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I checked out of the motel almost immediately and drove to the dealership. There was a McDonalds restaurant next to the dealership, so I stopped there first for breakfast. I then drove to where my car was parked at the dealership and took out everything else from my car and put it in the Escort.
I noted my car's odometer reading at its death -- 155,465 miles. It had carried me for a total of 25,015 miles on this trip alone! I knew I would never be able to drive it again. When I left the dealership, it was a sad farewell.
Next, I had one last stop at an "Albertsons" grocery store to buy Coke.
10:05 AM On The Road Again. I started driving towards my intended destination on August 7 -- Seattle, WA.
I stopped at a rest area along the way and made a motel reservation at the same Travelers Inn in Fife where I had canceled my reservation a few days back. I wanted to make the reservation for one week, but could only get it for five nights. I would find out why later...
2:36 PM Saw Seattle skyline for the first time. But could not see the Space Needle.
Stuck in Friday evening big city rush hour traffic!!!
3:50 PM Checked in at Travelers Inn, Fife, WA.
Seattle was one of the last major cities on this trip. Coming here meant my trip was almost over. Unfortunately, my car did not come to Seattle. I was starting to miss it already.
License Plates:
| NLIGHTN | WA | Jeep Cherokee??? |
| SUM FUN | WA | R.V. |
| INGLES | WA | Oldsmobile |
| KANGS | WA | Honda Accord |
| BIG 2 | WA | Ford Taurus |
| $133.68 | Chase | Columbia Center Dunes Motel -- 4 nights | Richland, WA |
| $2 | Cash | Breakfast -- McDonalds | Pasco, WA |
| $5 | Cash | Coke -- Albertsons | Pasco, WA |
| $3 | Cash | Lunch -- McDonalds | Yakima, WA |
| $6 | Cash | Dinner -- McDonalds | Fife, WA |
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My first such day trip was today -- I went to Mount Rainier National Park.
It was raining in the morning. I had always known that rain is a common thing in Seattle, but I had never realized what that really meant until I went there. During the week I would spend in Seattle, there would be only one day when it would NOT rain. But by now, I did not mind the rain anymore. I had understood that it was vital to my enjoyment of such places as Mount Rainier, which were carved out over the past several million years by the rain.
Mount Rainier is the highest peak in Washington state. 14,410 feet tall. I had seen 14000+ feet mountains in Colorado, but Mount Rainier was a special "14-er". In Colorado, there are several mountains that are taller than 14,000 feet, but they are all so close to each other that their height is not realized by someone looking at them from a distance. In the case of Mount Rainier, it is the only mountain within a 1000-mile radius that rises above 14,000 feet. In its immediate vicinity, there is no mountain that rises above 10,000 feet. Because of this, Mount Rainier looks much more majestic than any of the individual mountains in Colorado. My first sight of the giant was at a place within the National Park called "Sunrise Point". I parked at that viewpoint and stepped out of the car. From there, I could see a huge white dome rising high above into the sky. There is no other sight like it. There was a forest ranger at that viewpoint answering tourists' questions. I asked the ranger the same question I had asked at Glacier National Park -- "Above what elevation does the snow here last all year?" He told me that it depends on the snowfall the previous winter. Typically, the snow lasts all year above an elevation of 8000 feet, although there are spots as low as 6000 feet where there is an occasional snow-accumulation that lasts all year.
It was raining off-and-on throughout the day, and that made me give Mount Rainier National Park a rating much lower than it really deserved -- I gave it 
.
I exited the park at 6:15 PM, and stopped at an enclosed phone booth to call Bhindi Jewelers. I was on the phone for the next one and half hours. Fortunately, they had an (800) number. Unfortunately, it was raining the whole time and I could not hear very well, which made the phone call last longer.
After a stop for dinner at Burger King, I was back at the motel at 9:30 PM. It was still raining when I came back.
License Plates:
| TREV SOC | IL | Honda Civic |
| SAIL4TH | WA | Mazda |
| $2 | Cash | Lunch -- Taco Bell | Fife, WA |
| $80 | Discover | Cash withdrawal -- SeaFirst Bank | Fife, WA |
| $9.43 | CB | Gas over-over-fill-up-and-spill -- "Flying J" travel plaza | Fife, WA |
| $2 | Cash | Muffins -- "Flying J" travel plaza ("to go": ate as lunch later) | Fife, WA |
| $10 | Cash | Snacks -- 7-11 | Fife, WA |
| $4 | Cash | Dinner -- Burger King | Fife, WA |
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Yesterday's National Park was South of Seattle, near the Oregon border. Today's National park was North of Seattle, near the Canadian border. The motel I was staying in was South of Seattle. I had to drive through the city to go to my destination today. This turned out to be a very good thing for later day trips...
I drove North to the town of Burlington, WA, where I filled up on gas. I calculated the car's mileage to be 39 Miles Per Gallon -- PATHETIC compared to my car's WONDERFUL 44 Miles Per Gallon! From Burlington, I drove East.
1:00 PM Entered North Cascades National Park.
This was not worth the trouble. I could have gone somewhere much better on this beautiful sunny day. There are mountains and there are lakes, but they are not very impressive. 
. 
I crossed the width of the park, then made a U-turn to go back the same way I came.
