August: Part 9: Roadtrip: Mt. Rainier

Day 1: Drove to Mt. Rainier.

Day 2: Hiked in Mt. Rainier.

Dan had some time off for Independence day and I wanted to head off on a road trip. He wanted to relax at home. Instead of pouting about it I told myself that I would just go later without him. So about a week after we got home from Maine we took off again. I knew I couldn't handle three kids while hiking and camping so I recruited two girls from church to come with us.

First fuel stop--still happy.

First campground. We didn't stay in the same place twice and these girls became experts on setting up and taking down the trailer. Their record was 5 minutes. Notice how Stella is comfortable with the babysitters--this only lasted the first day. Then she would only let me do things for her, like zipping her jacket.

Camp Ohanapecosh/Lizzie & Jill
Our first hike. Silver Falls. Stella doubles as our special needs child.
Hike two. Christine Falls. Stella and one of her many refusals to pose for a photo. Sorry Stella, I'm just stating the facts (except that special needs part). But I'll give her a break since she threw up three of the six nights we were gone. She had reason to be grumpy and want to be carried on the hikes. She is a champion up-chucker and dry-heaver. Doesn't even cry. Good thing I brought lots of blankets. The tent-trailer has three beds. The plan was to have Chloe sleep with one sitter, Stella sleep with the other and Fred sleep with me. Well, Stella and Fred slept with me every night and Chloe even joined us once.
Hike three. Bench lake with Mt. Rainier in the back.
1. Hair in faces 2. Squinty eyes 3. A bit blurry
Big slugs at our second campground.