Summer Vacation Trip - Day 1

[I woke Mollie up at 0345 and we got ready to leave - we didn’t eat breakfast and went outside at 0415 - the taxi (Yellow Cab) was late but we made it to National Airport by 0445 and got through security and to the gate by 0530 - I checked my carry-on, thinking I’d get it back in Chicago (I didn’t) and we took off on time (0605) - the snack was Stroopwafel (Mollie loved that) - a little kid was sitting in the parent's lap next to us and Mollie liked that - after landing at 0700 (local), Mollie went (by herself) to get a snack and found me soon afterwards - we learned there would be a two hour delay when we arrived at the gate (maintenance problem) - we were in good spirits so didn’t worry and read/talked while we waited - soon, we learned that the replacement airplane was delayed due to weather - Mollie asked me to get her food so I bought early lunch (sandwiches) at Eli's Cheesecake (0720) - even after we boarded (1000 local), we had to wait another hour for fuel - eventually, we took United to SEA (free direct tv as United's way of saying "sorry for the delay") - Buddhist monks all around us - saw lots of pretty snow-capped mountains, along with Mount Rainier, on the way - arrived at 1230 (local) - got bags quickly - took airport shuttle to nearby Marriott - Mollie commented that the whole flight experience was much better than she remembered and I told her I was proud of her for being so agreeable, cooperative and flexible - we got our rental car at Hertz (1330) - drove the Nissan Versa (we decided to call it “Zippy”) from SeaTac to I-5, then WA-512 - lunch at Wendy’s (South Tacoma) at 1420 - then WA-7 to Elbe and WA-706 to Nisqually Entrance of Rainier National Park - we got a NPS stamp at Longmire Museum (around 1600) - backtracked to Elbe - used WA-7 to US-12 and then got on I-5 again - we stopped at a rest area for maps (gave money to a guy who "needed gas" - continued on I-5 to WA-504 - drove to Mount St. Helens Visitors Center (closed) and took nature walk (1.0 miles) on boardwalk with view of mountain - Mollie saw a black and yellow snake and tried out her new camera tripod - backtracked to I-5 and saw the Columbia River lumber yards; as we continued south - we got off at Woodland and found the hotel, Rodeway Inn (we had a reservation) - the gas prices so high everywhere! - in our room, we relaxed (watching TV) and repacked bags - went to bed at 2115 local (tired)]