Sunday to Yakima

We had planned to stay at Chehalis until Monday, but we had an order sent to friends' daughter's house which arrived on Thursday last week, and thought it would be good if we got it picked up... We checked, and could get a reservation at Yakima Sportsman State Park, so arranged for a one-night stay in Yakima. 

We packed up on Sunday and started heading east on US 12.

When we drove over to Paradise RV Park near Silver Creek, Washington, last week, we had seen a number of Christmas tree farms -- we saw more on our drive -- while we were still west of the Cascades. You may be able to distinguish the Christmas trees over on the hill to the right through our very dirty windshield...

Looks like a nice straight road... so far!

Mt Rainier just peeking up over the trees past the fuel station.

Starting to climb...

We had seen a couple of pull offs, including a sign for a scenic view, and, although we pulled off frequently to allow other vehicles to pass, we hadn't really seen a pulloff that gave us a good view until we were a ways east...

What a magnificent view of Mt Rainier from the east side!

One of the other visitors to the view site offered to take our picture and it came out nice!

... another view of Mt Rainier...

... and yet another.

Gracie stopped at the scenic view

Does this hillside make Gracie look small?

A beautiful lake on the right in the distance... we didn't find a pulloff to get a better picture of it. I think it was Clear Lake, though Rimrock Lake is just beyond Clear Lake according to my map.

On the way down the Cascades on the east side, such different topography - very few trees, lots of exposed rock.

Coming in to Yakima

In Yakima, a tractor and baler that we passed.

Yakima is known for its fruit growing -- especially apples. On the way into town, we've seen a number of fruit orchards and a processing plant. It is (unfortunately for us) quite hot here right now -- high of 107F predicted for today. We'll be heading out on Monday morning... the weather is supposed to break this week and highs will "just" be in the 90s...