Pam left for work early and we slept in a bit and then packed up. I started the beemer and let it warmup to let the battery charge a bit and get the oil circulating again. Tires needed a bit of air and the oil level was spot on. We loaded the Subaru with all of our stuff, nothing on the beemer except me, and headed north to Mt Rainier. Pam had told us to not leave too early or we would hit traffic so we dawdled until 9 or so. It felt great to be back on the bike. Hip was a little cranky, but nothing some of Dr Gustafs peg squats wouldn't solve.
The temperature was perfect and traffic was light and relaxed through the city. I immediately lost Deb in the traffic (or she lost me), but we had assumed as much. It is so relaxing to putt along at the speed limit and take in all the details. I filled with gas over the border in Washington ($$$$4.20 for premium, $$3.98 for regular, yikes). Thankfully I get 50 mpg. I turned on Rt 12 to head east toward the mountain. There is a bit of agriculture (cherries) here but the further east I got, the more the logging trucks took over the road. This brought back memories of Pete and I back on 1974 riding motorcycles through here and dodging log trucks. These guys are good drivers but fast. Being passed by a double trailer log truck is quite an experience, watching it swerve from side to side in front of you. I gave them lots of berth.
Turned on Rt 7 north and then the skinny Park Service road east again to the mountain. This road is fabulous and the weather was perfect clear and sunny. Twisty narrow 2 laner through old growth trees with sunlight dappling through the leaves. Drivers are all polite and the campers pull over religiously to let everyone else go by on the plentiful pulloffs. This road climbs for a long time and the turns begin to be 15 mph turns until you pop out at the Paradise Lodge with Mt Ranier towering in the background. This is in the style of the great lodges and was built in 1917 by a private firm for tourists and later taken over by the national park system. They have old pictures on the walls of horse drawn wagons and early cars hauling people up the boulder strewn road to the lodge. This was right out of that heady time of the 1920's when people were starting to ski, hike and head for the mountains. We went for a short hike through the fields of wild flowers and it reminded us of the alpine meadows in Switzerland. All it needs is some goats and sheep with bells around their necks. We checked in and went for a short motorcycle ride, then dinner. I tried to read my book sitting in the lodge main room but couldn't keep my eyes open so off to bed. I woke up at 3am, took some ibuprofen for the cranky hip, got dressed and went out in the parking lot to get my phone charger out of the bike. The sky was clear and the stars were incredible. Someone said there was a meteor shower tonight so I laid on the pavement next to the bike and watched until I finally saw a meteor streak across the sky. Back to bed and fast asleep.
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