out of 50 ain't bad!




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