Day 32 - Olympia WA - 5374 Miles

We made it! After a night in Yakima WA (on of the many tourist meccas we've passed through) we made the final push into Olympia. According to Google Maps, it's about 2100 miles from Austin to Olympia. We managed to take a route that added 3000 miles to that. Google also says it takes 35 hours of driving time. Since we've been out over 30 days, that means we mustered only about an hour of actual progress per day. That sounds about right for this point in my life.

We chose a route into Olympia that took us through Mt.Rainier National Park. (I recovered another $15 toward my park pass). As has been the norm it was raining, cloudy, and cold. I never actually saw the mountain. They claim one's there, though. We talked to a guy who had been there three days and hadn't seen the mountain yet.

 

 

 

This is the place where climbers begin their ascent to the summit. We talked to one guy getting ready to start his climb. He said it was a three day trip to the top and pointed out his camp sites on the map. Once he left he could have climbed about 300 feet into the clouds, camped right there, and come back down three days later, and no one would know the difference. I asked a ranger to point out the direction where the mountain actually was so I could take a picture of Terry with the "mountain" in the background.

If this is a Washington lake in late June, I may have to reconsider locations for a place to spend the summer.