We left Vancouver this morning at 8:10 AM and 68 degrees and began by retracing the route that had taken us to Vancouver from Seattle. It is the only route…down I-5. We spent about 20 minutes at the boarder stop…again the border agent was surprised to hear we had driven all the way from Florida. Are we nuts? Perhaps. The plan for today was to try and see Mt. Rainer. The forecast was for cloudy skies and snow above 8500 feet. We were not at all optimistic about having a good view, or any view at all, of the mountain, but we decided to take our chances and go for it.

For the third day in a row, we drove through the Skagit River Bridge detour. This time I got a photo of the temporary span and have posted it here. It is due to open any day now, but not in time for us. It took us 20 minutes to get through Mt. Vernon and then we were free wheeling the rest of the day. As we drove south, the skies turned a bright blue with billowy clouds. Optimism rising.

We drove through Issaquah, Fox Hollow and Maple Valley. And we saw fields of wild flowers, white and yellow. And the modest houses were spaced to give everyone plenty of privacy from their neighbors. As we got closer to the park, the foothills began to rise, giving birth to miles of pine trees, thick and tall. The road became a tunnel through the hills, protected on both sides by the trees, twisting and turning through the valleys and taking us up to higher ground. We saw hills where there were sections of bare ground where the trees had been clear cut, surrounded by sections of young trees of light green and sections of old trees of dark. It was apparent that in Washington they replant after they cut the trees down. And they do it in patches. I am guessing it is to prevent runoff from the barren areas bald from the cutting. I have posted photos of these hills.

Along the way we saw many camping areas with small log cabins tucked neatly in the woods. Then we saw it…the gate to the park. Mt. Rainer National Park. And we drove on in. The road continued to wind around the ever growing mountains and we found photo ops, but not of the great one…not yet.

Eventually we stopped by the road where the trees had been cleared, and there it was, covered in snow, standing tall and proud and communing with the sky. A bank of wispy clouds prevented us from seeing the top, but we saw enough to know it was majestic and it was regal and it was special. And yes, the chance we took paid off. And I have the photos to prove it.

The Chinook Scenic Byway continued on, crossing the north side of the park and through the mountains, giving us many vistas to enjoy with deep crevices and valleys and tall snow-covered ridges posed against the bright blue sky. And waterfalls splashed down the mountainsides, where the last of the winter's snow was giving in to the warming air of June, running into creeks and eventually the Yakima River. And the Chinook Scenic Byway followed the river all the way down to level ground, twisting and turning with the river’s flow to a place where the river provided irrigation for the fertile Yakima Valley below. And I thought, wouldn’t it be fun, when the road is closed in winter, for skiers to make the trip down this road, from the top of the mountain all the way to the bottom…about 30 miles.

After driving through the Yakima Valley, we landed in Ellensburg, WA for the night. Tomorrow, the great state of Montana. Washington…check.