It’s Friday already!!

We started our day going through the rain forest which is the southwest side of Mt. Rainier.

All the trees are covered in moss, rocks as well. Ferns growing everywhere, and rhododendrons too. Creeks were flowing while campers woke up from a rainy night stay.

It is very damp in the rain forest. It was spectacular in its own element of nature.We arrived at Mt. Rainier National Park entrance.The waterfalls we saw are exceptional. Christine had two sites, first picture is bottom and second is top. All flowing together, so amazing.

Then, the Mountain from a distance!! Took my breah away when I first saw it. So very large.Waterfalls coming from the Glaciers.Thee are many waterfalls at Mt. Rainier. All the Glaciers make them. I think there are 27 glaciers. They say it is a sleping giant, volcano. We leave te falls and a fawn and her babies were eating on the side of the road.Then onto Paradise!! Closer and closer to Mt. Rainier. Paradise has an Inn with the Visitors Center close by. We took a hike to see another waterfall and get closer to the glacier/volcano. Saw 2 marmots and all kinds of different flowers we haven’t seen.So we continued on our journey, driving through tunnels, stopping at the Grove of the Patriarchs Nature Trail.Huge, old trees. So large, some are over 200 feet tall. Red cedar, Douglass fir, redwood, western hemlock fir trees.A swinging bridge for us to cross the creek.
I walked around this tree and it took 27 steps. This is the bottom of the same tree on the right side.From trees that fall, seeds land on them and regrowth begins.

Today, was very relaxing.

Barry took a walk this morning to find blackberry bushes along a road in the campground. So, we picked some and I baked a blackberry cobbler.

The little things we find are the most surprising. It brings back childhood memories for both of us, picking them early in the morning. And, Barry and I would pick them in Mason at Heritage Park by the train tracks to make jelly and cobbler, years ago.

We had guests today for lunch. Barry’s sister, Pam and her friend, Bruce, came to visit us from Vancouver.

Pam and Bruce did not come empty handed. We enjoyed hamburgers, German beer brats, homemade potato salad, cucumbers and tomatoes.

They canned tomatoes and gave us 2 jars. We will use them in chili.

Fresh tomatoes, corn on the cob, and cucumbers, too. I’ll think of them when we use them.

Barry and I haven’t seen Bruce for sometime and was nice to catch up. It is always a pleasure to see Pam and find out what she is up too.

Today was a fun, relaxing day.

We were hoping to watch the football game tonight, no such luck.

Tomorrow, back to site seeing and hiking at Mt. Rainier.

This morning’s sunrise was beautiful.

Travelling to Randle, Washington to settle in for Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helen excursions. We are now on Pacific time, 3 hours earlier than Ohio.

The Columbia River is huge. Surrounded by hills and rock formations.

As we travelled, we saw fields of grape vines and apple orchards. The apples are just ready for picking.

Wind turbines were seen in the distance, closer and closer as we climbed the mountains. We actually drove on both sides of the mountain where they are placed.

As we continued to curve through the mountains, all of the sudden we saw this amazing creation.

Actually, there is Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier.

Once we set up our home at Cascade Peaks Campgrounder, we are settled in til Monday.

We met a fellow campers and enjoyed their company and conversation.

Tomorrow, Barry’s sister, Pam and her friend, Bruce, are coming to meet us for lunch. It will be great to see them.

Yesterday, we said goodbye to Roger and Barb. They traveled to Bozeman, we are heading to Washington.

We used yesterday for laundry and packing the home so we were ready to move this morning.

I must say, I am enjoying this adventure Barry and I chose to do. Some days I’m exhausted by dinner time. But, that just tells me I need to get the move on. Barry has all this energy. However, every new site I see or people we meet, brings back my energy and it is so worth the memories.

Not many pictures today. We left Montana; such a beautiful state and drove into northern Idaho.

We didn’t realize northern part of Idaho have beautiful mountain ranges.

Bonner Ferry, Idaho is a town nestled between three mountain ranges. Also, we drove over a huge lake in the center of the town.

Then, we crossed over to Washington.

You will have to zoom in on the picture above to see it. A car was passing us and I would have missed it.

Boy, did the landscape change from beautiful mountains to flat dry land. Washington does have quite a few lakes.

We stopped in Moses Lake, Washington for the night at Suncrest Park.

They have a really large swimming pool and water slide. Actually, they drained it today, even though it is 93 degrees. Makes me wonder!! I was hoping to take a dip! It looked refreshing.

Barry and I took a stroll to their gazebo. We were pleasantly surprised to see a wisteria vine with flowers and pods. They smelled wonderful and looked like the tree on Clover Avenue. I think my mom, Joann and Jimmy would like to see these pictures.

Wow!! It is September already.

Happy Labor Day to all the hard working people!! Especially, the people who work shift work. And, the people that don’t work too hard but still work!!

Anyway!! Today, is our last day with Barb and Roger.

