northwest green

A week-long sojourn to Washington state made for some welcome color and relaxation. You know, Fallon is famous for "Hearts of Gold" Cantaloupe that's grown along the banks of the mighty Carson river, but the entire area is mostly high desert scrub. The trip northwest gave Christine and I a chance to get out of very hot, and humid in her case, environments and put-on some 'perfect weather duds'. A two-day trip to Portland at the end of the week simply added to the fun as we saw the classic Chinese Garden, Rose Garden and Japanese Garden over the course of a half-day. I was able to meet Christine's long-time friend (and fellow Army-destructor) Shawn and her...her...her Mark while in Seattle. A few get togethers, some sushi and the new Miyazaki movie one evening, bookended by the 'girls having coffee'. As expected, by me, there was much salmon to be had, places to be seen, city streets to walk and Mt. Rainier for a hike. We ALMOST didn't do the hike down at the mountian after the excellent planning for the day after sushi and day before Portland, but some little bird convinced us to get up and get out. We've done hiking at Tahoe, seen the sights, but Rainier was more (most?) fabulous. Don't believe me? See the pictures. We were hosted (fantasically) by Connie and visited a few times with Heather, Michael (in between his high-profile travels...), and Ben. In fact, tip o' the trip goes to Michael for getting us to head to Sunrise, Washington and hike the Bourroughs Mountain trail at Rainier. We made it back to the airport (in time! no running!) and safely home on Sunday the 14th...with a Southwest Airlines bonus of 300 clams because I so righteously volunteered my seat and hopped on a later flight. I AM gracious.