Seattle

At the end of my last entry our two brave adventurers (Ok,  four brave adventurers as Nancy pointed out ) were in Astoria, Oregon,  having been thoroughly amazed at what the Coast Guard does to rescue people. I echo Diane's respect and admiration for these brave men and women.  When the seas are rough enough to capsize boats they go out there to rescue the people.

The next day we crossed into Washington State and drove all the way to a Walmart in Aberdeen, Wa.

Around that time the toilet seat in the RV broke. For some time I wanted to install a cover on my bedroom vent.   This vent is right over my bed and as soon as the sun comes up my bedroom is not dark anymore. I have tried several different home made covers to try to keep my room dark but nothing worked so I decided to bite the bullet and buy a real vent cover. I usually have the RV maintenance done at Camping World and the nearest one was right on our way in Tacoma,  Wa.  So off we headed to Tacoma. The repairs work fine and now I decide when my room will be dark.

Not wanting to drive very far or pay a lot of money we headed for a Walmart parking lot near Tacoma. The day had been pretty cloudy and I was tired so when Diane proposed going to the Walmart I declined and she went in alone.   A few minutes later she came to the RV and asked me to close my eyes and step outside.  Once outside I opened my eyes.  The weather had cleared up and right there in front of me was Mt Rainier. WOW!  It's hard to explain the feeling of being in the presence of something so majestic. Pictures cannot start to do it justice. We slept well that night under the protection of Mt Rainier.

The next day we decided to get closer to Mt Rainier, maybe to the visitor center. OMG! We learned that Mt Rainier is an old volcano, not extinct, just dormant.  The last eruption was in 1894. We drove to the visitor center, which is about as close you can drive to the summit. The day was sunny. The roads were clear and visibility was excellent . The guide said that the record yearly snowfall on Mt Rainier is 1200 inches (100 feet). Average is "only" 700 inches.

The next day we arrived at my niece Maria's Rehahn's. Did I mention that Maria is one of the coolest people I have ever known? Her husband Chad and children Josh and Isa are pretty awesome too. The plan was to park the RV in her front yard but it was not to be.  The ground was pretty spongy and the Enterprise got stuck. Thank heavens for AAA. We went to nearby Illahee State Park instead. (Photo of the RV being rescued by AAA courtesy of Chad Rehahn)

The next day Maria took us to Poulsbo,  a quaint little Norwegian community west of Seattle. Maria works in a store there where they sell shoes and other outdoor stuff.  I bought a cool backpack.

Next day we went to Seattle with Maria. Saw the market, the gum wall, the space needle, and the original Starbucks.

I have always wanted to go on a segway tour.  They had segway tours in Portland but I decided to wait till Seattle in case my niece wanted to go too. Turns out that she had wanted to go on a segway tour also (did I mention that I have an awesome niece?) so off we went.  It took a few minutes to get used to it but it was great. The next day we were all pooped out but it was worth it.

Stay tuned.