5:40 PM Although this was a Sunday, there was still a traffic jam in Seattle, and I was partly to blame, since I was one of the many drivers on the road. However, this traffic jam allowed me to take some pictures from the car. Since this was a clear day, I could see a large white dome rising high into the sky. This was Mount Rainier, and it was more than 100 miles South of where I was. But I could see it very clearly, and I took a few pictures of the lone mountain from my car. I could see the mountain for the rest of the drive from downtown Seattle to my motel in Fife, which took one and half hours (30 miles).
License Plates:
| CHAKETA | WA | Subaru |
| BOTMOUT | WA | Ford truck |
| $9.60 | CB | Gas over-over-fill-up-and-spill -- ARCO | Burlington, WA |
| $3 | Cash | Brunch -- McDonalds | Burlington, WA |
| $2 | Cash | Dinner -- Burger King | Fife, WA |
| $6 | Cash | Snacks & postcards -- "Flying J" travel plaza | Fife, WA |
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After a brunch at a Dennys in Fife, I went to my first of the Seattle city attractions -- I had had enough of nature. I went to the Museum of Flight, which is next to the Boeing Field in the heart of the Emerald City.
The museum contained historic aircraft -- the kind I had already seen before in Washington, DC. I took their guided tour and saw a documentary film about the history of flight. The movie was the best part of the museum. Rating for museum = .
After I was finished with the museum, I went to a Target in the city of Federal Way to drop off my film. When I entered the Target, it was not raining. When I left the store to walk to my car, it was raining very heavily, and I got drenched. But it was fun!
By the time I got back to the motel a half hour later, it had stopped raining...
...temporarily.
Miscellaneous:
Bumper Sticker: | I'LL SHOP, I'LL BUY, IN DEBT I'LL DIE. |
| 4NOT | WA | Toyota MR2??? |
| HAT-MAN | WA | Toyota truck |
| ANMAL | WA | Honda |
| $7 | Cash | Brunch -- Dennys | Fife, WA |
| $5.50 | CB | Admission (after AAA discount) -- Museum of Flight | Seattle, WA |
| $10.82 | CB | Two pilot's flight pins made of pewter -- for Perry -- Museum of Flight gift shop | Seattle, WA |
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I had bought my car exactly two years ago today. As a "birthday present", I had originally intended not to drive that car on August 15, 1995. Unfortunately, that is exactly how things turned out!
I left the motel at 11:15 AM, bought gas, bought lunch, and started driving Westward towards Olympic National Park.
1:17 PM 1,000 miles driven in the rental car.
I took the scenic route to the park -- which turned out to be not-so-scenic since it was raining!
2:55 PM Entered Olympic National Park. Still raining.
The first viewpoint within the park was a place called "Hurricane Ridge". It is accessed by a seemingly long drive that goes through and above mountains with spectacular views. When I parked at Hurricane Ridge viewpoint, it stopped raining. So I went for a 1/4-mile hike. It was very nice up there, although slightly cold. The view of the nearby mountaintops was even better with the low clouds. After a while, I could not distinguish between the clouds and the snow on the mountaintops!
Olympic National Park has a lot to offer an interested tourist. I was not too interested, considering it was raining. The same park contains snow-capped mountain ranges, equatorial rain forests and oceanside scenery and beaches! The mountain ranges are visible from the Hurricane Ridge viewpoint. There are two more roads that go off the main highway into the rain forests. I was not interested in seeing rain forests when it was raining, so I did not go there. Instead my next stop was a beach on the Pacific Ocean. On my way to the beach, I stopped in the town of Forks, WA...
On August 16, my dad was supposed to start from Mission Viejo, CA and come to Richland, WA with my car's ownership papers. I was supposed to call him at home tonight to confirm this and to give precise directions to the "Columbia Center Dunes" motel in Richland, where I had stayed last week and where we would meet on August 18. I stopped in the town of Forks because I saw a phone booth along the road. I called home and confirmed my plan -- I would finish seeing everything in Western Washington by the night of August 17. That same night, my dad would arrive in the Portland, OR metropolitan area. On the morning of August 18, I would start driving from Seattle and my dad would start driving from Portland, and we would both get to Richland at approximately the same time in the afternoon -- both Portland and Seattle are exactly 240 miles from Richland!
After the phone call, I left Forks and started driving towards the ocean. It had stopped raining -- temporarily.
7:26 PM First sight of the Pacific Ocean after a long, LONG time!!!
7:40 PM Left Olympic National Park boundary. Rating for park (the part that I saw) = .
9:55 PM Driving through the capital city of Olympia, WA at night and stuck in traffic. Two of three lanes on the road were closed because of an accident.
10:40 PM Back to motel. Raining.
Miscellaneous:
| Bumper sticker: (seen on a R.V., which is what makes it funny) | BACK OFF -- or I'll flush. |
| CANUCKS | WA | Nissan Sentra |
| $11 | Discover | Gas -- "Flying J" travel plaza | Fife, WA |
| $3 | Cash | Lunch -- Burger King | Fife, WA |
| $9.05 | CB | Gas -- Chevron | Forks, WA |
| $3 | Cash | Dinner -- Burger King | Fife, WA |
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Continue on to August 16