Washington

Perpetually crabby people should not own hotels.

​

In June 2011, I traveled to Mount Rainier National Park and stayed in a hotel just west of the entrance station.

​

“Did you come all this way just to play around on a silly little rock?” the elderly white-haired female hotel manager snapped.

​

I do not remember my response.

​

Mount Rainier is neither silly nor little. It is a very interesting and beautiful place with a diverse ecosystem.

​

Other times during the day I could hear her yelling at people on the phone.

​

“I am already giving this JERK a weekly discount!”

​

Thankfully she was not talking about me; I received no discount.

​

***

​

Clouds and mist filled the skies of the low elevation areas at Olympic National Park. However, as I drove up to Hurricane Ridge, I passed through the clouds and the sun shined bright at the top of the Olympic Mountains.

​

I will never forget camping at Kalaloch. To the west, the beach and the Pacific Ocean, the mountains to the east, and my tent set up underneath a massive rainforest tree.

​

A friend and I set up our camp chairs on the beach and watched and listened to the ocean the entire evening.

​