Mt Rainier...

... quite possibly the most beautiful place I have ever been!

We just got home from a weekend away - reservations made long before we knew we'd have a heat wave, and high hopes for a cool respite on a mountain with glaciers all over it dashed by full sun, near record temperatures and accompanying record high insect count...

(OK, they don't actually count the insects but we all agreed they were at a record high too.)

Just one more complaint before I move on to more positive stuff: There is no ''horizontal' in this national park. Just straight up a mountain, or straight down it. So yes, we are sunburned, shin-splinted and full of mosquito bites, but, hey, we have pictures - and we all know that it's ALL about getting great pictures.

Mt. Rainier is well known for spectacular wildflower displays and, in this, it did not disappoint. And all that 'full sun' meant there were no clouds or rain to obscure all that incredible mountain.

So I'm going to post some pictures over the next few days - just because I can't resist sharing! (You already knew that.)