Another Season…

On Friday I have my last day of work, and on Saturday I will be packed and out of here! I don’t feel too sad about leaving, I must say, because 1) I have been here for more than 4 months now , 2) Most of my friends are already gone, and 3) I am excited for what new things God will bring in the near future. October is rather chock-full of events, including a drive to Boise, a concert, a job interview (and possibly job training), house-sitting, and the Women of Faith conference.  Whew! Where shall I find time for the important things such as Psych and Zoo Tycoon, I ask you?

Looking back it’s amazing to think of how many people I’ve meet and all the different things I’ve done with my new friends – camping, hiking, pouring ice down each other’s shirts , games, Bible study, s’mores… it’s been a most excellent summer.

Look at the difference of the Tatoosh Range since May:

May 24th

June 3rd

August 12th

 As well as the change in Mt Rainier:

June 3rd

September 5th

September 9th

September 20th - after it snowed again on the summit.

The end has been coming for a while – people have been leaving since the beginning of September, slowly returning to other jobs, home, or school. It’s been rather sad. My roommate left just this morning. We were lucky to be paired together and had some marvelous, fun times.

Now my room is empty, like when I first arrived. I started packing tonight (to Christmas music!) and it felt rather good – probably more because I was cleaning a room that had stayed rather messy for more than 4 months. I’ve wiped down the drawers, vacuumed, and have a final load of clothes in the washer now.

Yes, it is finally the end.

Well I would love to share pictures and memories all day, but the truth is tomorrow (now today) is one of my last days of work, and it is late, and I must get to bed. My memories are in my blog posts, and on my Facebook, and in my camera, and in my diary, and – of course – ingrained in my mind, for me to smile at as I remember the wonderful times I have had with my new friends on the mountain.

More adventures to come!

-Sarah

p.s. And yes, Mom, I realize how late it is, and yes, I am going to bed right now.

Camp Muir

Wow, time has been passing so oddly… quickly, yet so slow. In a few days I’ll have been here for a month.

Some friends came to visit me on Thursday… I was working that day but knew one of my friends, Lauren, would be coming by in the afternoon. I kept an eye out for her and around 3 was worried and just about to call her…. when there they were, not one friend, but two! Oh what a marvelous surprise…

They entertained themselves in the snow and were half-asleep by the fire in the Inn when I got off work. (they agreed that in the Paradise Inn at night, when the piano man was playing and the fire was going, was the best place to be EVAH! )

That night we played games with my roomie and neighbors (Crazy Rummy, just in case you were curious – and I whooped everyone, just in case you wanted to know…), and the three of us spent the night in the car, which was fantastic. We sung Disney songs and talked ’til after midnight. Proverbs is right – “Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.” A night with two friends in a car is so much better than a night at the Ritz all alone.

The next morning we slept in and woke up to a beautiful, clear, gorgeous day. We officially decided to hike to Camp Muir, and after picking up some sack lunches from the employee dining room, set off. At 10:40 am just in case you wanted to know.

Insert postcard pictures:

 

As you can tell, it was a beautiful day. I’m convinced our timing was truly perfect, as some people I talked to just today said the snow is getting softer – only a few days can make a difference.

When we headed out, we stepped on the snow right outside the visitor center (I’ve never really known before where the people were hiking to up there before…) and walked up and up and up until… Muir! Yep, that’s pretty much what happened, over the next 6 hours. We took a break for lunch and small breaks every time we crested a hill.

Here’s the times, about:

Left – 10:40am

Reached Muir – 4:20pm

Left Muir – 5pm

Got back – 7:30pm

I’m still amazed I made it without fainting or dying or some other serious some-such occurring… The fact that I climbed 4000+ feet that well, I can only attribute to my friend’s talent at setting a good, steady pace that I could keep up with.

Ah, it was a good day. After we reached Muir, we enjoyed the view for a good time before preparing to head back down.

On the way down the “hill”, I was introduced to “glissading” – a hiker/climber’s term for basically sliding on your bum down the snow. What fun! I was pitiful on the flatter inclines, but on the steep hills, man what a ride! Why had I never heard of this before?? Definitely some exhilarating rides… if my camera had been waterproof I would have taken you down one of the chutes with me.

I felt like my friends had no sooner arrived than they left… wow did time fly. It was so wonderful to see familiar, beloved faces, though, and to spend time with them… to accomplish something together.

Isn’t life grand?

