June 25th, 2006
Mount St. Helens
Today was the day that epitomized the saying “Man proposes, God disposes”. The morning started normally enough. We fueled up ourselves and the van and started on our 5 hour drive to Mt. St. Helen’s. We were almost out of the city of Forks, when we found a car driving alongside us, honking and gesticulating wildly, asking us to pull over. We did so thinking our gas tank lid was open, but were met with the sight of a flat tire. So, this is what that exclamation sign that showed up on the dashboard the previous day meant!! The helpful couple in the car was obviously distressed to see us helpless, but given their age and the fact every auto shop in that small town was closed on Sunday, couldn’t really do much.

While I called AAA on my hit and miss cell phone signal, Joe made an attempt to figure out how to change the tire. We spent the next ½ an hour changing the tire, instead of waiting for AAA guy to show up. Wrong day to wear my brand new white linen skirt, huh? Tire changed, we started on our way, but the fact that we were driving on a doughnut with approximately 60 miles of drive before we hit civilization was weighing heavy on us. About 10 miles later, as we passed Kalalosh (which consists of a hotel with cabins and nothing else), Joe spotted a shack hosting a convenience store and a single gas unit. On a whim, Joe pulled over and walked into the convenience store. The old lady manning the store helpfully offered the services of his maintenance guy. The puncture fixed by the extremely helpful maintenance guy, Ray, we were off – this time in better spirits.

Mt. St. Helens was a sight to behold. Snow capped blunt top showed the obvious damage caused by the eruption and the mud slide. Lupines, Columbines and Foxgloves abounded, filling the landscape with shades of purple. Every now and then, Mt. St. Helens would belch out a cloud of white smoke. We spent some time hiking along the trails and watching interpretive videos at the Observation Center.

We reached Nisqually Lodge at the outskirts of Longmire entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park to find that the local transformer had burnt up and the whole town, including the lodge was in darkness. After a quick, sweaty dinner at the local Copper Creek Inn (liked the food, couldn’t stand the attitude), we found ourselves back at the lodge, sitting in the common area (the only area with power from the generator), trying to figure out if DSL modem would work.

I guess, we could have had it worse, but hope for a better day tomorrow.

June 24th, 2006
Olympic National Park
Highlight of today was definitely the 10.8 mile hike along the Cape Alava-Sand Point loop. The hike started off in the lush coastal forest. We walked on a boardwalk under the thick richly scented canopy of moss covered pines and firs. Ferns around us reached more than 5 feet high. The skunk cabbage leaves were 3 feet long and about 1 foot wide. Unfortunatley, the abundant wild blueberries around us had not ripened yet. The tree trunks were massive, upto 7 feet in diameter. The 3.3 mile walk was pleasant, slight uphill climb in dim, muted path, when suddenly to the left, the tree thinned down and we had a clear view of the rugged and rocky coastline dotted with tower like structures which once must have been part of the peninsula. The next 3 miles was walking south on the shore. It wasn't as easy as we would have thought. It was a sensation overload for our feet. We drudged our way through deep soft sand which would allow no footing, foot deep bed of wet seeweed that sqelched under our feet, over the small, round boulders that forced us to hop from one to the other really fast. There was driftwood everywhere, not the mornal sticks and roots, but Douglas Firs - huge Douglas Firs. And quite a few of them were blocking our path, forcing us to climb over their 6-7 feet wide trunks.Ben decided to add some challange to the walk. One of the high tide detour involved using a rope to climb up and down a 50-feet high steep rock. There was no high tide, but hey - what the heck. I was cursing and sweating all the way through, but now in hind sight - it was OK!
We took an extra mile long detour to the Sand Point Beach and then started our 3 mile walk back though the coastal forest back to our car. The only wildlife that we saw on this hike were 4-6 inches long slugs & snail making their slimy trail across the paths.

Earlier that morning, we had gone to the Hurricane Ridge. It offered a sweeping vista of the glacier topped Olympic Mountain Range. It was a sight to behold. I heard most visitors mumbling something about God, beauty and things along those lines, except for one middle aged woman who stood on the short wall at the edge of the ravine singing "Hills are alive with teh sound of music" for the benefit of his camcorder lugging husband!!
The meadows were chock full of wildflowers - Lupine, violets, foxgloves, Vetch. The ridges at the low lying area were smothered by Foxgloves, Astilbe, Huckleberries & wildberries bushes.

