State Park and View of Rainier

The first two photos are at Ike Kinswa State Park.  Stately huge trees, moss, fern, lush understory.  We saw a winter wren, we think that's a first time for us. Typical wren - cheeky, talkative, active, tiny. Our campsite was huge, and no others campers really close by.  That makes us Fuddy Duddy campers very happy.  We are going to make a sign:  "Keep away.  Fuddy Duddy Campers,"  instead of the happy signs that folks have, "Welcome. The Smiths. Tacoma, WA."

We took Route 12 through the mountains to see more of Mt. Rainier.  This was the best shot we took at a scenic outlook.  We were lucky that the day was so clear. Rainier is quite active, rumblings and grumblings, and the predictions if it erupts for the Seattle area are sobering.  With the glaciers suddenly melting, the lahar or mudflows would devastate the area. 

Our travels in this area were not originally planned as we were going to come back from AK through the Yukon and BC.  I am happy to have seen the Mt. St. Helens area.  We were planning to visit Glacier but will save it for another trip.  We are in the Spokane for the night at an RV resort. It's very nice and really seems to be resort like (indoor pool, spa, fitness room, mini golf, tennis, etc).  Mostly RV "resorts" just charge more for the same old, same old. 

We were surprised to find the area east of the mountains very arid. Of course, thinking about it, I should have realized it is in the rain shadow.  The campground we were in last night was in a temperate rain forest, but this is semi arid.  Much irrigation allows for a variety of crops and fruit trees.