Church and a Hike

So this week I had Friday off, and I thought I had Saturday as well, since that’s what I had last time (They usually give employees regular days off). But as it turns out, when I came into the cafe around noon for lunch, I was working that day! I ended up being only an hour late and worked hard as it was busy… And now I have Sunday and Monday off – which will be my new regular days off. My boss, Mary, changed them because she knew I would be going to church. So sweet of her!

So day off, one day of work, day off, day off. What am I to do with myself with all that free time?? I already posted my pictures from the hike I did on Friday, here’s what happened today (Sunday):

Once I found out I had the day off, I knocked on my neighbor’s door, Kayla. She came with the Christian ministries in the parks (www.acmnp.com), along with a guy named Lee. They were actually the first people I met when I came. She was super excited when I told her I could come.

So the next morning I got up before seven (earliest I’ve woken up in a while… I’m sure my family’s smirking at that, but hey, I see no reason to wake up early if I don’t need to. ), headed over for breakfast, and picked up my sack lunch from the cafeteria. We can arrange for one sack lunch a week, and take it hiking or wherever. And it’s free! (Which it better be as we’re paying for meals…) Sweet deal.

I drove with Kayla, Lee, Courtney (Kayla’s roomie), and Gene (who works in the kitchens) to Ohanapecosh (try remembering that name five minutes later!). It took about 40 minutes to drive to… beautiful drive though, along one mountain ridge, slipping across the valley, then back along another mountain ridge. It was a clear, sunny day, so we had great views of Mount Rainier along the way. There were waterfalls everywhere along the road – almost got a car wash a couple times.

Once we reached Ohanapecosh and met up with Vince and Kristy – a couple that are in charge of the ministry at Mt. Rainier NP, I believe – we went to the amphitheater which was outside (gaspeth!) and a fairly good size. A good amount of people showed up too, I think about 17 others, not including us. They came from the campground nearby and the ranger station. It was a small church service, with a few songs and prayers, then Vince  talked for a while about Genesis 1.

It was great talking with the people afterwards.

Annnnd then we went for a hike! The seven of us – Vince, Kristy, Lee, Kayla, Gene, Courtney, and me! We walked up to Grove of the Patriarchs and then back. On the way we passed Silver Falls – BEAUTIFUL waterfall. Mesmerizing to watch.

Silver Falls

Pictures just don’t do it justice – cliche but true. I’ve never seen another waterfall where you could see so many individual water drops as they sprayed into the air and fell. This waterfall was fast, almost violent, sending some water shooting into the air after they hit the bottom. Beautiful.

Bridge we crossed on the way – awesome, yes? Only one person could cross at a time. It swayed and bounced in an odd but cool way as you walked.

All of us. =)

My Sack Lunch

And of course my lunch. Just to show you how amazing it was!

Most of the rest of the day I spent in Paradise Inn, reading Donald Miller, people-watching, and listening to piano music. They have a piano player who is there about 5-8 every day, so wonderful to sit and listen to… When I came in tonight he was playing “I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady.

 

Here’s the link to my pictures:

https://picasaweb.google.com/113953510817426936065/Jun5GroveOfThePatriarchs?authkey=Gv1sRgCJmm9KHisey20wE&feat=directlink

Two More Days…

Wow, I can scarcely believe it’s almost November. The sixth week of classes ended today, leaving only five more in the quarter. This whole year has flown by so fast… But I’ll leave musings along that line for December.

My Nano novel outline is progressing only a tad bit faster than a snail. Fortunately minus the slimy trail. I’m bent on making this novel a bit more complicated so I won’t run out of steam at 30K like last time. I’m pretty sure that won’t happen, though, but whether or not your story will keep going is something you don’t know until you’re at least 2 weeks in…

On a side note (have you noticed my posts are getting more and more devoid of spiritual revelations and mainly just concern daily life now? This must be the pit daily bloggers fall into. They start out with something brilliant to say and continue along that line for about a year, than gradually decline into uninteresting things to share about their everyday lives that they somehow feel they have to share with the world). Again, on a side note I’m working at Subway this weekend. I was rather bummed because there goes another weekend, flying out the window like your pet canary, but on the upside it’s Halloween and I get to give candy to the little kids and dress up. =D Plus a chance to see one of my writer friends who is also doing Nanowrimo!!!

I thank God so much for the summer I had. I didn’t do a lot of exciting things, but I got to spend a lot of time with my friends. Namely the friends I don’t get to see now that college and work has taken over my life. Looking back I treasure those moments we spend together so much! I thank God SOOOO much for the friends He’s given me, I truly have been blessed til my cup has run over!

Are you doing Nanowrimo? Have you been blessed? Please share. =)