The Oregon Trail - Day 14

What a beautiful day and wonderful view of the beach while we ate a big breakfast at Wayfarer Restaurant and then a long walk on the beach to Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach, Oregon.  The Sunrise was just gorgeous.  I needed more than that walk to help me get rid of the huge shrimp omelet and Marionberry jelly that I packed away.  I think my jeans shrank when we washed them at Kit's.  Maybe this arid, high desert air has made my thighs swell.  Yea, that is my story and I'm claiming it. 

The coast, rivers and beautiful flowers - especially petunias - that are still blooming everywhere made the trip north to Toutle, Washington to see Mt. St. Helens seem way too short.  We spent the whole afternoon at the Johnson Observatory, which overlooks Mr. St. Helens, some 19 miles across the valley.  It was awesome to see and think of the major eruption that took place just 30 years ago this May 18th.  The damage is still so very evident and just mind boggling to think that we were so close to that much power and recent history.  There is no way you could make me live within 50 miles of that mountain.  While we were there you could see a puff of steam escaping from the dome in the crater on Mt. St. Helens that officials say is growing by some 18,000 dump trucks of rock every day.  Not a comforting thought.  Thousands upon thousands of acres of land are still bare with only fallen skeletons of the scorched forest remaining.  Thirty years seems like a long time except when you are talking about replacing what a major volcanic eruption can destroy in just a matter of seconds.  So much human life lost and so much devastation.

Mount St.Helens and Spirit Lake (right)

The mountain poured out from the middle of the top causing the indention and missed filling up the lake to the right side.  The timber that was blown over and skinned around the lake still floats in the lake and we could see it with binoculars.  Unbelievable.

This picture is from a lookout high above a valley of thousands of acres of what looks like tiny match sticks.  Actually the sticks are huge logs that were skinned and blown over thirty years ago.  A few trees are coming back up voluntarily, but you can see there aren't many.  Weyerhauser has reforested most of the land that was scalped which is not in the national park.  The National Park Service has not reforested their lands.  It has pretty much been left as it was on that day in history.

On the way down the mountain to our camp site we just had to stop at this well known restaurant in the area "19 Mile Restaurant."  It is famous for their cobbler.  Kit and Mike said there was no way we could be this close and not try it.  So, we pulled down into the parking lot with the RV and attached vehicle before realizing that the end of the parking lot was blocked and we could not get in and turn the whole rig around.  In the rain the men had to unhook the truck and maneuver the RV around and back out on the road.  While they were stewing around and trying to get all that figured out, Kit and I went into the restaurant and ordered four servings of cobbler to go.  While we were waiting, Kit mentioned that she saw Johnny come in and then leave.  We could not think what he could be doing and just hoped that nothing serious was wrong with the vehicles.  We were just talking away and enjoying the strange looks we were getting from the locals when we noticed Johnny come back in.  This time we waved at him and he noticed us sitting over in the dining room.  He waved and walked the other way.  About the same time the waiter came over to our table with our order and said that the man up at the front desk had paid for our order.  When we walked up front to the desk, Johnny was standing there with about a three foot tall bag of cobbler.  Thus we went back to the RV with 12 orders of Marionberry and apple cobbler at the cost of $45.00!!  Gentlemen, we had a lack of communication.  We ate cobbler for days and days and more problems with the arid desert air and my clothes.  We still have not seen a Marionberry, but it surely does make good jelly and cobbler.

Marmalade's Side of the Story

OK, so this was a good day in the RV.  Haystack Rock was pretty good.  I don't get to play in the sand very much, but it was very cold.  I was glad to get back into Nonnie's warm backpack.   

I really liked Mt. St. Helens and hearing all those stories and thinking about that mountain just going boooooooom!!!  Looking at the puff of steam coming out of it made my tummy flip just a little bit. 

I got to sit on BigFoot's foot.  We saw him over 20 miles away from the volcano.  BigFoot was really big.  I don't really believe there is a BigFoot, but it made me feel brave anyway.  People put funny things in their yards sometimes.  Nonnie really likes to take pictures of those funny things. 

I look really little on BigFoot's foot, don't I? 

You know I think Uncle Mike and Aunt Kit's dogs are funny.  Rocky is very old, I think.  He moves very slow, but Bella is frisky and lets me sit on her sometimes.  When we went to see things and they stayed in the RV to guard it, they played like they were the bosses.  Can you see Bella trying to drive it and Rocky barking out the directions? 

I got to stay up really late because everybody was playing Mexican Train dominoes and the train kept making loud chugging noises and they kept laughing a lot.  Grown ups get to have a lot of fun late at night.