Getting here:
As opposed to renting a car from downtown Seattle, I opted for a tour coach instead. The sightseeing tour is operated by Gray Line of Seattle with a total journey time of 10 hours around the many sights of Mount Rainier National Park. For the $50 fee (recently raised to $59 for adults, no thanks to rising fuel costs), I felt that the coach tour was worth the price. The coach departed from downtown Seattle as early as 0800 hrs, going south to the Nisqually Entrance, Longmire and finally to the Jackson Visitor Center at Paradise.

Description:
My journey took off on a sunny and cloudless Seattle morning in May. While generally the Pacific Northwest is relatively known for its muggy and drizzly weather, a fact that the denizens would strongly refute, sunny days with cobalt-blue sky are not uncommon during summer.

The excursion through south of downtown Seattle provided me with a constant breathtaking view of Mt Rainier. The massive glacier-clad mountain was somewhat becoming a persistent reminder of where I was heading.

Some 2 hours later, the bus arrived at Nisqually Entrance, one of the many entry points to Mount Rainier National Park (other being at White River in the northeast, or Ohanapecosh in the southeast). The scenery has changed dramatically from flat farmlands and sporadic country homes into dense fir and spruce forests as well as towering canyons and gorges.

Occasionally my coach tour passed by swift moving glacial streams, freshly melted from the scorching May's heat. The coach made a quick photo stop near Sunshine Point with breathtaking views of the Nisqually Valley. Some 20 minutes later, I arrived at Longmire for another short stop-over.