The Ride up Mount Rainier in Washington State

Saturday, 12 July 2008.
We decided to take advantage of the 85 degree weather and perfect blue sky by riding as far as you can go up the road to the summit of Mount Rainier in Washington State. There is a tourist lodge at the top of the road called "Paradise". We road to Paradise.

And it was very much like Paradise!

If you click on the pictures they will explode to full page. The grandeur of Mt. Rainier on a day with no clouds in the sky is nothing short of amazing! There are many places to stop and enjoy the view of the numerous rivers and creeks that begin on Mt. Rainier's glaciers. Their waters flow down rocky beds forming endless numbers of waterfalls as they make their way down the steep mountainside. One of the pictures shows a waterfall in a tight little rock rimmed canyon that was a relaxing stop for us on the way up the mountain.

One of the things we like most about riding our bike is being just that much closer to nature as we ride along. We made several addditional stops along the road and took our time to enjoy all the magnificent views as completely as we could.

We stopped about 1/2 way between our house in Olympia, Washington and Paradise on Mt. Rainier at a little town called Elbe. There is a great little hamburger stand there housed in a roadside shack. We had a couple of very good burgers and a Pineapple Malt while sitting at one of the picnic tables by the road. This particular little stand is like a magnet for travelers going up to Mt. Rainier so you get a continuing parade of people from around the world who stop for a burger and a drink. This makes 'people viewing' another part of lingering here.

The entire ride from Olympia up to Mt. Rainier and then back again takes about 5 - 6 hours depending on how many stops you make.

Please send us a motorcycle photo and your own ride story for posting here. We'd love to read about your favorite ride and see your bike!

A ride in the country and an unexpected visitor.....

We had an amazing thing happen this afternoon. While on our Saturday ride thru the backcountry south of Olympia, we spotted this deer. I have many shots....We saw it in this field. We stopped to see what was around its neck. Turns out, someone must have tied this bright orange thing around its neck to protect it. It was loosely tied on, and was definitely done on purpose. Initially Joyce walked up ahead of the bike to see if she could get close enough to evaluate the situation. The deer would have nothing to do with that. It just decided to walk right up and visit us. After receiving lots of water from Joyce's water bottle, and smelling the seats of the bike real good.....it decided to give Joyce a kiss. We visited with it for about 30 minutes......and then it walked into the field next to us and we rode away......wow....nature! We love it, that's the main thing we get from riding our bike; is getting out into nature.