After doing some laundry in Lake Quinault, we drove to Mount Rainier National Park. It was just under four hours away. On the way into the park, there were several gorgeous places to stop and see. Our first stop was Christine Falls.
For some reason, keeping shoes on the kids was harder than keeping masks on MAGAs.
Narada Falls
We were lucky enough to stay at Paradise Inn in the park. It is a National Historic Landmark with trailheads right outside the front door and panoramic views.
There were no availabilities online to book a room here. This place fills up a year in advance. I just happened to call one day and the lady on the phone told me a family suite (super rare) had just become available. The majority of the rooms are hall style with a community bathroom at the end of the hall. We were happy to have our own bathroom. This lodge was truly amazing. It was neat to stay somewhere with such rich history. There were no televisions or phones! This was the kids room.
The two rooms connected by a bathroom. My photo of our room is super blurry.
The lobby! The piano President Truman played is still there.
Another perfect meal view!
We didn't waste any time after dinner. We immediately headed out to see the Reflection Lakes.
We had no idea the mountain was behind all the clouds. We couldn't see Mount Rainier when we first arrived. The following morning, the clouds had cleared and it was amazing how close we had been the entire time!
Hello fox!
We could actually see Mt Rainier from our room when we got back that night as the clouds were clearing.
Our first full day in Mt Rainier National Park was Ethan's birthday. I had gotten up at 5am to make sure we could have a reservation in the dining room for his birthday dinner. I used my morning time to set up a cute PJ Mask table for his breakfast. We brought one present with us on the trip.
Heading out!
We had beautiful weather our entire trip. The luckiest thing, however, was the lack of clouds on Mount Rainier.
We had the most amazing views!
Myrtle Falls was only a 0.3 mile hike from our lodge.
The meadows were full of wildflowers. They are one of the most famous things about the park in the summer.
The Alta Vista Trail was difficult, but so very worth it!
Alex's favorite hike was the Nisqually Vista Loop.
After lunch, we drove to Ohanapecosh to do a quick hike. It was a forty-five minute drive and both kiddos fell asleep on the way. We had sleepy and grumpy hikers.
Dinner at the lodge!
We drove to Sunrise the next morning. It is about two hours away from Paradise and has different views of the mountain.
I had planned to do two or three hikes here, but we were getting a bit tired/running out of time and could only do one.
Ethan actually walked most of this 2.4 mile hike (which is why we ran out of time)!
We saw a ton of chipmunks, but no marmots!! Everyone who has been to this park told me that we would see hundreds of marmots! The kids were probably too noisy.
After our hike at Sunrise, we drove over to Crystal Mountain outside of the park for lunch. We rode a gondola up to the top to eat.
Lunch
Our last night in the park, we got dinner to go from the restaurant in our lodge and ate it in a secret spot!
The lobby was usually pretty crowded, but off in the corner, next to the huge fireplace was a small staircase. It lead up into the rafters and had plenty of seating. It was empty both times I went up! We had dinner up here all to ourselves. It also allowed us to have a closer look at the beautiful wildflower lanterns hanging from the ceiling.
Last night ice cream!
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