I don't know about you (unless you home school), but I absolutely love having my grands home during their vacations. Their recent spring break was no exception.
Well, the only exception was that I refused to stay home the entire week and do nothing. I wanted to do something we hadn't done in a long time and that was take a day road trip and I wanted it to be to a place they hadn't been to yet!
Majestic Mount Rainier was the perfect get away. We loaded up Friday morning with our sled (the kids didn't see it), hats, gloves, warm coats, extra socks (the kids were going crazy because we wouldn't tell them where we were going and only would tell them it was somewhere fun!
We left the house around 10:00 and headed out. Our first stop was for lunch in Puyallup at the local Pizza Hut where they ate pizza until I was almost sick and I had a huge salad. Back on the road again we headed up towards Bonney Lake and the mountain.
Only problem was, the road from this side was shut down due to snow. We traveled backwards through Orting, Eatonville, Elbe, Ashford and finally to Mount Rainier park. The scenery awed us all and I had taken my camer with me and hubby was fantastic, he would pull over so I could snap off some picture and the kids and I would get out and walk around for a few minutes stretching our legs! I snapped off 169 pictures that day!
We made it to the gate of the park and paid our $15 entry fee (this is good for 7 days if you plan on staying cloe to the park). The drive was amazing as the snow along the roadway became deeper and deeper and I would say by the time we reached Paradise it was probably about 12-14' high.
The visitor center was closed, it had snow up to the roof line. We arrived around 4:30 which may seem late however up here as the days become longer we are blessed with plenty of daylight. Notice I didn't say sun light? There were only 3 cars in the lot. One was leaving, one just arrived and one was empty. It was quiet, cold and windy (we are talking 23 degree's).
We all got out, booted, coated, gloved and hatted up. There was a hill right next to the parking lot. We decided to take that way as the snow was packed. We walked to the top of the hill and it was breathtaking. If you notice the top picture, you don't see any of our feet and that is because they were buried in the snow. I was up to my knees!
We began sledding and the kids even talked me into it. I sat down and slid once down a small hill. After that I was done deciding to not hurt myself as I know I can. As if God wanted us to know He loves us and wanted us to have fun....the clouds rolled away, it quit snowing (yes, it was snowing like crazy), the sun came out and her majesty sparkled like a diamond in the sky!
The kids had so much fun. Hubby and the oldest got to cold, so they went back to the truck to warm up and to look around. Baby boy and Diva girl and I stayed up on the hill so they could sled over and over again.
The screams and shrieks of mock fear were delightful to my ears, their smiles made me realize we had picked the perfect place to spend our day.
Shockingly, we were on that hill for 2 hours, imagine having all this majestic mountain to yourself and we did, there was no one else in the parking lot!
Rarely can we afford to do something like this, but to me it was very important to do it. It is important to get out once in awhile and leave behind the answering machine, the cell phones, the television and radio. The kids left behind their DS and IPods, so it was laughter and talking.
I will post more pictures later this week. I just wanted to share with you some things we are doing. I may not always be here all the time, but I can't be right now. I just want you all to know I appreciate your comments and support!
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