Pacific Northwest Trip Part 1: Mt Rainer

The first two weeks of August were spent in the Pacific Northwest, as Philip returned to his roots.  We flew to Seattle, via Los Angeles, which was a delight to the boys since we got to go to an extra state.  It also meant that they were able to see the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and Lake Mead out of the windows of the plane.

This is how the boys were for much of the flights.  So much to see!

We spent our first night at Philip's grandma's house, then as the weather was perfect the next day, we decided to go to Mt Rainier on the way down to the Oregon coast.  It was the right choice and the highlight of the trip for me!  I have been to Rainier two other times, but never on a day like this!

Snowfields in August.  The boys were pretty thrilled to get snow and beach on the same day!

What a sight, huh?

The three hikers.  We hiked up about a mile, but we all wanted to go further.  Time and lunch demanded that we come back down when we did though.

This is Mt Adams, another very tall Washington peak.  As we were hiking, Andrew kept saying 

"Wow...this  is amazing!"

This is where we turned around.  We were very high up!  To the right of Philip's head is Mt St Helens.

We descended on a different trail.  This side was very green and reminded me of the Alps

We had a great time!  Fortunately, while the hike up took 1:45, coming back down was only 30 minutes.  Good thing since it was 1:00 and we were all hungry!  After this we drove the 3.5 or so hours to get to Seaside, OR, where we spent the next week.