Squatchin'! Oh, yeah... and Mount St. Helens!!!

This morning we all crawled out of bed the best we could to face a new day of activity.  Bender did his part in climbing over Chaini and Talon and squeaking his toy, but they were still a little slow movin' this morning. 

After loading up with water, soda and snacks, we drove about 45 miles north and about the same distance east to get to Mount St. Helens.  The drive that direction is beautifully scenic and dramatic.  A lot of hills and thick tree growth.  Bryan was telling the girls to watch out their windows for Sasquatch.  He kept saying, "We're going Squatchin'!"   Wyler even did a Squatch Call at one of the view points we stopped at.  Go Get 'Em, WD!  (She ain't afraid!!!)

The highway that we drove had several stop off sites that were just amazing.  Our first real stop was at the Forest Learning Center.  It had a nice gift shop and a very nice trail with many great photographic views of the mountain. 

The road also has many bridges that have been built since the 1980 eruption.  Some of them are quite impressive like this one, which had a sign saying that we were going into the burn zone. 

Can you believe it's been 30 years since Mount St. Helens erupted?  I was 12 years old.  What I remember most about it was seeing on TV how some people refused to evacuate and seeing people who didn't even live terribly close to the eruption wearing masks and walking in ash that looked almost like snow. 

We pulled up to another forest visitor center that had an even more amazing view than the last.  Family picture!!

There was a raised platform where the view was great and there were binoculars that you could use to look for elk down in the valley.  I think Wylder and Chaini had the right idea.  I don't know what to say for Talon and Bryan's method.  Poor Cappi.



We made one more stop off.  The view was so incredible we couldn't help but to pull over and take pictures.

This particular spot was just a short drive away from our final destination, the Johnston Ridge Observatory.  Since dogs aren't allowed up there, Bender and I had to stay down in the parking area and entertain ourselves there.  The sun was shining and it was nice and warm, and at this point, bordering on hot.  In the middle of the parking lot there was a pile of snow.  As soon as his feet hit it, he dropped down and cooled off.  At first I thought he had slipped, but it was 100% intentional! 

It musta felt soooo refreshing!  Unfortunately, as you can see, the snow was quite dirty.  And when he was done, so was Bender. 

But he was soooo happy!   I was glad to be driving. He rode in the back between Bryan and Talon. :) 

We have a busy weekend planned!  It might be difficult for me to do much blogging for a couple of days, so don't expect to hear much until Sunday evening!