Day 7 & 8: Mt. St. Helens and Journey Home

The day started off a little cloudy. We made our way south, down I-5, to Mt. St. Helens. I think David slept in the car until we turned off to SR-504. Our first stop was the Buried A-Frame House. When the mudslide came through the area, it filled in the house up to the second story. The board said the house hadn't even been completed when the volcano erupted. It's now for sale. There was another fun fact posted. It said that when the volcano blew, enough ash was produced for everyone in the world to have 15 buckets fill. That's a lot! We stop at the Weyerhaeuser Interpretive Center next and saw some elk through the viewer. It happened to be the only free center along the way. We stopped at all the other ones, but didn't go in because they were $8. You weren't even supposed to go on the trails without paying. But we did anyway. At the souvenir shop, David picked out a dog made out of ash and I got some huckleberry chocolates for everyone at work. We got back to Vancouver about 5 PM and ate with Ebi at McMenamins. Friday was my birthday. We woke up at 3 AM to Steve calling to sing "Happy Birthday." Even after waking up that early, we managed to miss our flight, get in 4 hours late, and have David's bag delayed. TSA pulled it aside because of the car part inside. They managed to put a hole in one of David's boots too. It was a pretty miserable end to a great trip. We concluded we just should have stayed. Maybe next time.

Trees in the blast zone of Mt. St. Helens.

It's just funny...