On Friday morning, August 16, 2024 we packed up, left Fort Stevens State Park and drove 4 1/2 hours (I know the Google map in the photo album shows 3 1/2 but trust me, it was 4 1/2) to Kanaskat-Palmer State Park in Ravensdale, Washington. We arrived around 4 pm and got set up at our site. We’re ready for two weeks with our two youngest grandchildren.
Kanaskat-Palmer
This is our third year staying at Kanaskat-Palmer. It’s farther away from our grandchildren’s home than we’d like, but the rates are good and the park has a lot of hiking trails and sites are a short hike from the Green River. The restroom/showers seem to have deteriorated over the years and we have no choice but to use them since none of the sites have water or sewer hook-ups. Take a look at the bug/spider infestation photos in this post’s album.
Saturday we walked Bella down to Green River so she would rest while we drove to Redmond to pick up Maxwell for his week with us while we’re at Kanaskat-Palmer. Jeremy and Wendy took us to dinner and then we treated everyone to dessert at our favorite ice cream place, Molly Moon’s. Then it was time to take Maxwell and head back to our campsite.
On Sunday Jeremy, Wendy and Jade arrived at our site around 2 pm. I grilled burgers on the Blackstone and we spent several hours catching up and watching “Unbreakable” on streaming (I thought I had the DVD but we couldn’t find it). Then the parental units left. Jade was going to spend two nights with us during Maxwell’s time so that we could take them both to Mt. Rainier on Monday.
Mt. Rainier
Monday morning, August 19, 2024 we were up bright and early at 5:15 am and out the door at 6 am for a two-hour drive to the Nisqually entrance of Mt. Rainier. We had timed-entry tickets for an arrival between 8 and 9 am.
Standing at 14,410 feet in elevation, Mt. Rainier is the most glaciated ACTIVE volcano in the continental United States. The Mt. Rainier National Park was established in 1899 and encompasses 368 square miles of land and rivers. The park hosted 1, 674,294 visitors in 2023. I visited here back in 2017 when I was deployed to Washington State and have been looking forward to having Cindy see it ever since. Having our two youngest grandchildren with us was icing on the cake.
We drove the Paradise Corridor stopping to hike at The Trail of the Shadows, Christine Falls and Narada Falls. We stopped for a picnic lunch along the way and enjoyed the company of a wild deer during our meal. Maxwell spotted her first and she came very close to our table while munching on leaves and bushes. Jade named her Barbara, though Maxwell argued that since he saw her first he was naming her Babs.
Our plan was to then stop at the Visitor Center, but the parking lot was filled to overflowing and people were parking on the side of the road for a mile past the parking lot and walking back. We opted not to do that so we continued driving on to the Stevens Canyon Entrance on the opposite side of the park and headed back to our campsite.
We got back to Nomad around 2 pm and it was time for Grandma and Granddad to take a nap. I had been up since 3:15 am and driving/hiking for most of the 8 hours since we left, so I was beat.
That night we took the kids to MOD pizza for dinner then walked over to Dairy Queen for blizzards as our desserts. When we got back to Nomad Cindy and Jade watched “Mean Girls” while Maxwell and I each did our own thing for the rest of the night before bed.
Little Women
We awoke Tuesday morning to rain. It finally stopped around noon, so I made pancakes and bacon on the griddle for lunch. While we were finishing up lunch Jade got a call offering her the role of young Amy in “Little Women”, an upcoming community theater play. I watched her handle the call with SUCH professionalism as she accepted the role from the casting director. We were SO excited for her and she could not wait to call her mom and let her know, even though we were taking her back home in the next hour or so, lol!
Wednesday and Thursday we spent hiking around the campground with Maxwell and Bella and Maxwell did some practice for his upcoming soccer games, including practicing his standing jump.
Friday, August 23, 2024 was moving day to Tolt-Macdonald campground which is closer to Redmond. It had rained from about 9 pm on Thursday night through the day on Friday. We just love it when it rains on moving day.
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