As the Oliver's visit to Washington winds down, we couldn't miss an opportunity to take them on yet another all day tourist-a-thon. This time, we headed south for another one of nature's awesome wonders - Mount St. Helen's.
Now you're realizing why the title is what is is huh? If not, here's some history and interesting facts: Washington has 5 "recognized" volcanoes. In 1980, one of those volcanoes erupted in grand style. You can see a great video about it here: http://www.history.com/videos/mount-st-helens-erupts#mount-st-helens-erupts
Go ahead, watch it, I'll wait. It's pretty funny -- and dead accurate.
So, ash was spread all over the PNW from this eruption... Ever wonder WHY Washington and Oregon are "recently" great wine states?
Anyway, it was time to see this sleeping giant for ourselves.
We packed up the car, the kids, and the grandparents and headed for a day at the mountain.
Here's our first look from our lunch spot:
Yes, it was a gorgeous day! We took it all in and meandered our way up to the visitor's area.
It really is an amazing place to visit and talk with the rangers. Many of them have worked there for years and can tell you all about the ecosystems. They explained that the area looked like the surface of the moon after the blast. Everything was just gone. But over time, nature is reclaiming the area. They talked about the return of fish in spirit lake, the rehabitation of butterflies, and the wildflowers blooming. It was amazing to hear and see -- just the sheer determination of nature rebounding from a catastrophic situation.
The girls participated in a Junior Ranger program that talked on their level about what happened and what's happening now.
Of course the most interesting thing happened when we went into the visitor's center one last time. The rangers were all buzzing and passing around binoculars. One called us over and said, do you see? I said see what? She passed me the binoculars -- the mountain was steaming. You see, this is still an active volcano. She said the lava dome has been moving lately. Oh boy, we all know what that means!
