Day-11: Into The Trees

Sunday, October 6, 2013

This morning we repacked, did a final load of laundry (SEE SPECIAL NOTE) and made preparations to get underway. Our timing was perfect as we tried to take baggage down to the car during the 45-minute checkout break for what seemed like 200 very old women in the hotel for a sorority convention all trying to use the elevators at once. Now if I use the descriptor “very” in front of the word old, you know they were older than me. That being said, one of the conventioneers did comment on the attractiveness of my shoes.

SPECIAL NOTE: Sheila did a load of mixed laundry that would include all colors in one load, reds, blues, whites, browns, you name it, all in one load. Some vortex effect thing in the Pacific Northwest likely caused her to momentarily loose consciousness; otherwise how could she possibly mix colors in a wash.

USS Kitty Hawk CV63

Okay, we were underway by 11 AM driving by the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard where I did take a couple more pictures of the Kitty Hawk namesake CV63. We continued into the town of Port Orchard, where we had visited by ferry on Friday. Nothing much changed in the past two days.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge

Gallopin' Gertie

Resuming our trip we passed over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. 

Who hasn’t seen the “Gallopin' Gertie” video of the November 7th, 1940 Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse? No problem today, everything was stable as we gingerly crossed over the gorge.

With several hours before tonight’s check-in we headed out to circumnavigate Mount Rainier on the “state” highways. After a 90-minute ride we came to the national park entrance, which was closed, as expected. What was not expected was closure of the state highways through the park. After a few more mutterings about the U.S. Congress we turned around along with many other tourists and headed toward the night’s destination in Issaquah, WA. The ride did offer a series of spectacular views of Mount Rainier.

Mount Rainer

Around 4 PM we arrived at Tree House Point, our destination for the night. Yes, that’s right, tree houses. We checked in and were given directions to our aerie and the other conveniences of the lodge, e.g. open pit fireplace, common bath & shower, common ½ bath, the babbling brook loaded with salmon swimming upstream, the breakfast plans and the tree house privacy rules, etc. Perhaps more detail is needed:

• The rooms are in the trees, not on the ground.
• The tree houses have ladders or circular stairs (wrapping around tree) for access.
• Bathrooms are not in the trees, thus the importance of the “common” facilities.
• The rules include not using someone else’s bridge or stairway.

Looking Into The Living Room

Are You Kidding Me?

Trillium, Our Abode

By now you get the idea.









Took a walk down by the local salmon stream, silly fish still trying to swim up stream.










For dinner we headed into Falls City, WA, about ten minutes from our tree house. The Falls City Roadhouse was our choice for dinner and watching the first of two Sunday Night football games (Texans vs. Niners). The place had a good beer selection but the story of the night belongs to the meatloaf. Yes meatloaf; the chef’s special meatloaf is a combination of beef and Italian sausage and each serving is one-pound, yes, 16 ounces. That’s more meat than four of us would usually eat. Well, the meatloaf was excellent though impossible to finish. The roadhouse also had a great selection of Mac & Cheese dishes, so we tried one of them too. Sheila had a relatively large burger, a salad and a scoop of the Mac. Needless, to say, we loaded a huge portion of meatloaf and Mac & Cheese into a box and into our travel cooler, maybe for lunch tomorrow.

By 8 PM we were back in the tree house, with no TV and no Internet, without even a laundry room to retire to. So, it’s sitting in the glass walled nest listening to Jimmy Buffett, doing puzzles and writing this blog. Just how exciting is that?

One last comment about the tree house; the circular stairway only goes to the first floor. Once inside, the first floor provides for a small sitting area. When bedtime arrives, it will be up the ladder, let me repeat, UP THE LADDER, into the even smaller loft. Also recall that the “facilities” are outside the tree houses, on the ground level. So for any of our aged friends that have multiple occasions during the night to rise and shine, if you're to stay here, in view of the 30 or so up and down steps to find relief, you might want to consider liquid intake management, not a good night for the six-pack of Bud or solo bottle of Sauvignon Blanc; if you know what I mean.

Bottom Line: Tree House Point is a great place to stay, unusual yes, quirky yes, but all-in-all a good choice. We'll comment further in the morning after breakfast as we prepare for our get-away.

So ends another day; even without the national parks we’ve been able to keep busy and do things somewhat different than the norm.

Turning out the lights.