August 12, 2012...

Oy veh!  What a long, long day for such a short distance.

We left Yakima about 6:30 this morning, much too early to get fruit from any of the stands in the valley.  Did you hear me just sigh?

We were lucky enough to see a small herd of big horn sheep cross the road in front of us and then pose on the side of the hill.  We also saw a young coyote.

We ate breakfast in Packwood and the waitress told us about a fruit stand down the road.  They did have peaches including donut peaches (have you ever heard of them?) and nectarines so I got a bag with several kinds of peaches, nectarines and some plums.  Then it was off to Mt. St. Helen's.  FYI:  If you've been there after the volcano blew, it hasn't changed much.  Most of the trees are tiny, the dead trees still fill Spirit Lake and it's really hot up there.  The road is twisty, windy and really in bad shape.

When Mt. St. Helen's erupted in 1980, it turned this area from a high mountain forest to a high mountain meadow.  The flowers are amazing up here and in Mt. Ranier this year.

This is Mt. Rainer still covered in snow.  We even saw snow in the park next to the roads.

Fireweed

Obedient Plant

Sweet peas grow wild here all along the roads.  They're breathtaking.

Leaving Mt. Rainer National Park around 3:30, we ran into road construction that detoured us through little towns on two lane roads behind a brown mini van that drove about 35.  One town we went through had a four way stop in the middle that had traffic backed up for miles.  We finally made it to the hotel at 6:30, the La Quinta in Lacey, Washington but had dinner in the Red Lobster in Olympia, Washington (and they were only two blocks apart).  This is a nice hotel, we have a ground floor room.  They only have one luggage cart and we couldn't find it.  But they had just baked chocolate chip cookies so Carl was a happy camper.  He's showered and watching the closing ceremonies now.  And I'm finishing up so I can shower.  I'm giving the hotel a B.  Thin pillows, comfy bed, soft water, soft towels.  Carl wanted to take the girl at the front desk home, she was friendly and helpful and cute as the dickens.  Tomorrow we're off to Port Angeles, Washington.