Our 2011 Road Trip officially began at 9:15 am (we had originally planned for eight o'clock, but our newest little friend was hard to leave). We said 'See ya in Georgia' to our Shasky friends and headed out for Mount St. Helens. It was a gorgeous day...65-80 degree range and sunny!!
Upon arrival we discovered that it was National Trails Day...no admission fee. Woo-hoo, we saved $16! The view from Johnston Ridge Observatory was amazing. We were able to re-live the 1980 eruption through video and ranger talks. The video ended with the curtain being drawn to reveal the spectacular Mount St. Helens. Ranger Todd was very innovative and used several props (whoopi cushion, shaken soda can, Sumo wrestler, etc) to better explain 'how it all happened' on that memorable May day.
Kevin and I leisurely strolled around and took it all in...the snow-capped volcano, remnants of tree trunks acting as needles on a compass pointing in the direction of the blasted debris, new growth along the landscape, the glass-like Spirit Lake and so much more.
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