Around 6:00 in the evening, we reached Hoh Rain Forest. What lay before us was beyond our imaginations. The growth in certain areas was so thick that it looked like a green wall. The 3/4 mile Hall of Mosses trail meandered through old growth Pine, Spruces & Firs - upto 300 feet high. It was a banquet for the senses. We walked over soft, spongy bed created by dropped needles, we breathed in moist and slightly fragrant air, we could hear water trickling in numerous rain fed creeks, and all around us was green. Green of the mosses and lichen covered every inch of the tree bark, green of the lacy club moss draped over the branches of the trees, green of the filtered light streaming thorugh the high canopy above. Every available inch had been taken over by plants - ferns, smaller trees.

We stayed in Forks this night in a cutely named motel - "Dew Drop Inn" - with its pink doors and comfortable room.

June 23rd, 2006
Seattle to Port Angeles
The first official day of our vacation found us impatient to get going. We were up early and waiting at the doors of Museum of Flight for it to open, with at least a dozen other eager parents like us. We were amazed by the sight of the steel and glass great gallery with dozens of aircrafts suspended from the ceiling six stories high.
Ben got undivided attention of one the docents who helped him try out a variety of flight simulators. NASA simulator declared me & Joe totally unfit of flying an aircraft, while Ben was showered accolades for successful lunar vehicle landing.
We got to walk through the Air Force One and Concorde in the Air Park. The boys were absorbed by the heroic deeds of Air Force pilots in the World War I & II, while I found the story of WASP, Women Air Force Service Pilots very gripping.
Afternoon was spent walking around the Seattle waterfront. It had a commanding view of the downtown and the fun, light hearted atmosphere of a small town boardwalk.

Later in the day, we took the ferry to Bainbridge Is. and drove to Port Angeles. Is it our imagination or are the trees and shrubs taller here than their brethrens in eastern part of country? Even the Dandelions were taller than the ones in Massachusetts. The drive was very pleasant. We had the grand sight of Olympic Mountain Range to our left and uninterrupted flow of foxgloves and raspberry bushes on the berm by the side of the road to our right.

We finally called it a day after a filling meal at the Crab House in Port Angeles. I had a whole Crab Dungeness, Ben struggled with the Snow White Crab legs, while Joe settled with a more sedate choice of Crab cakes.

June 22nd, 2006
Sleeping in Seattle

Jet Blue is awesome, or as my son would say "It rocks!". Comfortable leather seats, plenty of leg rooms, amazingly friendly crew, and a refreshing variety of snacks. My son, a boy scout, who was working on his Aviation merit badge, needed to interview the pilots & the attendants. The whole crew gave him a lot of time & attention. You can see him here flying the airplane ;-) A big thanks to the crew of Jet Blue Flight 497. Landed in Seattle 10:15pm Pacific standard time (1:15am eastern standard time), sunk into Hampton Inn's luxuriously soft beds and went right off to sleep. No "sleepless in Seattle" here.

June 22nd, 2006
Destination NorthWest
Last December, the company I work for got acquired by Unica. The brightest bit of news probably was the fact that Unica gives a month paid leave, what they call sabbatical to all employees after every 6 years of service. Since my tenure from MarketSoft was grandfathered in, I was eligible for a "sabbatical" almost as soon as we were acquired.
My husband, Joe and I decided to use about 2 and half weeks of that time traveling the American North West and hiking the National Parks in that area.
Being the active, ambitious, over-achieving type “A” personalities that we are, we decided to pack in as much as we could into the trip. What's a vacation without a little sweat, huh?

I'm hoping to publish the travel narrative as I go. Check often for updates.

After much head scratching, this is the itinerary that we came up with:
(Thu, June 22nd) Fly to Seattle - Stay in Seattle for the night.
(Fri, June 23rd) In Seattle. Drive to Port Angeles for the night
(Sat, June 24th) Olympic NP. Stay at Forks, WA.
(Sun, June 25th) Visit Mt. St.Helens. End at Longmire/Paradise in Mt. Rainier.
(Mon, June 26th) In Mt. Rainier.
(Tue, June 27th) Drive to W. Glacier MT.
(Wed, June 28th) Glacier NP. End at Many Glacier.
(Thu, June 29th) Glacier NP.
(Fri, June 30th) Drive to Theodore Roosevelt NP, Medora, ND.
(Sat, July 1st) Theodore Roosevelt NP.
(Sun, July 2nd) Badlands, Wall, SD.
(Mon, July 3rd) Mt. Rushmore.
(Tue, July 4th) Wind Cave NP & Devils Towers.
(Wed, July 5th) Longmont, CO.
(Fri, July 6th) Fly back to Boston.