To Mt. Rainier with Love

Back in February, we were treated to a wonderful stay at the National Park Inn at Mt. Rainier. On our way, we stopped for Dinner at the Hobo Inn in Elbe Washington. This place is worth looking at in street level mode on Google Maps. Just plug in Elbe Hobo Inn and you'll get an eyeful. The owners purchased a bunch of railroad cars and turned them into rooms you rent for the night. There's a couple options for dinner, one of which is a takeout pizza/burger car. We went into the main dining car. It was the 14th. Valentine's day. In the boonies. "Do you have a reservation?" the aging waitress asked. "No. There's 4 of us for dinner if there's room". Of the 20 tables, maybe 3 were taken. "Let me check" and she wandered off, leaving us to take in the interior decor of the train. Shortly she returned, "I'm sorry, but we're full in the dining car and you'll have to eat in the bar". Well, shucks, that's where the Dart game was anyway, so off we went. Through one car to the next, we found ourselves having a decent dinner, yet giggling at the back-woods feel to the place. I don't remember who won at darts.

After dinner, we cruised on up the National Park Highway to the Inn where a friendly Federal employee greeted us and sent us to our rooms. The next morning we wandered downstairs to the restaurant (breakfast was included in the night's rental). We could have anything off the breakfast menu - no limit! The same guy that checked us in was our waiter. What-the? About 45 minutes later, just before our stomachs began ingesting themselves, the food arrived. Happy again, we rented some snowshoes and headed up the road to Paradise. This is a major snow play area. No ski lifts. If you want to ski, you X-country. You snowshoe up high, put the skis on and down you go. This is serious exercise. The day was beautiful! What a workout.

Dinner was back at the National Park Inn restaurant to see if the same guy was still working. Nope. We got another victim of Federal training. These souls are not trained in what customer service is outside the Government. The gals had ordered a special Valentine's Day drink that was advertised. The waitress came back. "Can't have it. Here's your options". They chose wisely. The waitress returned again. "Sorry, can't have those either." She then informed them that they could get what they had originally ordered. Strange. The funniest part was when our fearless hostess asked if the "fish was fresh". The response: "Well, it was when we got it!" If I remember right, she ordered it anyway. The food was good, the interactions with the staff were a new experience for the four of us!

Thanks guys, we had an awesome time!