Picture 1 is Heather on Mount Rainier. Picture 2 is a dammed up lake on the way to Mount Rainier. Picture 3 and 4 are Narada Falls which are at the 3500 foot level on Mount Rainier.
I know you have all been waiting for the one big event or the one big story that becomes the defining moment in my trip. All biker trips have to have at least one. This is the event that separates the men from the boys; the Harley dudes from the other bikers. Well, I think I have it for you today. If you haven't read the other blogs, that's ok; BUT DON'T MISS THIS ONE.
So far on my trip I have been staying in motels or on several occasions I have been lucky enough to stay with relatives. I want to thank Lisa in San Bernardino CA, Betty in Medford OR, David in Dundee OR, and now Heather in Yelm WA where I am currently staying. The time I have spent with each of them has been wonderful and I appreciate, very much, the hospitality they have shown me. In addition, staying with them has saved me hundreds of dollars in motel cost that I didn’t have to shell out. Today, however, I think I paid the ultimate price for staying with relatives, especially ones that have little kids. This morning Heather needed to take Aiden to his swimming lesson so I volunteered to baby sit for Keilani (4) and Hailey (7 months). When Heather left, Haley was napping but woke up just as she was leaving. Heather had given me instructions on how to warm up her formula and where the diapers were in case I needed them. Haley was just fine playing for a while but then she started to fuss and Keilani said she was probably hungry; so I warmed up the formula and Haley started to eat. I decided that I better burp her so I walked over to get a dish towel to put over my shoulder. As I grabbed the dish towel and put it over my shoulder, I discover some yellow stuff on Hailey’s arm and my hands. Upon further investigation, I could see poop coming out the back of her diaper. It was all over my arm, shirt, and the baby’s clothes. What a mess! Every time I tried to lay her down to get something to clean her up with she would scream, so I would pick her up again. I laid down a dish towel on the counter but then I couldn’t get to the water so I move everything closer to the sink. Every time I would try to take her shirt off she would scream, but eventually I got it off. Then the pants; after trying to unbutton or unsnap them for about 2 minutes I realized that the button was just for decoration, so I pulled the pants down and off. It was at this point that I saw the extent of the mess. It had squeezed out of her diaper and was all over her back and legs. Using wet paper towel, I finally wiped off most of the exposed poop. It was time to dig into the main event. After untaping the diaper I pulled it away. I could see I still had a lot more work to do. With Hailey fussing all the while, I eventually got the entire mess cleaned up from her body. Now my next dilemma; I could not remember where Heather said the diapers were. I asked Keilani if she knew but she said she didn’t. So after wiping the poop off my arms, I took the naked baby in my arms to search the house. I was hoping all the while that she wouldn’t come up with any more surprises for me. I eventually found the diapers in a basket on top of the TV. Once I had the diaper on her I then needed to find some clean clothes. Once again, Keilani was no help. After going through a few drawers, I found a shirt that goes over her head and snaps between her legs. Heiley, however, didn’t want anything to do with that shirt, but after struggling with her for a few minutes I eventually got it over her head and wrestled her arms through the arm holes. I figured that was close enough and said the heck with the snaps between the legs. Soon after that she fell asleep and I put her in her crib. What a relief! Now I could wash myself off a little better and change my clothes. The only good part of this is that the poop didn’t smell too bad so my gag reflex did not reach its maximum capabilities. The poop actually smelled sort of fruity. Thank God for small favors. [How is that for a defining moment? There probably aren't many Harley riders that can tell a story like that.]
After Heather got home with Aiden and the babysitter, Heather and I got ready to go for a motorcycle ride to Mount Rainier National Park. The sky was cloudy again but we were dressed warm. We weren’t too far out when it started to drizzle on us. Luckily it didn’t last too long so we kept on heading to Mount Rainier. The ride to the mountain was just gorgeous and after entering the park, it was even better. As we climbed in elevation the temperature really started to drop. When we arrived at the Paradise Observation area, we were in the clouds and could not see a thing. So I am relying on Heather’s word that there really is a mountain there and that it really is beautiful. We were at 5700 feet and the temperature was probably in the 40s and it was really damp. After warming up inside for a while and buying a Mount Rainier yo-yo in the gift shop, we started our trek back to Heather’s house. About 16 miles before getting there, however, it started to rain pretty steady. At least we were at lower elevations and the temperature was up in the 60s. Even though it was cold and wet, and we couldn’t see the mountain, we both enjoyed the ride very much.
By the way, I reached another milestone today. I have not cranked out more that 5,000 miles for the trip now.
