Mount Rainier

My husband and I visited the Washington/Oregon area for our 40th wedding anniversary in June.  We saw so many beautiful places but Mount Rainier was my most favorite.  It seemed to pop up and then disappear again through out our 900 miles of road trips.  At 14, 410 feet you would think it would never disappear.

It first appeared outside our airplane window.  My husband spotted it sticking up above the clouds and took this amazing picture. 

 Of course if the mountain was above the clouds we did not see it again until the next day when the clouds cleared.  Then looking across the Puget Sound from our balcony at the Marriott Waterfront Hotel we discovered it behind the ferries and boats of the harbor.




On our way from Seattle to Portland we made a side trip to visit Mount Rainier.  The mountain would come in and out of view as we traveled the 80 miles from Seattle to the entrance of the Mount Rainier National Park.

 

The base of the mountain is thickly wooded with huge trees and lots of ferns and moss.  On our way towards the top we came upon some beautiful waterfalls.

There were great places along the way to pull off the road and take some wonderful pictures and just hang out.

Eventually we found ourselves surrounded by snow even though it is the middle of June. The Road Closed sign ended our drive to the top.

After our trip back down the mountain we were ready for a late lunch.  We stopped at a really cute cafe at  Copper Creek Inn and had a delicious lunch of fish chowder and beef stew. 
 
But that was not the end of our fun with Mount Rainier.  We continued our trip on to Oregon and spent three beautiful days around Portland, the Columbia River Gorge, and the Oregon coast.  On our way back to the Seattle area to catch our flight home, Mount Rainier popped up in our view while driving through the capital city of Olympia and then many times as we came to Tacoma.  Our last evening in the area found us accidentally stopping to eat at the Cliff House Restaurant since I totally got lost finding the restaurant we had intended to visit.  This was our view from our table.  Not such a bad mistake after all!

Then there was one more chance the next day to say good bye to this beautiful mountain from the window of our airplane.  What a wonderful trip!