Day Fifteen

Moses Lake, WA >>> Seattle, WA
Mt. Rainier. This was our mission of the day.
(after taking some time to enjoy the local field of wind turbines)

Ally had been once when she was younger and couldn’t wait to go back, I can absolutely see why. We took a wrong turn, of course, so our morning activity turned into a full day extravaganza. It was completely worth it. Between the snow caps, lakes, and pine-scented air…it was just an incredible place to be. And that was all before we arrived at our destination (Paradise).

After a few hours of driving around/away from Mt Rainier we decided to stop and get our bearings. Over lunch.
There was a great place in the middle of the park, Naches Tavern. The food was simple but delicious and the cabin-like vibe was super cozy.

With a full belly and a route in mind we headed back toward Paradise. It was a much more successful trip this go round. A bit frightening though, driving around the edge with no guardrail in sight.

We finally did make it to Paradise, the views were breathtaking just from the parking lot. After all this time though, we couldn’t just stay in the car and so we made our way toward the visitors center. I think the original plan was to walk around, take a few pictures, and get back on the road. Since we don’t function according to plan, we decided on a nice and easy trail. Neither of us were prepared for more than that, but I had on sneakers at least so why not? We went the wrong way…pretty early on it would seem (are you sensing a theme here?) and instead of a leisurely traipse about the mountain, we lugged it up a trail that was all incline and almost a 600ft change in elevation. There were no casualties.

After soaking up as much as we could we headed back down. The visitors center had an upper level that was set up like a museum so we looked around a bit before getting back on the road. Our drive to Seattle was uneventful, in a good way. We stopped for dinner at Chinooks, a huge seafood restaurant on the water. The outdoor seating was a wonderful surprise as we got to enjoy our meal at sunset.

Our night wrapped up at a small motel outside of the city. We had learned, after booking, that Kurt Cobain used to frequent there. Fun facts. Sadly, we were not given his preferred room (226). The man who checked us in had an eerie way about him. While handing me our room key, he looks me right in the eye and says, “you’ll be fine.” I have to say, it never occurred to me that I wouldn’t be alright…until he gave me some reassurance.