Nope.
Doug and Jenn did not get to Eatonville until 9:30. I should have put money on it. I would have won.
It rained the entire time from when we left the house to about halfway up the road to Paradise. If it was raining at home it was snowing on the mountain.
We found a place to park Jen's car until we came back, piled into the Escape and headed towards Mount Rainier. We got to the gate, paid our $20 and was asked if we carried chains. I lied and said yes just in case they made us leave because we didn't have them. We followed a very slow person all the way up. It irritated me because I was trying to see if we would make it before 11. We didn't.
We reached a spot where the ranger was pulling over people to check to see if they had tire chains. He asked me and this time I said no because I thought he might make me pull over at the Narada Falls pull out and put them on before we continued up the hill. Instead, he gave me a lecture about carrying them and if I got stuck and he had to help me that it would be a hefty fine. I had 4W drive and this drives pretty well in the snow. Besides, the sign said to carry chains if your vehicle didn't have 4W drive.
There was a definite line where the rain ended and the snow began and it changed very quickly. The now on the trees made this trip worthwhile. It was so pretty. The snow also started sticking to the road. For some reason I enjoyed driving on the snow when it was dry and compacted and I am not really sure why. We continued to snake around the corners and the snow got thicker and thicker as we got higher in elevation. Jenn doesn't get to see snow that often so she entertained us in the back seat with her snow stories.
We finally got to Paradise as the clock hit 11. Dang it. I really wanted to go snowshoeing. We wanted to do the early one so we could be back in time for the birthday party at grandma's house at 5. If we tried to do the 1:30 one we wouldn't make it in time. We debated for quite some time and then tried to get a hold of grandma to see if she could call everyone to change the time. We didn't get cell phone service up there and both pay phones didn't work. We were out of luck. We walked around the visitor's center, ate lunch in the café area and then headed outside to play in the snow.
On the hill above the visitor's center was a path towards the mountain, it was carved into the many inches of snow that lead to a sledding area. Crap, I didn't bring my sled. It was a little windy and it was still snowing. The sign in the visitor's center said they would be getting 3-4 new inches of snow by nightfall. Mom took some pictures of us playing in the snow and when Doug and Jenn made it up they told me there was an abandoned sled. I asked mom to take my picture when I went down the hill. It was a pretty steep climb and I huffed and puffed all the way up. When it was my turn I found out why that sled was abandoned. It had a hole in it and didn't slide very well down the hill. I had to get out early and walk the rest of the way to where Jenn and mom were. Mom told me Doug and dad wandered off so she went looking for them as Jenn and I played in the snow and chatted about various things.
About a half hour later, mom came back and right behind her were dad and Doug. They weren't sure how far they walked but dad was getting tired. We needed to think about heading back down so we could meet everyone at grandma's house for the party. Doug had to take a picture of himself with a Rainier on Rainier before we left.
We took our coats, gloves and snow pants off and threw them into the back of the Escape and piled back in. We drove past a few snow plows on the way down. We got down the hill fairly quickly, through Longmire and through the gate back onto the main part of the highway. We stopped at a pull out with a porta potty so Doug could pee out all the beer he drank.
Of course it was raining. Meh!
We got back to Eatonville and they got into Jenn's Mini Cooper and followed us back to our house. There, we got cleaned up a bit, Jenn fell asleep, I wrapped Doug's presents and frosted the cupcakes for the party. Just before 5, we went over to grandma's house and had Doug's birthday party.
Grandma had made a ham, mashed potatoes and everyone brought sides. We had cupcakes as he opened his presents. He got a bunch of plaid flannel shirts...apparently the new look as of the last year or so living in Seattle. To me he looked like a lumberjack with the plaid shirts and the creepy beard he was sporting. It was a nice gathering and grandma did a great job. We all went home and relaxed.
Next Adventure: Seattle Mariners Fanfest and the Crab Pot
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