We had such a fun time going up to Mt. St. Helens. It was much less traumatic for the girls than last time, when we went to the first visitor center and watched the movie, the girls were scared to go up the mountain because they thought it was going to erupt while we were there.
At the visitor center. The girls did their Junior Geologist booklets and got their badges.
At the Johnston Ridge Visitor Center they also did the Junior Ranger program and got badges.
We played peek-a-boo with the mountain all day. First it was clear then it clouded up, then it cleared a bit... You never can tell what it will look like!
Journal
Today we slept in till nearly 10am! Man it felt good! I think part of it is that we are camping in dense woods and it is dark in the trailer. We had a yummy breakfast of potatoes and eggs and sausage before getting ready to go to Mt. St. Helens.
When we set off for the mountain, we plugged into the GPS to take us to the visitor center. Instead of that, it took us on a mountain road that dead ended many miles in. After our 30 minute+ "scenic route" we got on the right highway and made it to the visitor center. We got there just in time to hear a Ranger talk about the 1980 eruption and get our Junior Geologist workbooks. We also watched a movie about the mountain. After working very hard, the girls got their badges and some fun souvenirs too. As we drove up the mountain we stopped a a few viewpoints and got some great pictures. Again we got there just in time, 2 minutes to movie time {Johnston Ridge}. After the movie (which is amazing) it was time to do more Junior Ranger activities and we went to a ranger talk about how the mountain has changed since the big 1980 eruption (mostly the building of the lava dome and steam eruptions). We had a bit of a problem with Abby's attitude, she wanted to play games on Grandma's phone and I said no, and she threw a HUGE fit. Screaming and throwing herself down. It was terrible and she is lucky the truck was parked so far away, because I had my hands full and couldn't carry her all the way back.
After she calmed down, we were able to complete the Jr. Ranger program as best they could, got their badges as the center was closing, and go for a short hike. I forgot to mention that by the time we got to the top, clouds had moved in so it was spotty viewing of the crater. We were glad we had stopped along the way and got good pictures. On our drive back we stopped at a road side sign that looked prime for a geocache, and sure enough, we found one. We also drove through Lewis and Clark State Park to check it out. We got back to camp about 830 and had dinner then a fire to roast marshmallows and have s'mores. They were delicious!
