Seattle – Trail of Shadows and Home Base

Saturday, July 19th Joe & Margaret's flight was due in at Sea-Tac Airport at 11:00 am. John & Sue left Mount Rainier early to pick them up and have lunch with them somewhere in the metropolitan Seattle area. The house we had rented for the six of us would not be available for occupying until 4:00 pm.

Meanwhile, Frank & I stayed in the foothills of Mt. Rainier to explore a bit of the area in the National Park itself. We drove east from our cabin at Ashford and entered Mt. Rainier National Park at the west Nisqually Historic District Entrance (A). From there it was twisty, forested 6.5 mile drive to Longmire (B).

This park entrance was a pretty six mile, ten minute drive along the National Park Highway
from the cabin where we'd stayed.

We only made a small dent in exploration of the park, venturing only 6.5 miles inside.
The entire national park (green on the map) is 370 square miles of area.

At Longmire were some adminstrative buildings. Between the buildings peeked views of the cloud and snow covered summit of Mt. Rainier. The weather could not have been more perfect. It reminded me of opening song of the television western Here Come the Brides, which aired 1968-1970. It had been based on the movie Seven Brides for Seven Brothers where marriageable women were imported from the east coast.

The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle

And the hills the greenest green, in Seattle

Like a beautiful child, growing up, free an' wild

Full of hope an' full of fears, full of laughter, full of tears

Full of dreams to last the years... in Seattle.

What clear skies and vivid colors!
Later in our trip, Margaret and I would be singing the above song in the car while sightseeing.

Frank, against a backdrop of the peak of Mount Rainier.

There was also a museum and historic car display. The Longmire family had developed this area as a health resort for the wealthy.

The log and boulder construction of the museum at Longmire made the building itself a sight worth seeing.

On display was a touring car typical of the days when the Longmire hotels and spas were operational.

Looking at the map below, the large loop around the central meadow is called the Trail of Shadows. We checked in at the museum building and learned that the Trail of Shadows is a short 0.7 mile fairly level beginners level hike. Frank and I thought we could handle this small a dose of nature on foot so we "hit the trail". It was actually quite interesting to see forest, bog, meadow, and hot springs all existing in such close proximity to each other.

The trail loops around a meadow and central mineral springs. We walked it in a counter-clockwise direction.
At the upper northeast sector, just before rounding the bend, is a small cabin typical of what the
less wealthy visitors to the Longmire spa might have experienced during their stay.

Along the trail we walked over foot bridges, gazed across the central meadow, saw a bit of bubbling hot springs, smelled a bog, glimpsed some wildflowers, witnessed the cycle of nature springing forth from fallen trees, and passed a cabin representative of the ones guest would stay in to use the nearby mineral therapeutic hot springs.

The shady trail was quite pleasant. In some places footbridges had been built to navigate over wet bog areas.

I would imagine that under a cloak of darkness this snarled mass of roots from an upturned tree
could well be mistaken for some hideous multi-armed or multi-headed monster.
It is kind of Medusa-like, is it not? 

After we'd completed the loop of the Trail of Shadows, Frank and I shared a sandwich and chips we'd bought at the gift shop and ate lunch at a picnic bench not far from the museum. I looked at the clear plastic container the sandwich had come in and noticed it was accumulating teey-tiny mini-droplets of moisture. It was raining or misting of sorts but the sun still shone brightly and the weather was pleasantly that just-right-do-not-even-need-a-sweater temperature. It was a glorious day!

We decided that if we continued to drive on up to Paradise it would have been a four hour round trip on twisty, narrow roads and afterwards we still would have needed to drive a couple hours to get to the rented house in the University District of Seattle. We were also warned that parking at Paradise was very limited and it was already mid-day. So we skipped Paradise. After all, with our guest house we had been "almost" there. :•) As it turns out, Mt. Rainier National Park has five main areas to explore: Longmire (homestead and mineral springs resort), Paradise (known for views and wildflower meadows), Ohanapecosh (old growth forest), Sunrise (highest point reachable by vehicle), Carbon and Mowich (coal deposits and glacial basin). We'd barely scratched the surface, but we'd enjoyed what we'd experienced. I suspect for the more outdoorsy type, this is hiker's heaven.

We drove the 85 miles back up north to the University District neighborhood of Seattle where our five-befroom craftsman style rental house was on NE 55th Street.

 The houses in this older neighborhood were all different and made for interesting walks
to church, dinner, or just out and about. It was convenient to the freeway and grocery stores, too.

Our rental house in the University District of Seattle had a very homey feel to it.

