Day 23 Summer 2010 Park to Park Road Trip

Today we left the State of Washington and entered the State of Oregon. We are going to drive along the West Cascade Scenic Byway.

There was a river running along beside us as we drove along.

However there wasn’t much more than the river that was scenic. I suppose if this was the very first scenic byway that we had driven on, I might find this more scenic, but compared to the majority of the scenic byways we have driven on, this is rather dull. I guess we are too spoiled by our previous drives up and over mountain tops, sometimes driving in the clouds, seeing alpine lakes and drifts of snow, that this scenic drive is just not measuring up to those drives. I guess they all can’t be more scenic than the previous one, every so often you come across a dud.

Smoky The Bear says the fire danger is moderate.

Two exciting things did happen though. We spotted another Black Tailed Deer crossing the road.

And we spotted this birds nest on top of a hydro pole.

We are still trying to figure out what kind of birds these are. If you know, please tell us.

So that is it, our first day in Oregon. Tomorrow we are staying put and relaxing, nothing planned except to do some laundry and some shopping. These two things promise a very exciting blog posting tomorrow so be sure to check back tomorrow and find out how the laundry and shopping turned out.

Till then… take care… oh yes, photos from today are on FLICKR.

Day 22 Summer 2010 Park to Park Road Trip

Today we are going to visit another National Park. Mount Rainier National Park in Washington.

We left our hotel in Federal Way WA and headed into the park.

We can see Mount Rainier ahead of us, between the trees.

We pulled off at Sunrise Point to take this panoramic photo.

Beyond Sunrise Point, we started getting better views of Mount Rainier.

We stopped at the Sunrise Visitor Center.

There are many different and beautiful plants in this high alpine meadow.

This is Tipsoo Lake, a small lake in MRNP.

Just past Tipsoo Lake is Falls Creek and also another beautiful view of Mount Rainier.

There are several tunnels right through the mountain side.

Some more wild flowers.

We pulled over at Reflection Lake where you can see a reflection of Mount Rainier in the water. There is a remediation program underway to remove the grass and reeds that have grown in the lake and blocked the reflection, but you can still see part of the mountain in the water.

Another roadside pull off at Narada Falls.

We didn’t see any wildlife in the park, but shortly after leaving the park we saw this black tailed deer crossing the highway in front of us. Very lucky that it did not get hit while crossing a 4 lane highway.

So there you have it, we enjoyed our visit to Mount Rainier National Park, the views and vistas were spectacular. We got our National Park Passport book stamped, bought some postcards and a hat pin for our map.

To see all of the photos that we took today, you can click on this link to my FLICKR site.

We will be leaving the State of Washington tomorrow morning and entering into Oregon.

Day 21 Summer 2010 Park to Park Road Trip

We leave Wenatchee WA behind us this morning and head for Snoqualmie Falls WA.

Along the way we saw this Smoky the Bear sign telling us that the fire danger is moderate. I would think it should read as high because everything around us is tinder dry.

We stopped for lunch in Snoqualmie WA at the Chew Chew Cafe and Candy Shop. A bit pricey, a hamburger was $8.25, fries were not included. The homemade chocolates and candies were also very expensive, so we just ate lunch and passed on the goodies. They appeared to be the only restaurant in town so I guess that justifies their business strategy to be so expensive.

Just a mile outside of town is Snoqualmie Falls. This is one of Washington’s most popular scenic attractions. We bought postcards and a hat pin and enjoyed the view of the falls from the overlook.

Snoqualmie Falls Washington USA

Not much else to tell you about today. We left Snoqualmie Falls WA and headed for our hotel in Federal Way WA. Tomorrow we will be visiting Mount Rainier National Park.

We didn’t take very many photos today, but if you wish to see them, you can click on this link to my FLICKR site.

Day 20 Summer 2010 Park to Park Road Trip

Absolutely nothing to report about today. We did not leave the hotel other than to have lunch, and we brought dinner back to the hotel. Today is a down day, rest and relaxation is the theme for today. Did not take any photos either. Tomorrow we are moving along and will be visiting Snoqualmie Falls WA.

Day 19 Summer 2010 Park to Park Road Trip

Today we will visit another National Park. So we are up and on the road early. Driving on the North Cascades Scenic Highway from Mount Vernon WA towards the Park.

We stopped and took a Photo at the Park entrance and went into the Visitors Center of North Cascades National Park.

I was rather disappointed that I was unable to buy a hat pin for the park, I have been buying hat pins at every National Park we visit so that I can stick them on my wall map at home. Karen did buy some postcards.

We drove along and stopped at many pullouts.

The Diablo Lake Overlook was very scenic.

As was the Ross Lake Overlook.

And the Washington Pass Overlook.

We exited the park had headed for Winthrop Washington. The town is a western themed town which is very popular with the tourists. Traffic was lined up to get into town and it was hard to find a parking spot.

We wandered around the town and stopped at a little shop that had home made ice cream, they even made their own waffle cones. Karen had a licorice ice cream and I stuck to the traditional chocolate ice cream.

After visiting Winthrop, we headed towards our hotel. The road hugged the Columbia River and passed through fields full of fruit trees. There were peach, cherry, grape, apricots and apple trees.

This area is a boaters paradise, lots of activity on the water.

According to this sign, Wenatchee WA is the “Apple Capital of the World”

To see all of our photos from today, please click on this link to my FLICKR site.