View from the Top: Mount Rainier and Seattle-Area Friends
Mount Rainier pairs nicely with sushi, pho, and friends.
Sept. 16 - 21, 2025
Mount Rainier National Park, Bellevue, Seattle, & Kirkwood, WA
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4
Gazing up at Mount Rainier
After the Hiawatha Trail, we journeyed west during the final official week of summer. Our first stop was Mount Rainier National Park, known for its iconic peak visible throughout the Seattle metro area.
With one day to enjoy the park, we split up on separate trails. Nate and I enjoyed expansive views of the mountain from the Mount Fremont Fire Lookout.
Sadie and Nick hiked toward Rainier for the close-up view of the mountain, the highest in the Cascade Range at 14,410 feet.
Also at our Mount Rainier stop, we enjoyed a much needed down day to wash and wax the truck and trailer, visit a local thrift store, and comb through the trailer to mail away or donate items we weren’t using. As on-the-go as we’ve been since we left Virginia, no one complained about having a down day!
And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that this RV park, which doubles as a high school football stadium and municipal fairground, included a wild/creepy shower situation reminiscent of 90s teenage horror movies. Let’s just say, we’re glad we made it out alive.
Feasting with Friends in Seattle
Among of the friends we’ve been excited to see on the trip are Nick’s Stanford classmate, Belinda, her husband David, and their one-year-old daughter Bailey, who we’d yet to meet. We last saw David and Belinda at Nick’s retirement ceremony in May, and we’ve been making plans to link up in the PNW ever since.
Shout-out of thanks to the GSB friends who came in for Nick’s retirement ceremony!
Our first night in town, they came to dinner at our campsite, surprising the kids with their favorite meal—sushi! Belinda also surprised Nick and me with a favorite meal—homemade Farmer’s Market Lasagna from a cookbook we gave them as a wedding gift. Cooking in an oven is an absolute luxury for us right now, so the lasagna (a regular at our home) tasted extra amazing.
We’d given David and Belinda a tour of our fifth wheel in the driveway of our home in Virginia Beach, so it was almost surreal that the time and miles had passed and here we were, together again in the trailer—but on the completely opposite coast.
Food stayed at the forefront of conversation, and the next day the kids were welcomed to David and Belinda’s home with another favorite order—pho. After that we weren’t sure if we’d get Sadie and Nate to leave Aunt Belinda’s house.
Our families headed into Seattle for the classics—fish tossing at Pike’s Place Market, the super-gross Gum Wall, world’s first Starbucks, and a ride over the Puget Sound in the Ferris Wheel.
From the top of the Ferris wheel, we could see Mount Rainier, the Cascades, and Olympic ranges—all three of Washington’s national parks we were heading to.
The day finished with an incredible Chinese dinner from one of Belinda’s go-to restaurants in Bellevue. Nate didn’t hold back showing Bailey innovative new ways her toys could be used.
We enjoyed a memorable day catching up on life, meeting their adorable new family member, all while appeasing our palates with tastes and flavors not often found in our small-town travels. What a fantastic weekend!
Side note: “View from the Top” was the business school’s speaker series featuring talks by CEOs. Please excuse the nerdy business school joke hiding in the headline.
Reuniting with a Lifelong Family Friend
Our fantastic weekend in the Seattle area wasn’t over. The next day, we met up with my friend Mimi—a friend who feels more like family. Like family, Mimi has known my sister and me our entire lives.
During early years in Houston, our parents were close friends with Mimi’s parents. At one point, Mimi was our babysitter. Our families kept in touch across four decades, attending weddings, welcoming babies, and swapping Christmas cards across many address changes.
Mimi and her husband, Matt, collected packages for us (such as truck repair parts and the kids’ schoolbooks). Mimi took us on a hike through an old-growth forest beside Lake Washington. And, of course, Nate couldn’t pass up taking a dip. We stumbled into a birthday party where Mediterranean food just showed up on our picnic table, further continuing our spontaneous worldwide culinary tour of the Pacific Northwest.
And at the end of the day, Mimi texted to say I forgot my hat at her house—which ended up being a Mount-Rainier-sized blessing. The next morning, she brought the hat to me, picked me up, and we went for a walk along a creek. She was starting a new job the next day, so it was amazing timing to sneak in the bonus Monday-morning visit (plus amazing coffee)—just the two of us.
We packed so much in that weekend, including a stock-up trip to Trader Joe’s. We left the Seattle area with full bellies, a full fridge, and even fuller hearts.
Thank you Belinda, David, Bailey, Mimi & Family for the hospitality while we were passing through. Love and hugs to you all—until next time! :)
Roberts on the Road
For those just finding us, hello! Inspired by the Year of Jubilee in Leviticus 25, our family is on a yearlong RV road trip in 2025-2026 to celebrate my husband’s retirement after 20 years in Naval Special Warfare, as well as our 24 years together during the ups and downs of it all.
With our 12-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son in tow, this trip to explore America’s national parks and beautiful places is intended to help our family reflect and reset as civilian life begins.
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For background info on who we are and where we’re traveling, we’d love for you to read the intro post. The full list of road trip blog posts can be found here. Thanks for stopping by!