We explored the house. The large living room and large kitchen and five large bedrooms gave plenty of space to spread out and be together or quietly alone.

There was plenty of seating in the living room to just sit and read, or reminisce,
or converse about solving all the world's problems while forgetting about our own.

The bright roomy kitchen and long dining table were great for eating and game playing
or individual surfing on our person electronic devices. We were all geeks, remember?

This was Frank's and my roomy first floor bedroom during our stay.

With two large bedrooms off the the left,
this staircase led to three additional bedrooms upstairs.
It really showcases all the phenomenal woodworking through the house.

The long driveway on the side gave plenty of room for our two rental cars. The neighborhood was very quiet.

Just a short block up NE 8th Avenue we attended Saturday evening mass with John & Sue and Joe & Margaret at Blessed Sacrament Church, a lovely brick cathedral like structure.

I have no pictures from inside the church but the stained glass windows were lovely, too.

After mass, just a few blocks away, we shared a great Italian dinner at Ristorante Doria.

Home base (A&D) church (B) and restaurant (C) were all within walking distance.
The freeway was easily accessible but it was inaudible from the house.

This restaurant was walking distance after church and back to the house
and the food was really good and plentiful.

We walked home after dinner, all of us content, but tired, after a day of travel and relocating. We turned on the TV and laughed because ironically, what was airing, but none other than Sleepless in Seattle! We talked a bit with the volume off and the scenes of the movie running in the background before turning in early. Joe & Margaret were on east coast time so it was three hours later for them and not "early" at all. I was still a bit wired so I stayed up and watched most of the follow on movie Blind Side but, yawning repeatedly, I eventually went to bed before it finished. I'd seen the best scenes out of it anyway and I already knew how it ended. Tomorrow would be another day.

Being with old friends and watching old movies ... a winning combination!

Seattle – Mount Rainier

Friday, July 18th was the day we had designated to visit the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad and its museum. The museum contains the world's most comprehensive collection of steam logging locomotives.

This sign at the bend in the road at Elbe, WA told us we were at the right place.

John & Sue and Frank & I had tickets for a 12:45 pm train that would take us on a round trip excursion. Leaving from a quaint depot in Elbe and traveling to a museum in Mineral, we would have about 30 minutes to explore up close the logging equipment of a by-gone era before boarding for the return trip. We picked our tickets up at will call and watched as they brought in the logging steam engine that was to power the passenger train.

John, Sue , Frank, and I watch as the steam locomotive is jockeyed into position.
Although still steam, the boilers were fueled by recycled diesel oil rather than wood.

We were excited to get primo seats in one of the open air cars that allowed for excellent viewing opportunities. Shortly after we were underway, we were reminded of the smells and by-products of steam-powered travel. On the return trip we sought out and welcomed seats in the closed-in, air-conditioned, dining car. The views were just as good and the conveniences of a more modern mode of travel were appreciated.

Frank and John rode backwards and sat opposite Sue and me for the outbound trip.

The steam train wound its way through the scenic woods from the depot at Elbe, WA to the museum at Mineral, WA. It started off east paralleling the National Park Highway, although we were screened from the roadway by a thick band of trees. The route then turned south and we intermittently crossed meadows or streams while steaming mostly through wooded areas.

This is the route of the railroad from depot at Elbe to museum at Mineral.
It was approximately a 10 mile round trip.

As the train crossed trestles, we caught glimpses of the rushing waters beneath and, as it wound its way through the woods, we were surprised when clearings we crossed yielded breath-taking views of the not-so-distant Mount Rainier.

We crossed rapidly running white waters several times.

Several times during the outbound trip we were surprised at the appearance of Mt. Rainier off to our left.

When we reached the museum at Mineral, we explored the equipment outdoors and other railroad cars and engines under restoration in the buildings. The official opening of the expanded museum was slated for the next day but we wisely chose to go a day before its opening to avoid the crowds. We may have missed a few pieces of additional equipment they were installing that night but, for the most part, it was a wise decision as we still were able to get the flavor of the place and we got to see a lot more in the time allotted due to fewer people milling about.

We arrived at the museum location at Mineral, WA.

We saw the historic equipment on display outdoors, went into the restoration shop, and visited several other buildings as well. We were advised to keep on the paved pathways between buildings.

You can go to http://www.mrsr.com/museum/museum.html if you want to read more about the museum expansion. Frank was delighted and fascinated by a rare piece of logging equipment called a Williamette Unit. This huge but portable piece of machinery was a steam "donkey" engine that could both "yard" and "load" logs. It could be moved from site to site wherever needed. Very few still exist.

