Saturday, August 23, 2008

Blog Your Blessings Sunday #41


If you care to join us acknowledging our blessings go here: Blue Panther
CLICK on any photo to enlarge for better viewing. . .

This is a photo of two friends who took me camping last week on Mount Rainier in Washington state. They are crossing the bridge on our return after a hike. (Please excuse the sun spots in the photo.) These two wonderful people are my blessing that I write about this week. But I am getting ahead of my story. . .

These special people have shared their beloved mountain with me this year, not once, but twice! I first visited Mount Rainier for my birthday in January when they took me snow shoeing for my first time. I wrote about that back in January and had wonderful snow photos too. (See index if you missed it.)

This time, they picked me up for camping on Monday afternoon and we arrived at Mount Rainier in time to set up camp and enjoy a wonderful salmon dinner grilled on a campfire to perfection.



The next morning, I woke up to blueberry pancakes made on the campfire. (I had to buy fresh blueberries at the Farmer's Market Saturday so I could make myself some more!)

Then, we went on a hike with a Ranger and other people in a group and learned about the area up behind the Paradise Inn and we were lucky enough to see deer





a marmot (I think)
and beautiful flowers too.



I will share more of them in another post later this week.

Then the guided walk was over before we knew it and, just the three of us -- well, mostly me -- wanted to continue on over another bridge on the Skyline Trail

to see the remaining snow near the Nisqually Glacier. We went over one bridge

but the second bridge was out and not feasible to cross the river in my eyes so . . . can you believe it, I voted to pass up the snow near Nisqually Glacier! (I did see pockets of snow in the landscape.)


We went back to the old Mount Rainier Visitors Center after a brief stop at the car for our picnic lunch.


We enjoyed wonderful turkey sandwiches, Pepsi and cold soup which turned out to be quite wonderful and I have asked Katney for the recipe.

They are in the process of building a new visitors center that will be better suited for the amount of snow they get each winter.

There was so much more to my wonderful camping experience on Mount Rainier but that will be for another day. Thanks, dear friends for being a blessing in my life.

This is the same bridge I started out my story with. Crossing it the first time before our hike in the woods there didn't bother me too much but when we returned, I was scared to death with that rushing water and I clung to the railing and closed my eyes partially until I reached the other side. Did you notice that we had blue skies part of the time?

14 comments:

SandyCarlson said...

That looks like a wonderful time, Paulie. How great to be there with friends and to see so much beauty.

Anonymous said...

That looks like so much fun! A blessing indeed :) Love the photos!

Katney said...

I am humbled to be considered a blessing. We truly enjoy sharing our passion for Mt. Rainier with you. It was fun.

Rune Eide said...

I am glad to see that you have got your pictures back. It must have been a hike of the lifetime - I enjoyed coming along. Especially the bridges... BTW I have moved the "Bridges between" Visual Norway.

Anonymous said...

It is really great to have wonderful friends. It is a blessing indeed :)

Thanks for sharing your blessings and for dropping by. Have a great week!

duopastorale said...

That's my kind of trip!

Whatever said...

Sounds like a nice trip. Salmon is also a very good choice --- high in omega-3's.

Linda said...

Beautiful pictures. How nice to be able to spend time with friends like they. Sounds like you are all blessings to each other.

DoubleDeckerBusGuy said...

Amazing images and an amazing place! It sounds like you and your friends had a fantastic time! A multiple blessing!

dot said...

Paulie, you got some really nice pictures on your trip. Sounds like it was great fun! I'd say those two are truly a blessing!

Malyss said...

Your trip seems to have been wonderful!
the landscapes are fabulous, I like this kind of wild places;
I read that you were in "Paradise" Inn?I understand why they called the inn that way!...

Love Bears All Things said...

I loved sharing this portion of your trip. It looks so beautiful there. I'm happy you have friends like this to spend time with.
There's no way I would have crossed that log bridge.
Mama Bear

Cindi said...

It looks like you had an absolutely wonderful time! How close were you to the deer? They are such beautiful animals!

storyteller said...

I enjoyed your photos of ‘trees you’ve known’ … ‘stairs down to the waterfall’ … flowers and the ‘odd shot’ too. I take it you’ve recovered from your fall and enjoying life again. What a wonderful ‘adventure’ with your friends that you’ve shared in this BYBS post! Thanks for sharing, and for dropping by mine at Sacred Ruminations too. Have a lovely week.
Hugs and blessings,