Longmire-Mt. Rainier National Park

Although my parents and I spent the night at the historic lodge, Paradise Inn, we all woke up very early.  Like 4:45 am early.  The birds in the eves were making a lot of noise.  The rooms at the inn, were small, but comfortable.  We all got up.  

 The plan was to eat a large breakfast, but the dining room did not open until 7:00 am.

We packed up our things and sat down in the main area.  It is a grand room flanked by two massive, stone fireplaces.  

 Fortunately, there was coffee by 5:30 am!  For my parents.  After breakfast,  we stopped by Narada Falls on our way down to Longmire.

 It was really cold!  The viewpoint was in the shade. mixed with the mist of the falls!

 Mt. Rainier Park has a second historical Inn at the base of the mountain called Longmire.  From Longmire, it is easy to get onto the Wonderland Trail.  We decided to take park of a hike through old growth forests up to a view point.

 The trail started through a wet land.  It was magical.

This trail was not paved.  The forest was Douglas Fir, Spruce and another...

The trees at the base of our walk were hundreds of feet tall.

As we walked higher, my parents and I noticed that the trees were growing out of the rocks.  It took us an hour and 45 minutes to get to the top to the view point.

We looked down at Longmire!   

I was happy to make it.

The walk back down was faster, but my legs were definitely hurting.  The great thing about this trail was that it was much less busy than the trails up at Paradise.

After this hike, we drove home.  It was nice to have experienced Mt. Rainier National Park in the morning. 

Over the Mountains-Day 2

 Mom and I did not sleep well the night before in the cabin at the Sleeping Lady Fine Arts Center.  So we booked a room for tonight at the Leavenworth Howard Johnson's.  But first we woke up and went to Applets & Cotlets / Liberty Orchards in Cashmere. Our class ate some of these candies at Teacher Andrea's "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" Party in December.  Applets & Cotlets are Turkish Delight, just different flavors than rose.

 Another hairnet!  Yes those are bags under my eyes....

 Like Theo's chocolates in Seattle, we got a tour.  It was short and sweet.  Unfortunately, I can no longer eat any of these candies since they are dusted with corn starch.  My corn allergy is new.....

 Next stop, Ancient Lakes trailhead near Quincy, Washington.

 Teacher Andrea and Mom.

 This hike was in a desert biome.  There was a lot of dust, rocks, and sun.

 It was a two mile hike to visit four small lakes, and strangely, several waterfalls!

Can you see the waterfall?

 Our class made notes about the biome.  What we saw, smelled, touched.  There were NO rattlesnakes, although several boys in our group really wanted to find one.

 Class picture.

 We were all really tired walking back, but I did a good job and did not complain.

After this, we drove back to Leavenworth for dinner.  I was excited to stay at the motel instead of the cabin.  Mom and I each had to take a shower to wash all of the day's dust.  I also got to watch an hour  of the Cartoon Network, before we fell asleep.