Taking Michiganders to the Mountain

 Aside from family, there are really very few people I have kept in touch with over the course of my life. One family I have known for almost 20 years, though is the Veasey family. Lisa and I worked together at my 2nd job in Michigan - the accounting software place where I was a sales receptionist and she was the technical writing manager. I don't know how we got to be such good friends, but we have maintained contact for all the years, and kept up with each other's families through births, new houses, etc.

The last time we saw them was when we went back to Michigan for Pete's brother's wedding in 2004. Alex was 2 and we stayed with them for a couple nights. This July they returned the favor and brought their 2 teens out to stay a week in Seattle. They did most of the tourist stuff in downtown Seattle without us (4 move faster than 8 and they were on a mission) but we took Saturday and drove to Mt Rainier together.

Evan (14), Lisa, Tom, Elaina (12)

Do I have this to look forward to?

View of the falls from above

Alex and the falls

About to head down to the viewpoint of Narada Falls in Mt Rainier Nat'l Park

It's a beauty!

With a rainbow even!

Kids mugging

Veaseys Mugging

Klimeckys Mugging

Lunch spot in the sun, above the falls with occasional breaths of mist to cool us.

Trailhead at Paradise on Mt Rainier.

I was excited to show to flatlander kids the joys of snow in July. It was about 78 degrees when we left the car.

And it was bright with the full sun on the snow! There was sledding, snowball fights (in shorts!) and a couple short hikes at elevation - this is about 6000 feet

Resting

The elder Veaseys sat on a rock and drank in the vew while we ran their kids (and ours) up a ridge to a view of Mt Adams (it's peeking in the distance)

Look closely and you'll see people en route to Camp Muir  at 10,000 ft (my snowy hike last year)

Myrtle Falls and Rainier The Veaseys were hiked out (except Evan who was up for anything) and so were our kids. So Chris and I took Evan up to Myrtle Falls while the rest of the group slid down the hill back toward the brand new visitors center. They rested in the shade while we saw Myrtle Falls (it was an extra 1/2 mile each way to this view point from the visitors center)

Above Myrtle Falls

Back at the visitor's center (Erik is faking a nap)

It was dinner time when we headed out of the park, so we stopped at a cute little old fashioned train car restaurant.

They still move the trains with steam (or so it appears) and give rides through the valleys here.

Dinner was amazing and we enjoyed the day thoroughly. The next day we went to a jazz club in Seattle for dinner and a show with the kids. Evan is a good guitarist and told his mom the "only reason I am going" to Seattle with the family is to play guitar with Chris and see a jazz show. So we spent an evening doing that as well. Evan was thrilled.