Our Scenic Railroad Ride Around Mt. Rainier

While in Eastern Washington, we learned that my sister (newly returned from deployment in the Middle East) had been horribly sick prior to our arrival, and was still coughing and had congestion that didn't seem to be getting any better.

Having heard of all the illnesses that one can get in that part of the world, not to mention the sand storm she'd experienced while there, we promptly carted her off to the ER to get to the bottom of things.

Turns out she had pneumonia.

When our visit drew to a close, we happily took her girls with us so that she could have a few days to recover and rest and so that the our kids could continue to spend 'cousin time' together.

We headed back to Mt. Rainier to take that train ride we'd missed on the trip over.

My efforts to get a good photo of the lovely mountain peak were thwarted by heavy cloud cover.



Pardon the bug splattered windshield, but this was a cool mountain tunnel which Judah was absolutely delighted to get to ride through.



In a little speck on the map called Naches, Washington, we stopped at a place called The Whistlin' Jack.

It was an Inn renowned for good food, and which boasted a beautiful view of the nearby river.

If we'd known about the place sooner, we might have planned our trip to include staying in the darling little cabins that you could rent which were situated along the river. Perhaps next time.

In the restaurant, I couldn't resist taking a photo of this window treatment idea, which I'm totally stealing for my dining room and kitchen.



In the gift shop, we spotted this poor mountain goat stuck in the wall. He seemed to be saying, "Could somebody give me a hand here?"



The kids, all squirrelly from the long ride across the State, entertained us with funny faces while we waited for our lunch to be served.



Things took a bit longer than we expected at the restaurant, and we found ourselves a bit short on time to make it to Mineral, Washington for our train ride aboard the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad.

We literally squealed into the gravel parking lot, dust billowing up behind, moments before the last departure time for the weekend and jumped out of the cars yelling "Go, go, go!" to the kids as we ran for the ticket booth.

We made it, and heard the "All aboard!" and began chugging across the tracks.

Judah was especially excited to get to ride on "Thomas".

During our excursion we risked life and limb to take these photos of the kids hanging their heads out the antique train's windows.



Of course we had to do the same for my cute nieces.



Even Jeff and I attempted it.



I didn't realize until uploading my 1,000 vacation photos that we'd neglected to get a matching shot of FrumpGram, so I've taken the liberty of photo-shopping into a photo so she wouldn't feel left out.



Almost looks like it was meant to be, heh heh.

At one point during our train ride, we had to stop briefly while the engine moved from the front of the train to the back along a side track.

Seeing that Jeff and I were trying to take a photo of ourselves together with our camera stuck out the window, one of the Conductors got out down and kindly offered to take our photo for us.





I think they are some of my favorite photos of the entire vacation. Thanks, Conductor!

Here is the antique steam engine that was responsible for our ride...Old No. 17.



Here is FrumpGram with four of her grandchildren.



It truly was a scenic and beautiful trip.







Loved passing the mountain streams and this beautiful mountain meadow.



The ride lasted about 2 hours and we agreed that it was beautiful, even if Jericho found it a bit long.



On the way home, we stopped off at a family gathering at my Uncle Jon's lake place, and not far from there was where we finally caught sight of lovely Mt. Rainier.



I just can't seem to get enough of the trees. The look, the smell...sheer bliss.

I suppose that living in the desert makes me 'pine' for trees a bit more than most folks.

Upon arriving at my uncle's place, he offered to take the kids out on a boat ride on the lake. They hadn't been gone for long when we heard shouts coming from across the lake, "Help!"

Turns out my uncle's son-in-law and his buddy, who had been out canoeing, had begun taking on water. The canoe was sinking when they arrived, and they'd lost an oar. A classic up-a-crick-without-a-paddle scenario.

I don't believe their lives were actually in any danger, they just didn't want the canoe sinking to the bottom of the lake.

Naturally, those guys suffered some good-natured ribbing as they returned to the back deck where everyone was gathered and had witnessed the entire scene, grown men having had to be rescued by 'dad' and a bunch of young cousins.



As Ma Ingalls used to say, "All's well that ends well."