Shel: Got up early and headed to Sunrise to catch the sunrise on Mount Rainier - vey pretty. The we hooked up and headed south to Mount Saint Helens. The ranger talk at Mt. St. Helens was great, had lots of before and after pictures with explanations of what happened. After that we headed south again toward Crater Lake - hit lots of traffic in Portland OR. Stopped for the night in Woodburn, OR. That's interesting as I was born and raised in Woodbourne, NY.

Geni: Woke up at 5:45 AM to catch the sunrise. It was really really cold and dark. There are still tenters camping and I am in awe of their grit. Shel talked to a guy who was hiking and camping up the mountain and he was being picked up at the top of the mountain after 4 days. That explains why we have seen some lone people just walking in the roads. Also, there are been bicyclists actually riding up the mountains. I sure hope they didn't eventually bike back down those steep roads.

Mt. Saint Helens was amazing. As Shel said, the ranger talk (and we saw a film) explained how the top of the mountain just blew off and how the effects reached 230 square miles, much fiercer than was expected. Among others, geologists who were monitoring the volcano lost their lives. The lumber company, Weyerhauser, lost millions in woods and equipment and replanted many acres with trees. It was so windy (maybe 20 mph) at the top and lots of ash blowing about so we couldn't stay outside the observatory for very long.

Today is Shel's birthday and we randomly found this RV campsite in Woodburn. That's one coincidence. The other is that he pulled a shirt out of the closet and it has his age on it!