The Palm Springs of Washignton.

 Long weekend! You know what that means: time for Little Fox to pack his bags and hit the road. This time, the destination was Yakima, Washington.  A place I had heard about but had never properly explored. So, with the roommates in tow (apparently they were coming too), we headed east for a few days of adventure, sunshine, and whatever trouble a curious little fox could find.

First up on my Yakima adventure, I spotted a sign making a rather bold claim: “Best Ice in Town.”

Well, excuse me? That is a serious statement, and naturally, Little Fox needed to know more. Was this really the best ice in Yakima? Or was someone just feeling a little too confident about their frozen water?

After a quick Volksmarch around town to stretch my little fox legs, it was time to get out of Yakima and into the mountains. 

The trees along the trail were tall and majestic, reaching way up into the sky. They sure made this little fox feel small, but in a pretty darn awesome way. 

Finally, we made it to Cramer Lake! After all that hiking, I was pretty happy to see the water—and maybe even happier to take a little break.

The reviews mentioned that a bear had been spotted at the lake about a week earlier. Hmm… could it have been my pal Sandy stopping by? 

Time to head back to town! A local winery in an Art Deco building was having free live music that evening. Well, you know this fox loves two things: a good deal and Art Deco! So naturally, I was ready to check it out.

Except… the roommates “forgot” to bring me along.

Forgot?! Hmph. I’m not saying I’m keeping score, but Little Fox definitely remembers these things.

I mean for goodness sake, check out this lobby?

After the roommates’ classic little blunder of leaving me behind, they decided they better make it up to me. Their solution? Take Little Fox on a quintessential Yakima hike. Well, I suppose that’s one way to get back in my good graces.

The desert calls, and I must go! There’s something about Yakima’s dry, open landscape that makes this little fox feel right at home. In fact, I’m starting to think Yakima earned their nickname as the Palm Springs of Washington. 

 Just with fewer palm trees and a whole lot more sagebrush. Add sunshine, desert-like scenery, mountains, and a laid-back vibe, and I’d say Yakima has definitely earned the nickname.

Happy Labor Day

Yipee, it’s Labor Day!  What are we going to do today Sequoia?

Even though it’s supposed to be foggy today we decided to roll the dice and see if the fogs burns off.

It’s hard to identify where we are but my roommates and I are near Mt. Rainier Nat’l Park in Washington.  With all of this fog we probably won’t the mountain but you never know.

I can see clearly now, the rain, um I mean fog is gone....

This  tree is just my size. 

Ah lunch.  What no trail mix?  What no cheese? At least we can see Sheep Lake in the distance.  We hiked by Sheep  Lake to Sourdough Gap (who names these places)  and ate at the gap.

The fog never cleared but on a good note we didn’t get rained on either and periodically the fog lifted and we could see the scenery around us.

Being that the first day was foggy we decided to tempt fate and take a drive to Sunny Yakima.  Yakima is on the other side of the mountains and it has over 300 days of sunshine. 

Their arboretum is in full bloom.  Look at these flowers?  

I bet this is what Jerry's garden looks like.

Spikey

Well, it’s time to start heading home.  Looks like we have time for one more adventure.  Off to Mt. St. Helen’s national monument.  

The mountain is out today and even though there isn’t much snow on it, it definitely looks grand.

Spirit Lake is looking good.  It got “moved” when the mountain erupted in the stone ages but it’s recovering well.

The viewpoint we went to was called Windy Ridge and as you can see….it’s windy.  Sequoia likes the wind so it was right up his alley.

I hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable Labor Day.  Does this mean that summer is over?