Paradise in January

It's still foggy at home, foggy in the valley, foggy foggy foggy. But Mt. Rainier is in the bright sunshine, just begging for visitors. And since our Aussie relatives were craving snow, and it was a good day to go exploring, we headed south.

We were pretty sure we'd find bare roads, and we did. We haven't had much snow yet this year, even in the mountains, and the road crews haven't had any trouble keeping up. We had lunch in Elbe, and drove up to the park gatehouse late afternoon, pass in hand. The ranger informed us we had just enough time to park and walk around a bit, but cautioned us to head back by 4:30, as they'd be locking the Longmire gate at 5:00.

So we thought we'd have the place to ourselves, and were surprised to find the parking lot full, and loads of people having fun on cross-country skis and snowshoes, and families pulling their kids around on plastic sleds.

The hill above Paradise was dotted with color, so many bright parkas in every color you could imagine, the kids yelling in delight as they swooped down the sledding channels.

Were Natalie & Anton happy with our snow-finding roadtrip? I think these smiles tell it all!