The Road to Paradise isn't always a Road

"The Road to Paradise isn't always a Road" is printed on the back of one of the T-shirts I sell at the gift shop. Saturday afternoon, after a long day of catering to the tourists, I opted for the road less traveled and hiked my way home from Longmire to Paradise. It is a lazy 6 mile hike UP the infamous Wonderland trail with a gain of 2,800 feet. The last 1/2 mile was steep and through snow. Aaahhh snow, it seems I will be enjoying a 12 month run of snow this year. However, the flowers are in bloom along the roadside and throughout patches of green that are starting to finally appear in the Paradise meadows. Last Wednesday I went to Seattle for a break from the monotony of the mountain with my roommate Christine. We meandered through Pike's Place Market buying fresh Spicy Thai Linguine, pesto bagels and drinking Seattle's java. We camped out that night at a cute, little state park called Dash Point on the Puget Sound about 20 miles south of Seattle. Another satisfying week!