First, we went to St. Richard’s today for mass. They replaced all their stain glass windows.

Afterwards, we went to Whitefish Mountain Resort and rode the scenic lift to the top of the mountain. We could see Flathead Lake, mountains in Glacier, and Barb and Roger saw a Mule deer.

Instead of seeing skiers on the slopes, we saw bikers riding down the mountain and getting back on the lift for another ride. Looked like fun!!

Excellent views all around.

So, for our next excursion of the day, we went golfing.

It was very hot, and all the holes were flat as can be. I was surprised since we had mountains around us. 9 holes were enough, after that, ice cream was on the menu. They have huckleberries, hear in Montana. They taste like blueberries and are growing on the mountainside under the ski lift, and people were picking them.

Later, I saw a sign. Huckleberries: 1/2 pound for $6.99. No wonder why they picking them.

It is so surreal to be at the Glacier National Park.

We went to the east side today.

We stopped to see the Running Eagle Waterfall and walk the nature trail. Running Eagle was a couragious Indian woman who was chief and was known for her honor and fierce dedication to her tribe. When she died, they buried her next to the waterfalls in a tree.

Roger, Barb, Barry and I continued to look for a grizzly bear and a moose. No such luck for either one. We did see a small goat, he wasn’t sure what to do and became scared.

Since the road to the sun is narrow, Roger drove us . We headed towards St. Marys so we could take a boat tour of the Lake. While we waited for our 4:00 time, we looked for bears. We saw many waterfalls right on the road. And, beautiful mountains with glaciers with waterfalls.

Our boat tour.

Goose Island

On our way back down.

Well, today was extraordinary.

Our friends, Roger and Barb are visiting with us this weekend.

We travelled through Glacier National Park today, going to Logan’s Pass.

No words can express the beauty of this place.

First place we visited was Lake McDonald. Absolutely breath taking.Heavens PeakGlaciers and waterfallsFlowers and berriesWe took a two hour hike at Logan’ Pass to see if we could see Bighorn Sheep and Mountain goats. Also, a hidden lake.As we were walking back, the Bighorn Sheep came down from the hill.

On our way back home, it began to rain, to end our incredible day in the mountains, we were blessed to see a black bear.We all enjoyed our evening community campfire.

We began our morning travelling to Glacier National Park.

It was a beautiful sunny morning.

Rock formations all around with multiple colors.

A train beside us travelling through the tunnels in the hillside.

Then, the mountains on both sides of us still with the mist of the morning and a slight hint of snow.

We drove north on the east side of Flathead Lake, seeing orchards of cherry and apple trees.

We arrive at Moose Crossing RV south of West Glacier, Montana.

Funny, we walked into the Office, and two dogs met us. One is a Weinaraner and the other is a Great Dame.

Our daughter, Gretchen has a Weinaraner, Pippin, and just brought home a Great Dame puppy, Mabel, last week. What’s the coincidence.

Our friends, Roger and Barb, met us this afternoon. Barry and I are excited to have them stay with us this weekend. It’s great to have our friends with us!We ended our evening at the community campground campfire relaxing and enjoying the stars.

This morning began early. We had an appointment in Missoula to get the truck’s oil changed and overall checkup .

Took an hour to get there and the shuttle van took us to Cracker Barrel for breakfast.

We were in and out within 2 hours.

So, on the road again to visit the Big Hole National Battlefield Park and learned about the history of the Nez Perce Tribe.

On the way, we drove through the mountains, actually, up, up, up we went.

We where across from a mountain they use for snow skiing. We could see the ski lift.

We arrived at the Nez Perce Visitor Center where we watched a movie about the unforgivable attack against the Nez Perce Tribe by the 7th Infantry.

If you want to know more, look it up, too much to tell.

Zoom in on this picture to see the tipis’ which were put up by relatives of the tribe in honor of the women, children and men whom died here.

On our way home, we saw a herd of Pronghorns . They took off running, they can really run fast.

The scenery has changed to rolling hills with different views. One side would be all hills of trees and the other would be hills of ranges.

Barry and I left Yellowstone this morning around 9:00 am. Our drive took us to beautiful places.

And, on our way, we saw a bald eagle perched on a post. A herd of female elk were running across the plains.This is a blurry picture of a railroad bridge.

This next picture is Our Lady of Pines overlooking the town of Butte, Montana.We decided to stop for two days at Deer Lodge before going onto Glacier National Park.

To our amazement, Grant-Kohrs Ranch which is a National Historic site was right around the corner from where we are staying.

It is a working ranch using tools from the 1800’s. The draft horses are still used to work the ranch.

First we were greeted by very friendly horses.As we walked through the horse stables and saw the bridles, saddles, yokes, horseshoes and bridle bits, I thought of my dad, he would have loved this place.This ranch was an open range ranch, the cowboys would drive thousands of cattle.And, old equipment used in the 1800s.

And, a chuck wagon.

Longhorn cattle, too!!