Mt Rainier

Friday was the day that took me up to Mt Rainier and the words that popped into my head when i saw it were "fucking beautiful."  As cool as the tetons were i think mt rainier wins just because of it's enormity in and of itself.  There were other mountains around it, but mt rainier by itself was just daunting at how big and beautiful it really was.  There were definitely some more of those roads that almost made me pee my pants/throw up but not as bad as trail ridge road in colorado.  While in the park i also took a hike at the Grove of Patriarchs where you could see a lot of really old trees.  At the very beginning of my hike into the grove i saw a ranger talking to a group of people and was pointing out a black bear that was foraging for food down below the trail.  I've been very lucky to see so much wildlife while on my trip and very thankful it's all been at a safe distance=)  The bear made me laugh out loud when he decided he needed a break from eating and all of a sudden just flopped down on the ground.  Also on the way to the grove there was a pretty river that flowed through it that was a blue/green color and you could see all of the rocks down below.  I had to cross this river on a suspended bridge that kinda made my stomach a little uneasy a couple of times and when i got to the other side it still felt like i was swaying a bit.  The Grove of Patriarchs itself was really cool to see.  There were giant trees everywhere and many of them had fallen over and you could see their gnarled trunks exposed.  I got some pretty good pics of those.  While in the park i saw some pretty cool waterfalls and got to walk/slide down a trail that was covered in snow to the bottom to see it.  Sometimes i don't know why i do stuff like that to get to places, but usually once i'm there it's been worth the effort.  I ate at a really cool place for dinner that night, the mt. rainier railroad dining co., where i had dinner in a real railroad car.  I got the beef ribs with mashed potatoes and corn and it was soooooo good.  The ribs were huge and it was way too much food but i'm glad i got it.  It's been my favorite place i've eaten at so far.  I learned two very important things on friday,one of them in the morning and one of them at night.  Number one-don't leave things plugged into my cigarette lighter to charge all night.......it drains my battery and i have to get a jump.  Number two-My car can go 412.2 miles on a tank of gas......did not do that on purpose.  I wasn't paying attention and i'm really lucky i made it to a gas station in time.  Anyway i learned some very good things and had another great day=)