Comments on: Sunshine in Washington

By: Erin

Erin — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:10:15 +0000

When I was elementary school age I lived in Tacoma at McChord AFB. Years later my husband and I were visiting Washington on a trip up the coast and into Canada. I decided to stop at McChord and try to get onto the base to show him where I had grown up. As we pulled up to the gate I was astounded to see Rainier, big and beautiful, framed in the background. My jaw dropped–I didn’t remember it being there. I guess it helps to visit in August. That mountain certainly knows how to hide.

By: tina

tina — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:31:28 +0000

Always love pictures of The Mountain.
Definitely one the things we miss from home. People have the audacity to call the tree covered mound in the vicinity of Chiang Mai a mountain, but only because many of them have never seen the real thing. I sheepishly admit I too, have slipped and mentioned using ‘the mountain’ as a guiding landmark. Must be time for a visit to the good ol’ Olympics.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:00:47 +0000

I remember when I first saw Mt. Ranier. It was in the rear view mirror of my rental car and I nearly had a heart attack. It is huge!!! I was at Ft. Lewis at the time, so I could almost always see it. But you know what they say: “If you can’t see the mountain, it’s raining, if you CAN see the mountain, it’s going to rain.”

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:54:49 +0000

It is sort of funny that Kathy and I spent part of our honeymoon at Paradise (mainly so we could talk about it afterwards: “We spent our honeymoon at Paradise”).

For those who don’t know, Paradise is a lookout point and a lodge situated on Mount Ranier’s knees (around 5700 ft, I think).

I had spent some years living here and loved “The Mountain” (as we call it around here). My first job was in Connecticut and I didn’t think it very likely that we would ever live here — I wanted Kathy to appreciate the Pacific Northwest. So we spent the rest of our honeymoon in exotic locations like SeaTac, Seattle and Olympia.

At 14,000 ft (and change), Mount Rainier looms over the landscape. Equivalent mountains in Colorado go almost unnoticed, partly because there are so many of them, and partly because the ground is already so high. When you’re on a plateau at 10,000 feet above sea level, a 14,000 foot high mountain doesn’t look so impressive.

As for Scott’s snide comment, it is called P-E-R-S-P-E-C-T-I-V-E, when objects seem smaller than they really are. I’ll bet that Mountain comes up to the boy’s knees, at least. Plus, they were standing on poles, which is cheating. What kinda mountains do you have in your neck of the woods, huh? Bring it on!

By: heather

heather — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:53:13 +0000

Great job, Tim! Concise, well-written, and entertaining. At least worth a 1-hour chip!

By: Emily

Emily — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:51:37 +0000

Mt. Rainier is known all over the world. (I’m sure that you know that, and were just being sarcastic to keep them Californians away…) My dad is a mountaineer and people train on Rainier for Everest. No joke. I’ts the type of glaciers that Rainier has that makes so amazing. Easy enough for beginners, but challenging enough for pros.

I miss it….sniff. (My youngest was 4 when we hiked Paradise….do you know it?)

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:44:18 +0000

That’s worth a chip.

And I don’t know that I’d brag too much about that “mountain” when it’s so small it barely comes up to the boys’ ankles.

By: Holly

Holly — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:55:30 +0000

We did the same thing you did… saw it was sunny, threw the kids in the car and went to the beach. We just had to get outside and enjoy that sunshine!

Glad to see Kathy is getting a little respite in the blogging responsibilities, but will be glad to see her back, too.

Holly in Kirkland

By: Aunt Kate

Aunt Kate — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:26:39 +0000

The mt. pictures are wonderful, Tim. Good job!! When we’re at Andy’s house in Portland, OR, we can sometimes see Mt. Hood from various spots in his neighborhood. Same feelings abound- ‘it’s sunny, let’s go outside!!’ Pure joy.

I’m glad Mamie was in the picture- I love her.I know you’ll be sad to see them leave for TX today. Hugs all around.

Love you Edgrens. It’s sunny and maybe a +10 today.
Aunt Kate

By: Linda in FL

Linda in FL — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:58:29 +0000

Ok, Tim, I LOVE Kathy, but your blog posts are almost as good. “Tim ‘Rakin’ in the Chips’ Blogger for Hire”! I almost spit coffee on my monitor!