Labor Day Weekend at Cape Disappointment

For several years now we have been joining dear friends for a Labor Day camping trip at various spots on the Coast. This year we all camped at Cape Disappointment State Park, which happens to be one our family's favorite campgrounds. It was a lovely, relaxing weekend. I don't do a good job of documenting all we did--most of these pictures are just artsy beach pictures, but I hope you enjoy them!

I did one "site-seeing" stop with my friend Caitlin. We went to Dismal Nitch, which is a Lewis and Clark site. It's really not much more than a glorified rest area, but with a name like Dismal Nitch it's impossible not to be intrigued!

Essentially, Dismal Nitch was a spot where the expedition got stuck during some nasty weather. Strong waves on the Columbia kept them from leaving, while they "experienced 11 days of torrential rain, high winds, extreme high tides, and little food." William Clark referred to the place as a "dismal nitch" in his diary entry. Well, it was anything but dismal the day we were there. It was warm and sunny, and we enjoyed beautiful views of the Columbia and even could see Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams up the river!

That's the Astoria Bridge, which crosses the Columbia River.

The tiny "Dismal Nitch Trail" leads to a nice historical marker that tells the story L & C's experience.

So much for educational sites, now on to beach pictures!

Caitlin enjoying the beach.

The moon was rising as the sun was setting.

Christina watches the sunset.

I love the way you can see the sunlight glowing through the waves in this next picture.

I also found it fascinating to watch the wind blow mist off the tops of the waves.

Okay, if that wasn't enough beach pictures, I have more from a walk I took on our last morning.

What do you see in these little tracks made by the tide?

Here's something other than the beach! This is our beloved camping spot.  We've used it repeatedly over the years. We love the fact that it stretches back into the woods and has access to the beach. It was nice to stay there again.

One last beach picture. ;-) Goodbye Cape Disappointment, until next time! 

Mount Rainier: Day 1

Our next adventure this summer was a trip up to Mount Rainier. Our cousin Amber came to visit and that provided a great excuse to go somewhere we had been wanting to explore anyway! We've been in the Northwest for about 12 years, yet never really gotten to see Mount Rainier National Park. Now that I know what we were missing, I really want to go back!

We spent most of our time on the eastern side of the mountain. That's the side where the Sunrise Visitor Center is located. The view from Sunrise is amazing, and there are a lot of trails that start from that area.

Mom, Amber and I came up together on a Thursday and explored Sunrise, as well as the area around our campground

The Sunrise Visitor Center.

The day lodge. Isn't it cute?

We camped at White River, which is down in a valley below Sunrise. It was a lovely campground. Not far from our campsite there was a little historical ranger cabin that we got to look inside.

The campground was just a short walk away from the roaring White River. There were rustic log bridges over the river.

This was a smaller bridge. You can see the main part of the river behind Amber.

The area around the river had a great view of Mount Rainier!

This bridge was longer, and just a little scary, because the river current is so strong. I would not want to fall in! Amber and I were fascinated by the intermittent clunking sounds we heard around the river. We're pretty sure it was the sound of boulders getting pushed down the river.