Going back to Rainier was on our list since we visited back on our National Park tour in 2016. There is something magical about that mountain that just pulls a person!
The weather was awesome and the crew we went with was even better! We spent our time there with Madison’s mom and her sister. We got to show Tiny Theo around one of our favorite places and it was a party the whole time!
One of the major highlights of the whole trip was hiking up to the Glacier Viewpoint. It’s a trail that takes you up through Paradise, to a wall of ice – complete with a ice cliff waterfall! Most tourists don’t make it a quarter mile past the visitor’s center, so we had the mountain to ourselves at golden hour! Being there as the sun went down behind majestic Rainier was life changing. We walked back in the low lights across whimsical wildflower meadows and little streams and everything was perfect in that moment.
While we were out, we were actually speaking marmot! We would whistle at the fat little critters and they would whistle back! It was amazing. We felt like we were in Teletubby land hahah.
We used our Polaroid Snap Touch instant digital camera provided by Polaroid to document the whole thing. It was super fun to print out photos and share a real copy with the group. Why is that the most satisfying feeling in the world?
On the way back to California, we took the long way and went down the coast. We had a half a day on the beach and even got the skateboards out for a bit. Maybe someday we’ll get a dreamy little place on the Oregon coast, but for now we’ll take a beachfront view from our RV window.
Spending the week in such inspiring places with our family helped us refocus on what is important in life. Just because we live #vanlife, people sometimes think we don’t have hard times or stress, and we just run around frolicking the in the flowers and park at epic vistas all day. But, we have our own set of challenges living on the road. And just like normal families, sometimes we get too involved with our projects and worry about work and how to pay the bills. Even though we spend most of our days in nature, we too need to be grounded. It’s always after trips like this one that help us remember what is most important in life – relationships and experiences.
Beautiful photos. Madison’s mom looks more like a sister: she must be doing something right!
She is doing life right, that’s for sure! Thanks for reading here!
Have you guys seen bears or other interesting wildlife during your national parks tours?
We saw a TON of bears and all kinds of wildlife! We had a tally of bears for the whole trip and pretty sure it was over 30! I’d have to look it up on our stat sheet!