Two weeks ago we got the chance to got o Mt Rainier and rent a USFS abandoned guard station so we grabbed it. In all honesty we have had this scheduled for a few moths, but we were glad to get away for three nights in the middle of nowhere without any semblance of cell coverage.
Immediately it was time for climbing and outdoor fun. A tree had fallen at the cabin a few weeks before(according to the visitors register) and that made a perfect place for the kiddos to climb on.
This picture must have been taken on the first day since Matthew is clean. The cabin did have electricity, but there was no running water so there were no baths for the few days.
Bear with me since this post is going to be very heavy on the kiddo pictures, but it had bee so long since I have had a bunch of days together with the kids away from work that I did take a ton of pictures.
We did bring the bikes and the kids did ride down the drive to the campground that was just down the way. There was only two campers at the campground, so it was a nice quiet place to tootle around
James is a master at riding off road and that of course means that he gets flat tires. This was his first flat, so I did not have any patch kit with us which meant the bike riding was not possible for the last day or so.
The cabin had a great classic screen door. It was so nice to sit and read my magazine and listen to the screen door open and slam shut and the kiddos went in and out of the cabin. The slam of that door reminded me of summers at grandmas house and there was something so refreshing about that. The sliding screen door at home just does not cut it.
Here is a quick pic of the cabin. Kind of rustic, but very clean and fun.
The first day we headed to Sunrise to get a great view of Rainier. The smoke was minimal up there due to a wind shift so it was nice to get out of Spokane. As you may be aware, Washington is really on fire and the air quality in Spokane is the worst air quality ever recorded.
The kids and wife were troopers on the mile or so hike up to the ridge to get a great view of the mountain and the mountains to the north.
Such a nice view.
Later that day we went to hike a cave. It was pretty mild as far as caves go and really short which is perfect for kids. They were pretty scarred, but since it was so short, they only were worried for a little bit.
The next day we went to Paradise for yet another view of Mt Rainier. It was crystal clear this day and apparently there was a mom and cubs hanging around the lodge right before we got there. We did not see it and decided to go on a hike and then when we got back, we found out the trail was closed since the bears were on it....and we still did not get to see them.
Cool view from up there
On our short hike the kids thought they could stand up like the marmot in the background.
Then it was back to the cabin for another game of connect four. James is still learning it. He understands four in a row up and down, but is really confused about the diagonal.
Dirty brothers loving it.
On the way home the kids were getting a bit restless for the last 40 minutes so we opted for the old "lets try and make truckers honk". Matthew was adorable and got a ton of honks. Since James was on the wrong side of the car he was not very happy, but I honked my horn to try and appease him.
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