Friday, August 1, 2008

We have returned

Actually we returned on Tuesday afternoon, but this is the first chance I've had to post. I've had the unexpected privilege of taking care of Joseph Wednesday, yesterday and today as his other grandma is under the weather (I hope you are feeling much better by now Linda!) There went all my grand plans for finishing a couple more UFO's by the end of the month for Peg's challenge. That's OK - no time is better than Joseph time! Unless it's Joseph and Sophie time

We had a great time at Mt. Rainier, though the weather was pretty iffy Saturday night and Sunday. We wondered whether or not we'd see much of the mountain. Happily, Monday was beautiful. We didn't get in much hiking however - Mt. Rainier had a near record snowfall this year, with snow still falling at the end of April. We were surprised to find snow covering almost all of our favorite hiking trails. Paradise is above 5000 feet and though the parking lot and paths right around the lodge and visitors center were clear, the meadows and paths up the slope were still snow covered. Poles and flags marked the trails, but we weren't properly equipped for snow climbing.

The picture to the left is what the trail head looked like that would take us to the place I took the picture that was in my prior post. You can see why we contented ourselves with walking the Trail of the Shadows in Longmire, and then several walks around Cougar Rock campground.

I didn't quilt as much as I thought I might on Emma's Quilt. Fred and I played many games - especially a lot of two-person Hand and Foot. He soundly trounced me four of the six times we played - don't know why I kept coming back for more punishment!

I will post more pictures in a different post so I can better label each one.


3 comments:

Becky said...

Your photos are stunning! The plants in our garden are dying from the heat and insufficient rain here in Atlanta. It's comforting to see the snowy peaks.

Yes, Joseph and Sophie time is always the right time:)

Welcome home!

Carol said...

You are so right...grandchild time is the best time! Isn't retirement the best...we have all the time in the world to spend with our little ones. Glad you had a great time on your camping trip. Beautiful photos!

Holly said...

Beautiful pictures, Patti. Sounds like you had a great time. I want to hike up to The Plains of Abraham on Mt. St. Helen's area but since it's 9 miles and huge elevation I think I need to work up to it.