A couple of days before my birthday, while I was still in CA, Bill and I talked and decided to head to Mt. Rainier for my birthday (which he lovingly took off -- that was the best part). He came home the night before with Google maps directions in hand. After sleeping in a bit, and doing all the necessary preparation, we headed off.
We found the Sunrise entrance to Mt. Rainier...complete with all I'd hoped for. After consulting the map, we headed off for a hike. I'd packed snacks, so we weren't yet ready for a meal. Though we were on Mt. Rainier, we could still see the larger peak looming large and beautiful above us. The wildflowers were absolutely breathtaking....wild lupines, and an assortment of others I can't recall the names of.
I had donated blood the day before so was wondering how I was going to handle the altitude climb during the hike. We live at sea level, and were already several thousand feet above that. It was a little rough going at first, but then all was fine and we oohed and aahed our way up the trail to Frozen Lake. Aptly named...a gorgeous crystal clear small lake with a large snow melt. I imagined it to be a mini version of Alaska with the glaciers breaking off into the water. Bill asked if we could sit for a minute and he gave me my birthday card. Inside was info that we were going to see the world premiere of "Catch Me If You Can," and have dinner at Metropolitan Grill. Lovely!!!
We enjoyed the view, chatted about some of the history of the hiking trails, and talked about how much we were enjoying our day. Then, decided to take another trail back down. More lovely wildflowers, a babbling snowmelt brook....and then, a precarious snow field to cross. I had visions the entire time of losing my footing and slipping and sliding over the edge. We made it, paused to look back at what we crossed, at which time Bill commented that he hadn't realized what a steep drop off there was. Ha! My reply...I knew and the entire time had held the vision of careening out of control in my head. We came upon another snow field and decided to go around it.
My birthday dinner was a grilled cheese sandwich at the cafe, and after a second browse through the tshirts (I didn't buy one, couldn't find one I liked), we headed home. What an absolutely lovely day ~ it is truly a blessing to enjoy spending hours and hours with my husband, chatting and enjoying an adventure in the great outdoors together.
I'm a bit of a blogging flunky. I cut and pasted some info and it changed the text color and underlined it, and I can't seem to change it. The first picture, which I did not intend to be in that spot is of a little drive in we stopped at on our way back...so, don't expect to go to Wally's if you go to Mt. Rainier ;).
