[masraum]

I've spent a little time in the area, but most of this was 1 week, none of it was planned (it was for work, but there were delays so we had a few free days), and I'm not local. The Space Needle was kind of snoozy, and it was a sunny clear day. I could seen Mt Ranier, but otherwise, it didn't do anything for me.

If you like Sushi, Shiro's was when I was there, amazing. The owner/chef is a Japanese guy that's always wanted to be a sushi chef. He's had restaurants in the US and Japan. The sushi was some of the best that I've ever had. I want to go back some day.

We drove to Snoqualmie Falls which was OK.

We drove to and over Mt Ranier. We got lucky and showed up less than a week after they cleared the roads of snow. After Ranier, we didn't have any plans, so we drove from there to Mt St Helens. Mt Ranier had some beautiful scenery, but Mt St Helens really took the cake as far as scenery goes. I saw some things that I can still hardly believe are real because they were so beautiful. The drive to Mt St Helens, or, at least, as close as I could get (there was still some snow blocking the road) was amazing, and the brakes on my rental car were begging for mercy. Because of the drive, it takes a while. I think Seattle to Ranier to Mt St Helens and back took us about 11 hours. I think that includes stopping for dinner, and maybe lunch on the way.