Helen's Journal from North Cascades National Park to Seaside, OR

     We arrived here at Seaside, OR the September 6, 2011. We are just one mile from the beach. Haven't done much yet so will post later on Seaside. Let me take you backward for a few days since I got lazy about our blog.

September 4, 2011
  

                Mothnomon Falls an the Columbia River Gorge

                            Horsetail Falls on Columbia River Gorge

  
                              Video of Mothnomon Falls and Helen

     We drove down to Bonneville Lock & Dam on the Columbia River Gorge to visit Chuck & Jane Taylor, friends of our from Woodbury, TN. More than friends really, more like family. I was their pastor at Open Bible Baptist Church for a while and I also married them. They are volunteers there at the Corp Park and Visitor Center. Church took us on a tour of the Lock and Dam while there was a hugh tug pushing a couple of barges through. We went to brunch with them at Mothnomon Falls Restaurant. Michael and I walked to the falls and made some pictures then we drove to Horsetail Falls. We had a wonderful time visiting these wonderful friends.

September 3, 2011

     We drove to the West entrance to Mount St. Helen National Park today and stopped at several of the Visitor Centers. There were several short movies to watch showing how the earthquake and volcano took place. You would have to actually see the movies to appreciate the destructive power that was released that day. The East side showes more of the dead trees and Spirit Lake that was almost filled with dead trees. The National Park is not replacing the trees so that the forest can restore it's self naturally, but the state and the private lumber companies are replanting trees since 1981. Here are some pictures Helen took. They are good but they just don't really show the totality of what you see when you are there.

     This is one of the tree stumps left from the blast. When the earthquake slid the top of the mountain down in the valley the active core of the volcano was exposed. The slide was moving about 150 miles per hour and then the blast occured that sent hot gases and hot rocks hurling past the slid at somewhere between 300 and 700 miles per hour. This stump was a tree about four ft across that was just snapped off like you see. It is only one of thousands. You have to see the park or go to a web site that shows more detail to really believe it.

         This picture was taken after the earthquake and volcano

           This picture was taken before the earthquake and volcano

August 31 and September 1, 2011

     We went up to Mount Rainier National Park on the 31st of August. We went to Paradise Visitor Center where Helen got her Pass Port book stamped. The name is well suited because the mountain meadows are in full bloom and the water falls are too awesome. We left Paradise and drove through Stephens Canyon and Box Canyon. What awesome views. We arrived at Sunrise Point, the highest point you can drive up the mountain (6,400 ft) also the closest view of the mountain. We could see the glacier but because of the low clouds we could not see the peaks. We will return tomorrow.

     These are pictures taken the second day. You can get some idea of how God out did Himself on this Mountain. This was the first glacier we had ever seen up this close where you could tell that it was a glacier.

     It was 39 degrees at the visitors Center that morning. The top of the Mountain is another 8,000 ft.

August 27 - 29, 2011

     We were three days at Dow Creek RV Park in Hoodsport, Washington just south of Mount Olympia National Park. The only Visitor Center was at the very top of the Park and we were at the very South. We made a 429 mile loop around the park which took twelve hours.We stopped at one of the rain forest and two places where you could walk on the beach. It was a long tiring day but very enjoyable. We stopped at a KFC on the way back to the RV and discovered that we were very hungry. Here are a few pictures.

August 20 - August 26, 2011

     We left Grandy Creek Thousand Trails Park in Concrete, WA August 20th and drove up to Blaine, WA to Birch Bay Thousand Trails Park. There was not much to do right there at the park but we drove over to Mount Baker on the 26th and hiked some and had a picnic. There on the top of our drive because we couldn't get all the way up to Mount Baker we found a place called Heather Meadows. There was lots of snow and plenty of opportunity for great pictures. Michael through a snowball at me and almost made me fall. There were lots of young people sliding on the snow slopes. We stopped at Nooksack Falls on the way up and took pictures. Here are a few pictures.

     On the 25th of August we went down to Anacortes Harbor and took the Washington Ferry over to San Juan Island. The hugh ferry can haul over 140 vechicles and 1000 people. We got off the ferry at San Juan Island and just walked around awhile. We each got an ice cream and then got back on the ferry to come back. Things were very expensive on the Island.

           This is just like the boat we road to San Juan Island on.