I hadn't visited Brad & Alison in so long that a child had time to grow in Alison's womb, emerge and begin to roll over by himself. So, we paid a visit to them at Ft. Lewis Army base near Tacoma/Seattle, Washington. Brad is a chaplain in the Army and we saw all the nature, business, dining, and wining sites one could ever want to see...look below for photos! Daniel's friends Melissa and Steve from Indianapolis also met up with us out there for a couple days. Sections - Lava Cave | Waterfall, Market & Space Needle Fireworks | Tacoma Glass & Mt. Rainier | Microsoft! | Wine & Ft. Lewis IMG_9561 I got off the plane and right there in front of me was "Seattle's Best Coffee" and I didn't even have to search for it - poor Starbucks... IMG_9563 I guess someone took "Could you keep an eye on my bags?" literally... IMG_9566 After some traffic difficulties (only the start that day) Brad, Alison and Joshua arrived to pick me up - there's Mt. Rainier IMG_9567 Yo Joshua, whassup? IMG_9568 Maybe I'm confused...what ARE Mexican Products? IMG_9569 This is quite the compound statement - "OUTFALLTOSTREAMDUMPNOPOLLUTANTS" IMG_9570 A creepy church shaped like a witch's hat - we had to stop for a daiper change (mine was dry), traffic was REALLY slow... IMG_9571 Wow...320th street, talk about way out there IMG_9573 IMG_9574 A nice bridge - amazing how you can get MORE lost with an iPhone and GPS than without IMG_9575 Mt. Rainier again...it's more than 14,000 feet! IMG_9579 The next day I borrowed Brad's long pants since we were going to hike through lava tubes - there was a hole so I improvised a repair IMG_9580 I brought Big Curious George to live with Joshua IMG_9583 A Great Wolf Lodge - just like the one in the Wisconsin Dells! So sad, nothing's original anymore... IMG_9584 IMG_9588 We took the old truck (without A/C bleagh) IMG_9591 People takin the boat to the lake (good place to take the boat I suppose) IMG_9595 Boats in the lake IMG_9598 It was very pretty out in the countryside... IMG_9601 Moss covered everything! IMG_9604 IMG_1684* Brad's picture (any images with "*" after the image name are from Brad/Alison) of me taking a picture IMG_1686* I guess this means I'm not claustrophobic... IMG_9605 So we came to the park to see Ape Cave just to the South of Mt. St. Helens but there was a REALLY small lava tube nearby that Brad insisted we crawl through...lava is really rough even a LONG time after! IMG_9607 IMG_9610 See - the lava goes along a ditch or such and the crust on top sometimes caves in and sometimes not, making a lava tube IMG_9611 IMG_1694* IMG_1696* IMG_1699* Brad's gorillapod helped take this photo near the top entrance to Ape Cave IMG_1702* Kinda steep steps... IMG_1707* But I made it down safely IMG_1721* Off camera strobes can be lots of fun in controlled light settings IMG_1744* We encountered lots of other hikers, TONS of boulders, and some trash discarded by other hikers (eg water bottles, beer cans, cigarette smoke, etc). At least it was a comforable 45 or such degrees F in the cave. IMG_1751* Brad made me go the WHOLE way through the cave all the way to the end where you have to crawl through a space like 2 feet tall to get to this space at the end...whee! IMG_1753* I love the nice t-shirt Brad gave me - nobody asked me about my United Methodist Story of HOPE (good thing, I would have had to think of one on the spot!) IMG_9619 Mt. St. Helens IMG_9621 IMG_9623 An artificial dam for hydroelectric power IMG_9628 A train comes down the middle of a highway IMG_9632 A boat chugs along nearby IMG_9634 An odd art/memorial installation along the highway back to Tacoma IMG_9638 We stopped by the pretty capitol of Washington state, Olympia IMG_9639 Nice architectural details of the Olympia capitol building IMG_9640 Various moldings along the columns/walls of the capitol IMG_9642 IMG_9645 IMG_9646 Nice statue near the capitol IMG_9648 Beautiful Olympia seen from the capitol IMG_9649 IMG_9650 Back in Tacoma on Ft. Lewis Army Base we saw various buildings/etc, here's a storage area for servicemember's cars while deployed IMG_9654 Then I took a walk with Merle and Brad - this was a BAD idea since I was either way too alergic to Merle or the moss/pollen and had quite a sneeze-fest during/after the walk IMG_9662 It was a pretty walk though IMG_9669 Brad sat on the wall, did he have a great fall? IMG_9679 So much moss/lichen/etc IMG_9690 Fun plants IMG_9695 Ants! Quite aggressive/frightening ones at that... IMG_9698 Is this holly? IMG_9699 A daisy IMG_9700 I wonder if this fuzziness is normal for this tree or there's a disease at work IMG_9702 Nice trees as the sun sets behind Madigan Army Hospital IMG_9703 Now in a disaster I suppose I wouldn't turn away any help, but really are these buses the best we have for the "MAMC Disaster Assistance Response Team"? IMG_9704 Mt. Rainier is everywhere! IMG_9706 Hey, they Army Corps of Engineers put a marker...on an Army Base IMG_9710 Brad's house shares his rank/name IMG_9716 Advantage Joshua in the hair department IMG_9717 Cinnamon bread... IMG_9722 Little American sock, big unbranded foot IMG_9724 I also brough Willard the duck to live with Joshua IMG_9726 Little carrots Sections - Lava Cave | Waterfall, Market & Space Needle Fireworks | Tacoma Glass & Mt. Rainier | Microsoft! | Wine & Ft. Lewis Return to Features