Monday was Stark’s birthday! We celebrated on Sunday by journeying to our local ski hill, Crystal Mountain Resort. In the summer months Crystal offers a fantastic gondola ride to the top of the mountain, great hiking trails, and some beautiful vistas.
We timed our trip so that Della could get in her morning nap during the drive up. Once there she was in a fantastic mood and ready for an adventure!
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| ready for an adventure |
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| in line for the gondola |
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| the view up the first peak |
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| view up the second peak |
Unlike the neighboring Rainier Nat’l Park, Crystal welcomes doggies both on their trails and in the gondola! So we were able to share our gondola ride up with Harley a very friendly black lab! Next time we will bring Poppi.
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| Harley gives Della a kiss ... welcome to Crystal! |
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| the Porters and Mt. Rainier |
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| cuteness!! |
After a little mountain viewing we buckled down to business … lunch and hydration followed by a quick 1.5 mile walk around the hill. The walk was beautiful and the air was refreshing but that altitude reminded me of hiking in Montana, burning lungs.
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| Hydration is important |
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| my view .. dangling baby legs |
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| still smiling after working hard holding up her daddy |
For the ride down we had a gondola all to ourselves! Della showed no fear of the height and enjoyed her picture window view.
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| a loooong way down |
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| No Fear! Daddy's Here! |
In typical baby fashion she conked out just moments after being returned to her car seat. We did wake her up for her first taste of huckleberry ice cream. We may be vegan but I won’t deny a kid some ice cream … which she LOVED!
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Happy Birthday Honey! We really enjoyed our day on the mountain with you.
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