NP #10 - Day 3 - August 11, 2014

Day 3: August 11, 2014

We had a quick breakfast in our cabin, then got the obligatory pictures under the national park sign,

 

then hit the road to Seattle, just in time to mesh up with rush hour traffic.  We parked a little northwest of the Space Needle, and walked down to it through much of the Seattle fair park area – very neat.  We paid about $84 for four tickets to go up the Space Needle, road the elevator up and spent a total of about 10-15 minutes tops. The kids liked it and it was a clear day but it’s certainly JUST a bucket list thing.  We actually spent more time in the gift shop than we did at the top of the Needle.  

 

After the needle, we walked over to some sort of indoor food court and all four ordered different food but it was quite relaxing.  We got back in the car and after another small traffic jam heading east to get on to Interstate 5, we headed north then west to North Cascades National Park.  The drive was fairly uneventful.  The kids watched The Little Rascals movie for I think the second time that day and third time in total, including the plane ride out.   The only humorous part of the drive can best be shown with the following pictures:

 

We arrived at the Skagit River Resort exactly at 3:00, check-in time, and the temp was 93 degrees – surprisingly hot!  We checked it and got to pick out our own coffee beans to grind at the cabin.  We were also directed to three different trash cans on the facilities, all of which were full of “bunny bread”.  The kids could go get all they wanted to feed the bunnies that roamed all over the resort. 

We checked into cabin #5 and it was awesome – a full house with kitchen, bath with tub, a living room and two bedrooms.  The only thing noticeably missing was air conditioning! 

At 3:30 we headed into the park and at 4:00ish, we arrived at the Newhalem Visitor’s Center.  This park was quite different from Rainier in that it seems that very few people frequent it.  It’s actually a no-fee park.   

We bought the kids’ magnets and hat pins and got the passbooks stamped then the park ranger gave us some good suggestions as to how to spend our time there.  From the Visitor’s Center back door, we took a 1.9 mi loop hike down to the Skagit River (the River Loop Trail)   

The water was freezing at the river but the kids and I got our feet it and I walked about 1/3 of the way out into the river.  It was fun.  

We hiked back up to the car then headed a little further east on Hwy 20 over to the Gorge Falls and to another set of falls just east of Gorge Falls (mile marker 124.5).  They were both amazing.

 At a little before 6pm, the kids, which generally have been phenomenal on this trip, were starting to lose it with each other.  We left the park and ate at the Buffalo Run restaurant just outside of the park in the town of Marblemount.  The restaurant had this need outdoor garden seating area that was beautiful.  We had a good dinner then went back to our cabin.  

At the resort is an “obstacle course” that we ran through and the kids played on the playground and feed the bunnies, which was just adorable and reminded me of when they were very little, feeding the bunnies in Oregon those first few years.

We took showers then went to bed and boy was it hot.  The one fan in the entire cabin went to the adults in the room with the queen bed which put the kids in bed together, which didn’t last long.  Eventually, as usual, it was time for musical beds which eventually put Grant in bed with me and I’m surprised that I’m not covered in bruises. 

But all-in-all, another great day.