Mt. Rainier

Another cloudy day, another spectacular mountain view missed. Or so we thought. But as we were leaving Seattle guess what appeared through the haze:

 I took the picture from the Adventure Bus as we were driving along I-5.

Two days before, despite the overcast and cloudy day, and after our good luck seeing the Timberline Lodge, we decided to drive over to Mt. Rainier National Park from Seattle and see what we could see.

When we arrived at the park entrance:

We were turned back because we did not have chains in the car. But there was a spot back in town where we could rent some. Of course! So back we went, rented the chains for $15 and put them in the back.

On the way back to the park we spotted this restaurant and decided to stop for lunch before heading up the mountain:

Copper Creek Inn Restaurant

What a great choice this turned out to be. On the way in we met these two men:

We sat at a table next to them and had a great conversation. The man on the left was the owner of a motel in this area as well as several others in the Seattle area. He and his wife travel extensively on motorcycles - they toured Russia, including Siberia, and China last year. The man on the right is his best friend and looks after the businesses while he is away. That day they were taking a lunch break from cleaning up the motel and getting it ready to open for the season. When we were ready to leave we discovered they bought our lunch! A nice surprise.

Then we headed back into the park. It wasn't long before we encountered snow:

And more snow:

As it turned out we did not need the chains but there was lots of snow at the end of the road. And not much was happening. A ranger taking people on a snowshoe walk and that was it. All buildings were closed. So Arch went for a short walk in the snow:

I think it will be a while before summer activities start

and we headed back down the mountain.

The men we met at Copper Creek Restaurant told us to be sure to have the blackberry pie. 

Our lunch was delicious but large and filling so we had no room. After spending a couple of hours on the mountain we were ready for pie. So back to the restaurant we went for an afternoon snack of pie and coffee. And ice cream, after all, Arch was ordering :)

Best Pie Ever!!

This August we will be volunteering as campground hosts at Graves Island Provincial Park in Nova Scotia.

Entrance to Graves Island Provincial Park

I know where there is a large blackberry patch on the island and August in blackberry season in Nova Scotia so....

I am not much of a pie baker but found the following recipe on allrecipes.com. My sister, Mary is a great pie baker so hopefully I will be able to twist her are to make this:

Blackberry Pie

Ingredients:
4 cups fresh blackberries
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust
pie
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup white sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Combine 3 1/2 cups berries with the sugar and flour. Spoon the mixture into an unbaked pie shell. Spread the remaining 1/2 cup berries on top of the sweetened berries, and cover with the top crust. Seal and crimp the edges, and cut vents in the top crust for steam to escape.
3. Brush the top crust with milk, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

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