Day 21 - Mount Rainier and Portland

Today, we woke up in our tent in Mount Rainier National Park. For whatever reason, Steve decided to let me sleep until noon; this is by far the latest I've slept since I've been on the trip. After breaking down our camp, which was RIGHT near the edge of the street (we rolled in around 2am and were tired!), we headed down to the Longmire Visitor Center.

From there, a very handsome ranger who looked like Rob Lowe, suggested that for a 3 to 4 mile hike, Kristy and I try the Rampart Ridge Trail. We looked it over on a map, and it seemed easy enough - a 4.4 miles loop. The ranger neglected to mention the 1,339 foot rise in elevation in less than a mile. Bastard. It took me 2 hours, with frequent stops (and quite a major ding to my dignity), to get to the top of the mountain. And from the top of the mountain, what could I see?

The top of Mount Rainier. It's one of the tallest mountains (I think fifth?) in the continental U.S. From our vantage point, Kristy and I could see the snow and clouds surrounding the summit very clearly. It was awfully pretty - another photo op that looks like a painted backdrop.

The walk back down was much nicer. All of that steepness that had previously made me want to raze the mountain and turn it into a Wal-Mart turned the rest of the hike into "it's all downhill from here." Thank goodness.

We met back up with Steve and Pete at the gift shop, where Steve fed some super cute birds some pistachios. They weren't as interested in his beer. We had a date with Portland and destiny, however, so we jumped back in the car and got to I-5.

I was exhausted, so I passed out in the car after eating some nasty grocery store fried chicken. I've become really fond of V-8 on this trip, by the way. I might stock up on the low-sodium or spicy hot kinds in bulk when I get home.

When I woke up, we were crossing the ugliest bridge I've ever seen, over the Columbia River, right over the Washington-Oregon line. We drove into town looking for the Cuban restaurant Pambiche. It received a "Highly Recommended" rating from my Frommer's Pacific Northwest book.

So how was the food? Not worth the hour wait and lukewarm. It would have been delicious hot. I ordered the Ropa Vieja with black beans. Pete's pollo criollo looked delicious, but took forever to bake, so F that. The restaurant was beautiful and hip-looking, though, with beautiful colors and music. Has anyone heard of the musician (band?) Juanes? They played some of that. I liked enough to ask.

Anyway, then we found a hotel to crash at. This took a while since Expedia said that no hotels in the city had available rooms. F Expedia, too. So we found a dive motel right off the freeway, and here we are. I'm exhausted, and have to take Kristy to the airport for a 5:45am flight, so I've got to head to bed. (Ew. I think Pete farted. Gross.)

Good night all! I'll fill in the whole last week as Internet becomes available and agreeable. I think Steve's laptop might be part of the issue.