Sunday evening ended with playing javelin throwing and bowling on the X Box with Eddie and Joanna while Karin laughed on the sofa. Needless to say Franklin and Aimee didn't hold a candle to Eddie and Joanna's skills and were the reason the game was so humerous. SUCH FUN THOUGH! Monday morning brought goodbyes to the Sheppard family and restocking of the camper pantry. We traveled toward Packwood through small farming/logging towns enjoying the lushness of the Washington forest. Packwood, a one street town nestled among towering snow covered mountains with Rainier being KING, appeared to have a rather large vacation/tourist draw with resturants, ice cream shops, pubs, grocery stores, real estate offices and even a well stocked liquior store. The RV park was not the most well equipped by any means but the scenery and activities made up for that. We endulged ourselves on delicious Pacific oysters and crabs from Pike Market for dinner, WHAT A TREAT!! Tuesday was a GREAT day, we loaded our bikes on the truck and drove up a Gifford/Pinchot Forest road to the parking lot for a ride to Packwood Lake. We pedaled in about 4 miles until snow pack on the trail forced us to leave the bikes chained to a tree and hike the remainder. This 400 acre pristine lake was breathtaking and we enjoyed a hike up into the Goat Rock Wilderness as well. The entire day of hiking and biking was ours and ours alone. NOT A SOLE DID WE SEE. Rainier was Wednesday's adventure and even though we enjoyed it in the rain and SNOW, to see this GIANT was AWESOME! Entering by way of the Nisqually Entrance, the only entrance open, we saw Kautz Creek, the site of the 1947 mudflow, seeing the tremendous trees that are in the creek bed let you know what a harsh environment it is even today. Old growth forest, waterfalls at every turn and Longmire mineral springs area led the way up to Paradise and road closures. We enjoyed the Paradise Visitors Center and learned about the many glaciers on Mt. Rainier as well as that it receives more snow (this year so far- 900 inches) than any other place in the lower 48 states.Yesterday was no exception. Heading out Thursday am (just before a HUGE yard sale begins that the locals say bring in about 15,000 people to Packwood) with our sights on crossing the border into Canada before days end.
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