sticks, snow, and a standpipe

I had been eyeballing the snow covered peaks in the distance with a lusty craving ever since my plane landed. Scott and I decided that we absolutely had to touch snow today, and drove toward Mount Rainier. After 30 minutes in the car (and a pit-stop for sandwiches), the road began to curve up and up. I was pressed to the window once again, amazed at the size of the evergreens and the spunky class II wave trains so close to the city. We also passed a produce market with a sign for "Yakima Asparagus" - in my corner of the globe Yamika is not a town but a car rack company. Mmm, roof rack asparagus. The road finally ended in a parking lot, and so we continued on foot.

Today I learned that Keen sandals are not optimal for hiking steep ascents in snow. Especially when you're not wearing socks. Snow gets in the holes and ends up in hard packed lumps under your feet. But despite the totally inappropriate footwear, quads burning, we made it well above the snowline and proceeded to have a snowball fight. In Saint Louis the humid summer is already building, so to be here later the same day felt like I had hiked into a different world. And to top it all off, I fell through a well-camouflaged snow bridge into a creek!

The whirlwind Seattle tour concluded with a visit to the Space Needle, fresh raw fish and wasabi, and bouldering on the standpipe water tower in Volunteer Park. I also got an early birthday present today - a pair of drumsticks. No, I'm not a drummer. Two years ago, while sporadically banging on a giant hollow sculpture in Laumeier, Scott told me I had no rhythm. No rhythm!! Anyone who knows me has seen me break it down on a dance floor. But Scott is right, my left wrist can't seem to handle a 16th note. Anyway, I'm now learning patterns and starting to get faster. Scott and I drove all over Seattle, each with our own pair of drumsticks, beating away at the dashboard in his car. It was goofy, giddy fun that made me feel like a kid again. Great birthday present.

Four more pictures from Volunteer Park:
Saint Louis statues are missing this sign
Buying a subaru? This one comes with 4 bags of leopard clothing! pic1 pic2 pic3