Still in Seattle...

We are back in Seattle, staying at the KOA Seattle/Tacoma.  Not the best KOA, but the location was great for trips to/from the airport.  We were also only 1 1/2 hours from Mount Rainier.  Kane and the girls arrived!  We spent the first day of their visit enjoying the campground.  Sarah Rose and Emma played at the dog park from sun up to sun down.

Nice tye-dye Joe and Emma!

Poker again...Vegas here we come!

Good times!

The following day we decided to make a trip back to Mount Rainier.  We planned on going to the northeast entrance at Sunrise; however, there was a line at the entrance and no parking at any of the trailheads.  So, we drove passed Sunrise and had lunch near Chinook Pass.  On the way down off the mountain we stopped at a pull-out and we hiked.  Hannah Grace proved to be quite the hiker and can make a mean snowball!

Deep depression hit Big Red when the Richmond Cousins had to leave :(  Big Red felt very small after living with 11 people.  Such amazing memories were made and we were all sad to see our family leave.  Back to school!

Luke stinkage

Luke he never takes showers and his socks have like radation on them now because he doesn t wash his socks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and he only brought 2 underware and 2 socks and 2 shirts and 2 pants and michael rocks the house

Salmon Fishing

The boys went salmon fishing on an all-day charter.  The only one to land the King Salmon was Mason.

Good job Mason!

Everyone enjoyed the fishing trip.  By the way, Noah did catch two eels on one hook!

The salmon fishing continued at the KOA Seattle/Tacoma on the Green River.  Kane and the girls have joined us.  Sarah Rose is so thrilled to have her sisty cousins here.  After spending a week with five stinky boys, its nice to have some girlie time.  Now that our party has grown to 11 people, the boys pitched a tent where they are forced to endure Luke's smelly socks!  This KOA is nice, but nothing compared to the KOA Astoria.  Not sure our neighbors can handle another "poker night" :)

Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Oregon

Slightly uneventful at Mount St. Helens because we couldn't see it.  The visibility was 0 !  We did go to the Visitors Center and watch the movie and Noah bought some "ash" for $5 :)  The boys were jabbing Noah pretty good, so I told Noah that his oral presentation on Mount St. Helens would be better than anyone elses because he will have props :)  After our visit to Mount St. Helens we made our way to the Pacific Ocean.  We are staying at a really nice KOA in Astoria, OR.  We are just one mile from the beach.

Old shipwreck on the Pacific Ocean

Mount Rainier

Jacks up by 9am!  Our first morning with the cousins (that would be 8 people in Big Red) went very smooth!  We made our way to Mount Rainier where we did some hiking and picnicing.  The first hike was at a lower elevation so there was no snow, but was still a lot of fun.

This was Sarah Rose's favorite hike!

We made our way up the mountain to an area called Paradise Valley.  It was only 47 degrees and very foggy.  Sarah Rose and Mama decided to stay in Big Red for this hike. 

Very dark and mysterious!

Not exactly sure what they are doing?

Now that is a motley crew!

Good times at Mount Rainier.  And then there is the drive down the mountain!  A Park Ranger told us how to drive down the mountain to go towards Mount St. Helens.  Well,,,,,she ignored the fact that Big Red is a 38' motorhome.  The road we were on is barely suitable for an SUV!  Even driving 35 mph, we took on air!  Mason hit the ceiling on the bunk, all of the clothes came off the rack in the closet, debris came out of the a/c vents, dresser fell over, running lights popped off, and the bike rack was bent almost in half!  Oh, did I mention all of the motion sickness!  This was a wonderful two hour drive :)

Seattle, Washington

Big cities have big traffic!  We stayed at Lake Pleasant RV Park for a week (its a retirement rv park).  Our first night here and boom, Michael's bike is stolen (he already blogged that scoop).  Since our bikes are our transporation we had to replace his bike :(  Sarah Rose met a friend that was staying with her grandparents, so we didn't see much of Sarah Rose.  Keith had a meeting in Ocala so he was gone for four days.  Since I was still recovering from pneumonia, Nana to the rescue!  My mom came and stayed with us while Keith was gone.  Nobody takes care of you like your Mama....thanks Mom!  Plus, there is nothing like game night with Nana!

We had a car in Seattle, so we did lots of shopping.  Even Michael wanted to go to the mall!  After spending four days with us in our little box, I think Nana was ready to go home to Papa.  Keith made it back safely with three Richmond Cousins in tow!  Mason, Noah, and Luke have joined us in Seattle!  We love our cousins!

 

Quinault Rain Forest

This area of Washington is one of three in the world that have temperate rain forests.  We hiked through the forest which had 300 foot douglas firs.  If I think these trees are big, I can't wait to see the Red Wood Forest! 

That is a tree growing out of a tree stump!