Bucket list trip continued

Day 3 - July 10:
We stayed in Winthrop last night so that we could visit North Cascades National Park today. I was rather disappointed. We drove so many miles and it wasn't worth it. 95% of the park is wilderness area and can only be accessed by those backpacking in. We saw some lovely scenery as we drove around the outer edge of the park. 

There are lots of glaciers but no access. Most of the "lakes" are actually dams and reservoirs. 

It WAS beautiful and if you are in that area anyway then it is a nice park to visit and a lovely drive. But, not so much worth the hundreds of miles we drove to see it. Ah, well!!! Winthrop was worth it. :) Another mistake we made -- when we reserved our hotel rooms we didn't make sure that they were on the ground floor or that there was access to an elevator. So far we have had to carry 2 suitcases, a cooler, a box, and our backpack/purse either up or down stairs to our rooms. Not smart for people with bad knees and shoulders. 

We did like this road sign - 

Our stop the next day was Mt. Ranier and we got a glimpse of it this afternoon. A nice way to end a long and tedious drive.

Day 4 - July 11:
Today we drove into Mt. Ranier Park. We spent most of the day at Sunrise in the northern end of the park. It was so beautiful. These are some sights as we drove into the park on the way to Sunrise:

Our first easy hike was partially over snow.

 We picked up a flower booklet at the visitor's center and tried to identify them on our walks.

Unfortunately, we were swarmed by mosquitoes and had no bug spray! Poor Kent had huge red welts all over his neck and arms by the time we got back down. We ran straight to the little store there and bought some spray. End of problem. Well end of MORE problem. 

We had lunch at a picnic area in the park - thank you tax dollars - and then we went on a second hike. This one was to Emmons Glacier. It was amazing.

I knew that my friend, Yvonne Harrell, was doing a similar trip with all of her family. So, I texted her from Sunrise to see where they were and what they were doing. They were also at Mt. Ranier - but on the opposite side from us!! We had some fun texting back and forth but never got to see each other.
We had reservations on that other side -  at the Paradise Inn. So, we had a nice drive through the park to the lodge. Our last stop was at a place called the Grove of the Patriarchs. It was an old forest and was so beautiful that we found ourselves whispering as we walked through it.

 There was a sign before this bridge that said "One person at a time". Should we have been worried??

Here is what the inside of the lodge looks like. I'll tell you the rest tomorrow:

Bucket list trip to the Northwest!

Back in July Kent and I went on a 13-day road trip. I'll give you as many days as I can get through today and continue tomorrow. 

Day one - July 8:
Our goal was to get as far in the northwestern direction as possible today. We drove 10.5 hours to Pendleton, OR. The night before we left, our wonderful home teacher and his wife brought us a "happy trip" basket. It included Gatorade, granola bars, trail mix etc. etc. What a nice surprise!

I drove first:

Kent navigated

We took a rest stop for lunch

It was nice to be out of the car for a bit!

After lunch we traded drivers. He wasn't smiling in this one so I told him to smile -----

 

I guess you get what you ask for. :)

IT WAS SOOOOO HOT!!!!

We arrived in Oregon in early evening. Even though it had been a long day, we really enjoyed the drive and being together.

That night we stayed in Pendleton. We ate dinner in this small town restaurant called the Rainbow Cafe. It was delicious. 

 Kent "patiently" waiting for his meal

This guy was watching over our table

They had these little books at the table to entertain ourselves with while we waited. Funny. :)

Food at last. It was their version of KFC - really, really good. :)

Day 2:

After a good night's rest we were ready for day 2. Today we drove through eastern Washington and were surprised to see that much of it looks like western Utah - prairie, sage brush, and wide open views. 

As we got closer to the Cascade mountains, we felt like were were getting into more wilderness. 

We had a nice lunch stop at a place called Dry Falls. It was once the largest waterfall on the planet during or after the last ice age. 

 Maybe you can read the story for yourselves.

We spent the night in a place called Winthrop, Washington. This was one of my favorite hotels of the trip. The lodging was right on the river.

We saw river floaters

 A mother deer and her baby

Beautiful scenery

 A bald eagle

 This is right outside our patio door

She was curious about the stairs, but . . .

. . . realized her error and changed directions.

That night, the night hawks and bats came out. Kent just pointed his camera and shot multiple pictures. He actually caught a few bats in flight:

Before dinner we wandered through the rustic, trendy little town. It was great.

After dinner we enjoyed some lounging on the banks of the river, behind our hotel room.

We literally fell in love with these chairs, and ordered 2 of them when we got home. :)  !!!

Oh, in case you ever want to stay there, it is called the Hotel Rio Vista.