Day 17-19

We awoke this morning (Thursday) knowing that we had hiked all over Seattle and were not as young as we used to be.  We knew that Kath and Tony were arriving around noon and would have lunch with us and that Kathleen and Earnie would arrive in the evening and have dinner.  It was our day of food in the trailer.  It was continuing to rain and the temperature was high so we were not driven to be outside.   We could spend the morning reading and waiting for Cassie to arrive (oh yeah, Kath and Tony also).  Tony brought a copy of the final CD of Yvonne's harp music that he and she made. Wow!!!  When Cassie got out of their car she was not sure what was happening.  Was she here to say goodbye and go home with the Beechers or what.  But when that was worked out she launched herself onto the couch and stayed there.  We spent lunch getting a update of Cassie's life at the Beechers and that she was a really good girl.  We again say to the Beechers THANK YOU. 

The Beechers headed out and we got a call from Kathleen that they were finished with their museum viewing in Tacoma and could they come a little earlier than planned.  Of course.  They arrive a little later and we spent the time catching up on the glass blowers that we had both seen and the tours we had been on.  It was a great afternoon and evening.  We eventually had dinner and they got back on the road and headed back to their little bungalow. 

On Friday we were off to Yakimi to visit with one of Yvonne's good friends from seminary, Judy Lebens.  We had called her on Thursday and she suggested that we take a little back road and a little higher pass so that we could see Mt. Rainier.  When we got up the sky was clear, no rain, so there was hope in seeing the mountain.  The GPS fought us most of the early part of the trip and we finally unplugged it.  While we were driving along we looked up and there it was, Mt. Rainier.  Yvonne began to take pictures from the moving car be cause we were sure that the clouds would blow in and we would never see it again. 

But that day was great.  We wound our way through little tiny towns and the up into the Mount Rainier National park.  We stopped to take pictures of little water falls and raging rivers but were sure that we would not see the mountain again as we were in the bottom of a canyon. 


We began to climb out of the canyon and came around the corner and there were a bunch of cars parked along the side of the road.  I almost drove off the road as right in front of us was the MOUNTAIN.  There is no way to get the photo so that you get the perspective of just how big it is and how it commands the surroundings. 

We had a nice young couple from Germany take our picture and had a discussion about the number of people that were climbing on the mountain today.  With the telephoto lens and the binoculars we could see no one but we are sure that they were there. 

We climbed back into the truck and headed up and up to Chinook pass and guess what, there was snow on the ground.  We just had to stop and introduce Cassie to that white stuff.  She has learned, on this trip, to put her front paws up on the low stone walls and look over.  I helped her up onto the wall so she could see the snow and climbed over myself.  I was just going to have her jump down off the wall (18") and then walk onto the snow.  Well she was having none of that.  She launched herself from the top of the wall into the snow and then pranced around because it was cold.  She was really ready to get back into the car and out of that wet and cold stuff. 

We came down into Yakima and were met at the campground by Judy.  We had some Shrimp Cocktail which came from Pikes Market in Seattle and got caught up with everyone's family and what we were all doing.  Judy then took us on a tour of Yakima.  She had been born and raised here and knew all of the really good dirt.  We had to stop and taste really good beer and had a great meal at a little Italian restaurant.  We left Cassie in the trailer for this trip as she will have a couple of times in the trip when she needs to be able to hang out in the trailer and just snooze.  Our neighbors said that there as about 2 minutes of barking and then they never heard her again.  But she was really happy to see us. 

Judy met
us again this morning (Saturday) and took us to a couple of fruit stands that were outstanding.  Yvonne and I just had to buy a cherry pie for tonight.  Cassie went along and was a great dog until she ate Judy's cookies but.... 

The cherries were amazing but we finally had to get on the road and we have come down to Pendleton (only 88 degrees).  On the trip down Judy told us how to get to several wineries so we just had to stop and have a couple of tastings.  We were in our spot by 5 with the air conditioner going having a beer and hanging out.  Tomorrow we are off to church and I do not know what else.