The one You've all Been Waiting For...

Day 27: July 23, 2009 – Mt. Rainier National Park to Seattle, WA
Where did we sleep?

Cougar Rock Campground outside of Longmire, WA in Mt. Rainier National Park, that’s where we slept. It was a good sleep. The stars were bright as we laid to rest and the fog set in thick by morning.

We worried that we would not get to enjoy the view of Mt. Rainier today because the fog was so heavy in our campground and on the road as we drove up to Paradise for ideal viewing of the peak. We strained our eyes to see the peak and soon enough we had broke through the clouds and saw the infamous mountain in all it’s wonderful glory!

Happy to receive sunshine and a spectacular view, we did what all intelligent folks do and began a short yet steep trek up the trail to view the mountain up close and personal – ish. The trail we started appeared to be the trail that serious backpackers also start on when they plan to summit this beast of a mountain. So, we walked along with our camera, single bottle of water and Melissa was faithfully wearing a skirt – we fit right in!

A few huffs and puffs later we had the view we had come for and spent some time taking pictures, admiring the flowers, being entertained by marmots and looking a little less than familiar to mountain terrain (especially Melissa). It’s okay though, she knows her skills and is not put off by anyone’s judgments, skirts are really the best hiking option she’s ever discovered

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Having enjoyed the crisp mountain air and beauty of another Washington Mountain range we headed into Seattle where we planned to meet up with our good friend and best man, Abram Heller and his lovely lady, Mallory.

Surprisingly, we beat this couple into downtown Seattle (even after a series of Parking ordeals…ugh) and promptly made the decision to seek out nourishment. Our choice? A sushi bar. Mmmm. We enjoyed spicy salmon sushi, salmon and avocado sushi, spicy tuna sushi and shrimp tempura sushi – and when we say we enjoyed it, we mean we ENJOYED it! Just as we finished up our afternoon snack we were finally able to meet up with Abram and be introduced to the lovely Mallory.

The four of us then made our way into Pike Place Market where Abram and Mallory grabbed a quick bite to eat before we all made our way down to the ORIGINAL Starbuck’s coffee!!! Ooo-Aaaa. Unfortunately, Mike and Melissa are committed to drinking tea but were slightly honored to stand in the café that started it all. From Starbucks #1 we made our way into the market where we enjoyed the sights and smells of fresh produce, orange honey coated almonds, fresh fish, handmade soaps, photography and other unique goods.

Having enjoyed typical Seattle we made our way to the waterfront to enjoy a beverage and some time chatting with Abram and Mallory. With their own obligations, they made their way onto their next destination and we prepared to meet our CouchSurfing hosts in the Ballard district of Seattle.

Navigating our way through downtown Seattle and across a bridge we showed up at the apartment complex of Evan and Kate, an energetic, amusing, mostly geeky but totally awesome couple. We were introduced not only to Evan and Kate but also to their bunnies: Isabella and Walter. Evan and Kate offered us a great amount of information on bunnies; their eating habits, intelligence levels, noises, sitting positions and so much more. While learning about bunnies we also held “rabies” and “flesh eating viruses” in our hands, learned about slime mold, the location of giant trees, history of the area and were offered the opportunity to go up the Space Needle free of charge…! Woo-hoo! (Just another reason all people should participate in CouchSurfing, you never know what you’ll learn or what sweet deals you’ll run into.)

So, we loaded up in Kate’s car and made our way to the Space Needle, built for the1962 World Fair. We rode the elevator and walked the circumference of the observation area taking in the city of Seattle at night. Our energy was waning so we made our way back to the apartment (after a small detour to see a troll under a bridge – seriously…) and laid ourselves down to sleep. Melissa enjoyed the couch while Mike took on a sleeping pad and the “threat” of bunnies in the night. Melissa slept peacefully and Mike slept mostly in peace, occasionally waking to the small sounds of Isabella and her body quite near his face. After all this, we have decided that a bunny will be in our future and it will be called: Ghandi.