Eat Well; Travel Often: Day 19

Day 19: 6/5/15 (Missoula to Palouse Falls)

499 miles

We actually got our butts out of bed early this morning so we could see Kevin and Ari before they left for work – 7am, we did not miss you. We folded up the last of our laundry, wrapped up our snacks, took one last hot shower, and said our goodbyes to the kids. We were hopeful that the weather during the upcoming weeks of our trip would be better/warmer weather, especially since we got a 6am text from Rico’s dad with a weather report letting us know it would be hot. The drive to Palouse Falls was about 300 miles with some varying scenery. Montana and the stretch of Idaho we drove through were fairly mountainous and woodsy while western Washington reminded us of North Dakota. The roads were lined with flat farm land that seemed to go on forever. We actually saw some tumbleweed roll by in the middle of the road and a brewery called Two Knights!

Our original plan was to camp at Palouse Falls, but once we got there it didn’t seem like much to see. The water was really muddy so it wasn’t as picturesque as the Google images we had seen before. We spent about an hour hiking around down to the top of the waterfall which is a death trap. The trails are about a foot and a half wide, right along the cliff side and are at a 30 degree angle – one misstep and you’re freefalling into the canyon. Once we got to the head of the waterfall we turned to go back the way we came because the rest of the loop circled around the inner side of the canyon and we were both sure we wouldn’t make it out alive. We decided not to stick around much longer and made our way towards Mount Rainier National Park. Along the way we stopped and grabbed dinner at Applebee’s (Thanks Brisson Family!)

Just before reaching the entrance of the park, we stopped at a pull off which showed the sun setting behind Mount Rainier. We couldn’t be happier with our timing! We snapped a few photos of the landscape and then realized that the setting was perfect for some silhouette shots so we pulled out the tripod and started jumping, handstanding, etc. A little further up the road we entered the park, but then had about a 25 mile drive to the campground. We stopped at the Reflection Lakes which shows a great view of the mountain. We took a few night shots before continuing on. We arrived pretty late in the night at the campground so we were using the headlights to help us setup the tent – good thing we’re getting good at this. After all the pillows and blankets were in the tent we hit the hay hoping to sleep in a bit in the morning