Seattle - Day 7

Today was our last day at the beach. Lynn went golfing with my parents and Jim this morning so the kids and I headed to the beach one last time. The kids spent some time looking for rocks and before I knew it, their buckets were full. I told Parker to pick out his favorites and he just said that all of them were his favorites. So needless to say, we have packed home a few extra rocks. As if our yard doesn't have enough.

Last group photos before we go our separate ways:Back Row: Audrey, Parker, Spencer and James

Front Row: Claire and Madilyn

Kris, Jim, James, Claire, Audrey, Spencer, Melissa, Lynn, Madilyn and Parker

And of course, last but not least, Grandma and Grandpa.

After we said our goodbye's, we headed down to Clinton which was on the southern tip of the Island we were on and rode the ferry across the Possession Sound to Mukilteo.

The ferry as it was coming in to pick us up.

Loading the ferry.

My favorite 3 people, checking out the scenery on our way across.

Mukilteo Lighthouse

After the ferry, we drove and drove and drove and thank goodness, the kids both had really good naps until we got to Mt. Rainier. About all I can say is WOW! We were very impressed. We entered the park at the Sunrise entrance and were able to go to the visitor's center while we were there. We were at 6400 ft. elevation and Mt. Rainier is 14,410 feet. We got rained and hailed on, but by the time we made it to the visitor's center, it had stopped. At least we got to enjoy cooler weather for a while.

Beautiful wildflowers were everywhere.

The lighting really was terrible, but Mt. Rainier is right behind us in this picture. We were even able to spot some hikers with a red tent through a spotting scope. It really gives me a better appreciation for those who have hiked Mt. Everest considering Mt. Everest is at least another 10,000 feet taller than Mt. Rainier.

The scenery was absolutely gorgeous with the storm and fog everywhere. It was interesting to see how muddy the river was. A lady at the visitor's center said it is from the silt being washed off of the glacier.

The kids loved riding through tunnels. Madi kept asking us to find another tunnel. After 12 hours of traveling today, we were all excited to find a hotel and it didn't take long for any of us to fall asleep.