0 Mt. Rainier

We left Arizona really EARLY Monday morning & drove for 2 days through California, Oregon & into Washington State. To get here . . .

Entrance to the Mountain

The Lodge with the Mountain as it's backdrop

Paradise Lodge on Mt. Rainier National Park, where our 19 year old son, Zach, has been working all summer.

Zach in his room he shares with up to 3 others

We got to see where he lives, works & plays! Met some of his friends & co-workers. Then he showed us just a tiny bit of his mountain!

We even did a little hiking! (A very little, I mean this is me we're talking about here!) :)

It is so Beautiful there! We saw some breath taking scenery. Including some Awesome Waterfalls!

Lexi

Erica

Zach

Yours Truly

John

The Bridge we are sitting on goes right over the Christine Waterfall, and Zach said all the Shuttle Bus drivers call it Butt Bridge, and I think I now know why!

Zach in front of the original Shuttle Bus

While on the Mountain that day we saw some Deer, Chipmunks, Foxes, and even a Black Bear! It was so exciting, but I didn't have time to pull my camera out before the bear was gone. :(

When Zach was in High School he & his friend started a company making & selling Long Boards. He called us the night before we were leaving to go see him & said his partner had made a board for a friend of his up there, could we go by & pick it up? So we did & brought it with us. Just wait till they get our delivery bill! :)

Zach & his friend Mark with his Flyboys Long Board
with the mountain as their back drop

Zach left us all clean shaven with a buzz haircut! But after two and a half months, his hair is much longer now & he even has a goatee for the first time in his life! He looked so much older. :(

Zach with his sisters playing in the snow
there was still so much of it

He said when he first got there back in May, when there was 18 feet of snow on the ground (it's down to about 10 feet now!) & he didn't get his boxes right away with all his winter gear in them, he thought, what have I done? But, now I can tell he really loves being there! He's made all kinds of new friends from all around the world! He loves being in the wilderness & hiking! He said he doesn't know how he's gonna handle being back in a city and with the heat of Phoenix! Ouch! He only has about 3 weeks left there, then he will come home & start his second year of College.

We've really missed having Zach around, and we're so glad we got to see his mountain! We took him with us for a couple of days & went into Seattle. More Blog posts to follow soon of the rest of our adventures . . .