Thurs July 25

Woke early and headed up to the Sunset Visitors Center. We were pretty anxious because the tank registered at 1/8 of a tank and we had a steep climb, and then we didn't know how far out after descending a gas station would be.  We decided the views were worth the risk, but we kept our speed steady and coasted when possible to stretch our gas as long as possible.

Today is the Ramrod:
     RAMROD [Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day] combines the incomparable scenery of Mount Rainier        National Park with a challenging course featuring 10,000 feet of climbing over 152 miles. 
We were in awe of these folks biking up the mountain - especially since most of the ones we saw were older than us!

The drive up was through beautiful tall pine forests. We had to stop when we encountered these - On the drive up we came across these incredible andesite columns, formed when the lava flowed alongside the glacier.



We reached the viewpoint and had a cell signal again, evidenced by a call from Derek saying that the tree had taken out the internet connection. Yet something else to deal with from afar. But, much gratitude goes out to Brad and our boys for all their hard work getting the logs cut up and removed, with all the brush, from the neighboring apartment parking lot. At least we had these views while talking to Derek.



A bit further off was the end of the trail and the Sunset Visitor Center. From here we were able to see several lines of folks coming down from the summit along the glacier. We are really happy with our new binoculars and shared them with the folks around us so they could see also - paying it forward.


And this picture is for Cheryl's mom. Fifty-nine years ago her mom, dad, and Nana drove up to Mt Rainier from their home near Tacoma, where her dad was stationed at Ft McChord. The mountain was shrouded in clouds that day but there is a photo of them gathering snowballs to throw. Carol was pregnant with Cheryl at the time. This is the first time Cheryl has been here since.

We made it to a gas station - whew - and then on to a library in Enumclaw so Matthew could check on his classes. Washington is serious about enabling voters to exercise their right - they can either mail their ballot in for free or drop it off in one of these - this one is located outside the library.