'Merica the Great - Mt. Rainier

If you ever get out over to the northwest coast of the US, make sure to stop by at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington. One of the days from our weekend getaway to Seattle we drove out to Mt. Rainer. We were soo lucky that the weather turned out beautiful and there were barely any clouds in the sky! The drive is about 2.5 hours from Seattle and it goes by extremely fast because of the beautiful views along the way. 

There are tons of waterfalls in the Washington and Portland region. We decided to stop by one on our way to Mt. Rainier - it was called Snoqualmie Falls. These are located about 30 min outside of Seattle and are easy to access. You can park your car, and walk right up to them. 

Next we headed on further to Mount Rainer National Park. Luckily, the day we decided to go, they had free entrances, otherwise be sure to check to see if you need to purchase any passes. Along the way, there are many stopping view points, so take advantage of that! One of those is the reflection lakes (pictured below). One thing to keep in mind is that Mt Rainer because of the altitude is many times covered in clouds. That's why in half our pictures, the volcano is hiding behind clouds. You just have to be a little patient and eventually they'll move enough for you to get a shot. 

On our way back to Seattle we decided to check out another waterfall, right when you get down from Mt. Rainier you pass by Narada Falls - be sure to make a quick stop, there is almost always a rainbow or two you can see there! After a full day of driving and hiking waterfalls and volcanoes of course you are going to be hungry! We stopped at a super cute pizza restaurant that was inside a train car. They also have train cars that you can rent out as hotel rooms. The place was called Pizza Express. Check out the pictures at the bottom. The pizza was delicious so that was definitely a plus!