Mount Rainier National Park

The adventure begins by packing for a winter snowshoeing getaway at my West Seattle home. Throw the snowshoes in the car! Next, stop at the West Seattle Cupcake Royale for a cupcake six pack for the road. A bottle of wine from the West Seattle wine shop "Bin 41" is a must. Next, a "retail therapy" stop to the Southcenter REI for any needed gear and a map of "Paradise." Hit the road for the National Park in at Longmire in Mt. Rainier National Park. During the evening, sit by the inn's big fieldstone fireplace, sipping a glass of that Bin 41 wine and watch the snow fall outside. A dinner of herb crusted chicken rounds out the evening. A long winter nights sleep in the deep quiet of the inn rejuvenates the body for the mornings adventure. Awake to the smell of coffee and flapjacks coming from the inn dining room. Eat a hearty breakfast - you are going to need it. Bundle up, get in the car and drive the road up to Paradise. You will soon discover, the Paradise area of Mt. Rainier is a miracle. Don your snowshoes and set out into the brilliant white snow under the piercing blue sky. Mt. Rainier hovers like a dream above you, compelling you to move higher and higher onto its slopes. You turn around and gasp. Mt. St Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood and the Tatoosh range blanket the horizon. The view is simply magnificent. You pull out those cupcakes and enjoy the delight of all that you are experiencing. Tired, you trace your steps back to the car and drive back to the National Park Inn. Another night of fireside delight, scrumptous food and deep sleep complete the experience. Drive back to West Seattle the next day and top off your adventure with one of the best meals in the city - a burger at Jak's grill in West Seattle. Have a beer and raise a toast to an adventure well done!

Myself and 3 of my girlfriends decided to do a 10 day camping trip in WA. We packed up all of our camping gear and UPS'ed it across the US. We live in South Florida so it was literally across the US. We started our adventure in Seattle. Then the next morning we headed North to San Juan Islands and went kayaking in the beautiful blue waters. After that we camped again and the headed to the Olympic Penisula and spent 4 days there. We went white water rafting, hiking and just looking at the flora and fauna and the gorgeous Northwest. We ended up at Mt Rainier to start the close up of our journey. Then we headed back North to Seattle. We were able to visit the SAM as well as eat at the Space Needle. I love WA and the beauty that it has to offer. Seattle is such an amazing city with so many things to see and do. Wish I could have spent a month there just to make sure we were able to get everything in. I highly recommend a camping vacation with the girls for an awesome adventure. Can't wait to head that way again.