Mount Rainier
 

I have grown to love Mt. Rainier. It’s one my favorite things about living in Washington (that and the seafood). Annually we buy a yearly pass and get up there as much as we can during the summer and fall. My wife and I started taking our kids there when my daughter (oldest) was six months old – just threw her in one of those kids packs.

It gets crowded in the summers, but if you go early there are still places where you can be alone.

How many cities can claim, like Seattle, three national parks within a 100 mile readius of downtown?

That's one of the reason it's on our itenerary for our vacation this summer. That is if we can afford the diesel. :(

I'll see your 3 National Parks within a 10 mile radius and raise you 5 National Parks within a 6 hour drive from SLC - all in the same state. 7 if you want to count Yellowstone and Great Basin.

;)

If you're talking about SLC there aren't any national parks in northern or even central Utah. I'm talking about real national parks like Zions, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Bryce, as enacted by Congress, not state parks or national monuments or national forests. NATIONAL PARKS. Within 100 miles of downtown Seattle are Rainier, NOrth Cascades and Olympic NATIONAL PARKS. Utah has more national parks in the state than anyplace except California and Alaska I think but they're all in the southern part of the state.

You're correct - that's why I mentioned that they're within a 6 hour drive of SLC.

Was the plan to drive your RV up from TX?

Yep. We had planned a 3 week trip to Northern Cal, Oregon, Washington, maybe even up into Canada (Banff, etc.). But it was like a 4000 mile round trip. At $3 / gallon for diesel and 10 mpg ... that's big $$$.

$1200 is pocket change for you!

Plus diesel is less than $3. It's like $2.80.

Here. But averaging in CA prices, etc. that's what I figured.