With only a week to show highlights of our amazing state to a very dear friend visiting from the East Coast, I knew Mount Rainier and Mount Saint Helens had to be at the top of the list.

Contributing to my choice was the fact that my husband and I hadn’t yet visited them. Shame on us for allowing ourselves to be dissuaded by the distance, and the possibility of traffic because of highway construction and the usual congestion in and around Olympia and Tacoma. Yada, yada, yada. There really is no excuse for not taking the time to do what tourists from around the world over travel here to do — bear witness to the gifts Mother Nature has bestowed upon Washington. Lucky are we to live here.

To offset our concerns about the distance and the traffic, we booked a room for two days at nearby Adytum Sanctuary, a charming retreat and thriving arboretum. It helped us rest up for each day’s adventure.

Mount Rainier’s summit was not visible because of cloud coverage. Nonetheless, our hike in the Cascade Range to see what we could see was breathtaking. Wildflowers, shades of purple lupine among them, covered the ground as far as our eyes could see. So even though our party of three senior citizens had to cut our foray into the wild short because of health concerns, due to the elevation and our being out of shape, we were more than satisfied with what we’d seen.

Our trip to Mount Saint Helens was an unexpected thrill. Having had its top blown off during the May 1980 eruption and the surrounding area devastated in the ensuing landslide, it felt as though we were somewhere alien. We could’ve been on the moon, or perhaps on a Star Wars planet. Had there not been carloads of tourists there with us, I might not have felt so brave. The quiet eeriness of the barren landscape could be unnerving.

A young geologist was extremely informative about the science behind the eruption of Mount Saint Helens. With the aid of rock samples, she guided us through the differences between volcanoes that erupt explosively and those like Mount Adams, also in the Cascades, which don’t.

Of special interest to me was the fact that Hawaiian volcanoes erupt like fountains and are not inherently dangerous to us — unless, of course, we happen to be standing in the path of their lava flows. I like to think of it in terms of the “aloha spirit.” Islanders, like I, prefer to melt folks with our warmth, rather than have it explode in sporadic bursts of effusiveness.

Unlike Issaquah, where people outnumber street signs, we saw more of those than people wherever we drove. Even the ascent towards Mount Rainer was desolate until we neared the entrance to the park. I couldn’t live in the area, but it was nice to get away from the maddening crowds for a weekend.

Touring our national treasures renewed my appreciation for where I live — in Issaquah, Washington.

Millie Vierra lives in Issaquah.