This car mounted Williamette Unit was vital in the logging industry.

The Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad was proud to have this rare unit for display.

Inside one of the restoration sheds was this relatively small engine. Made in 1885, it had been displayed outside in Auburn WA since 1995 and so its wooden parts had decayed. The Mount Rainer Scenic Railroad is nearly finished restoring it. It is quite popular with kids because its somewhat smaller size makes it easier to relate to. We were allowed to board the cab area. 

This Satsop engine is a 0-4-2 meaning it has 0 leading wheels, 4 driving wheels and 2 trailing wheels
according to the Whyte notation for classifying steam locomotives.
This engine is the smallest of steam locomotives.

Kids and those who are kids are heart were allowed to ring the locomotive's bell. After posing for pictures inside the cab we took turns ringing the bell as we got out. You can hear how the bell sounds here at this youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-7WfTgioss.

All aboard! Sue, John, I, and Frank pose for a picture taken for us by one of the museum guides.

Once back at the depot end of the line in Elbe, we walked along a line of cabooses now repurposed as lodging or restaurants.

A line of cabooses stretched far.

One of the wheel bearings in one of the cars bore the name Hyatt. Hyatt was a division of the General Motors company that made bearings. I worked at the Hyatt plan inspected bearings the summer between my sophomore and junior years at college. I did not work on the huge railroad bearings but they were at the other end of the plant from where I was stationed visually inspecting rollers and races, or noise testing and packing other bearings.

In the early 1970s I worked a summer at the New Departure Hyatt Roller Bearing factory, in Kenilworth, NJ.
It was a division of Genreal Motors.

All this was so interesting to Frank we had to almost drag him away from it all. We were hungry and had not yet eaten the picnic lunch we had brought along. We had chosen instead to use all our time exploring the museum at Mineral.

This certainly applied to Frank's sense of time spent!

As we made on our way eastward back to our lodgings at Ashford, we looked for a spot to eat lunch. We found this shady area with picnic benches and tables along side the lake next to the National Park Highway.

We munched on sandwiches lakeside. Frank and Sue are discussing her aversion to steep drop offs,
whether by lakes or along hiking trails.

Along the road back we came upon an outdoor sculpture garden by an artist named Dan Klennert. Not only did the metal sculptures capture the very essence of the machines and animals he interpreted, but his methods were the ultimate in recycling. He scoured junkyards and old homesteads for his raw materials and his philosophy quoted the phrase EX-NIHILO, which is Latin for "Something made out of nothing". Strolling around the lusciously green sculpture park was a pleasant low-key way to while away some afternoon time.

Dan Klennert's works are unique, eclectic, whimsical, huge, ecologically sound, and just plain fun.

Ok, Sue and John.     Lean into it...     Hi-ho, hobby horse... away!

Frank, the leader of the pack... Vroom, vroom!

Penny (farthing) for your thoughts, Diane.

We never did have the urge or make the time to visit the Seattle Art Museum. After reading their rejection letter to this talented artist I am not dismayed in the slightest. I guess if you want to be impressed with more of his work you may need to go to Elbe, WA or at least to his website http://www.danielklennert.com/home.

"... too whimsical to be of interest for the Seattle Art Museum..."
Sounds like a pretty stodgy attitude to me.

After our tour of the metal sculpture garden we found a place for dinner in Ashford just beyond the turnoff for our cabins. We stopped at Alexander's Country Inn, established in 1912. The weather was balmy again and very pleasant so we opted to eat outdoors, next to the trout pond. We could see the leaping fish and small gentle waterfall a short distance away across the pond. The food was good.  Lamb shanks for Frank and veal parmigiana for me are two dishes I remember. The white local wine, Snoqualmie Riesling, was good and kept us in our relaxed mood.

The building and grounds of Alexander's Country Inn were beautiful.

We ate outdoors next to the trout pond because, as Frank said "I have never eaten next to a trout pond before."
Notice the dainty waterfall far in the background.

After dinner Frank & I retired back to our cabin with John & Sue and watched the Disney DVD Frozen. Sue's high school students had wanted to use the song Let It Go from Frozen for one of their projects. Sue wanted to see the song in context and the movie was relatively short. So we all "chilled" while we watched it before John & Sue went on back to their own cabin for the night. Twice before Frank had tried to watch this movie, once in the theatre and once at home. The third time was the charm. He stayed awake for the whole thing this time! Maybe it was the company that did the trick.

Watching Frozen with friends was
a happy ending to a fun-filled day.