May 21, 2023
5/15- We were able to add another night at Silver Falls State Park. We had to move the RV to a different space but we were happy to be able to stay and do a bit more exploring of the park. Silver Falls was created through volcanoes. Basalt lava flows lay over softer, older rock. The softer layers eroded over time and create the falls.
We had wanted to hike behind the South Falls yesterday but with all our other hikes we were just too tired, so today was our opportunity take that hike. South Falls is a 177 foot waterfall and to be able to walk behind it you have to hike down almost the full 177 feet. The hike down was easy and we enjoy the opportunity to explore and see the beauty of the waterfall from another perspective.
The hike back up was a bit more challenging as we now had to climb back up to where we started from. It took us much longer to reach the top then it did to get down to the bottom.
Once we got up the trail we managed to get turned around and ended up taking another long hike trying to find where we parked the Jeep. By the time we reached the Jeep we were ready to just head back to the campground and relax outside the RV in our chairs. Even Teddi wanted to come out and hang out with us.
5/16- Today we drove to a KOA near Mount Saint Helens. Well it was a KOA when we booked the reservation, but by the time we arrived it had been sold and was no longer a KOA. Fortunately they were able to honor our reservation and the deposit we had made to KOA on the spot. When we arrived we found out that there had been a mudslide closing the road up to Mount Saint Helens. People had been trapped up there and had to be helicoptered out but their cars were left behind for quite some time. https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/mount-st-helens-mudslide-strands-photographers-cars
We had planned to do our wash once we got to the campground but they didn’t have any quarters for the machine and we were out, so we had to drive to a nearby town to see if we could get quarters. We bought some groceries at Wal-Mart but they would not sell us any quarters. We did found a laundromat in that town so we figured we would head back there tomorrow morning to laundry.
5/17- Got our laundry done today and decided to drive up SR 504 to see if we could get some pictures of the Mount Saint Helens anyway. Mount Saint Helens had erupted on May 18, 1980 and so it was almost the 43rd anniversary of the eruption. In 1980 Frank and I were very involved with Lutheran Marriage Encounter and we had been asked to speak in Tacoma at the Lutheran college just a month after the eruption. We both remember flying over the mountain and seeing the devastation of the area. It was overwhelming how much damage was done. We could see thousands of trees that were blown down by the force of the blast. Everything was grey with ash.
As we drove up the mountain we saw the healing the area had undergone in the last 43 years but we also could still see the damage done by the volcano. One of the areas that we stopped and hiked was the Mount Saint Helens Sediment Dam https://www.outdoorproject.com/united-states/washington/mount-st-helens-sediment-dam It had been built to contain the continued amount of trees and ash that still flows down to the Toutle River.
We pulled over and viewed the edge of the blast zone and where the beginning of Mount Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument begins, 110,000 acres that cannot be salvaged or new trees planted. Here we saw trees that natural grew through the damage done by the volcano. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=146049 We crossed over the Hoffstadt Bridge which was built in 1992 for access to the volcano. Shortly after that we reached the Forrest Learning Center at mile 33. We found there that the mudslide was just a few miles further up the road so we turned around and headed back to our campsite.
5/18- Today we moved to a Harvest Host site just outside of Mount Rainer National Park. We were able to park our RV and head into the park. Mount Rainer National Park is one of the oldest National Parks in the country being dedicated in 1899. The mountain is over 14,000 feet tall and has more glaciers than any other peak in the United States. Entering the park is like going back in time as several buildings in the park are around a hundred years old.
From the glaciers on Mount Rainer run five rivers creating multiple waterfalls throughout the park. Roads are narrow and switch back and forth as you climb up to see the mountain. Along the way we stopped multiple times to enjoy the different views.
Some roads in the park were still closed due to snow but we were still able get several awesome pictures of the mountain.
Then it was back to our host which was a Ukrainian restaurant. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner there and got a dessert for later.
5/19- We arrived in Seattle today and are camped at a nice campground hidden inside the outskirts of the city. Our campground was only 5 miles away from Frank’s cousin Bill’s house but it took us almost 30 minutes to drive through the city streets there. We were able to spend time there visiting with Bill and Barbara. Bill is Aunt Laura’s son and both he and his wife are in their 90’s so we were grateful we had this time to see them.
After our visit with them we headed further into the city to the Hiram M Chittenden Locks. The locks are at the boundary of Lake Washington and the Puget Sound. It is where ship and salmon are able to move from fresh water to seawater and back. At this time of the year only the small salmon are moving down stream to the ocean and although we watched the fish ladders for a bit we were not able to spot any salmon. But we did have a great time watching the locks as they moved boats out to sea. We watched as the water drained and the boats went down before the gates opened and they were able to pass through. https://ballardlocks.org/
5/20- We had great plans to see a lot of airplanes being in Seattle and near the home of Boeing Airplanes. Unfortunately our timing was really off. We did get to go to Flight of the Future Center but the tour of the factory and being able to watch the construction of airplanes was closed for another month. https://www.boeingfutureofflight.com/
Then we tried to see Museum of Flight https://www.museumofflight.org/exhibits-and-events/ and WWII museum, but both were closed so we decided to head down to the Sound and see the lighthouse there.
We didn’t know they were hosting a special exhibit for children called “touch a truck” with all sorts of trucks for kids to climb on. So traffic and parking were a nightmare but we were able to finally get to the lighthouse and watch the ferry travel across the sound. The lighthouse was built in 1902 and one of more than a dozen in the Seattle area. https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=32
Since we has such a short day site-seeing we headed back to the RV and hung out and watched all the Canadian Geese and goslings that were wandering around. Teddi wanted to watch them too. He loves to RV but prefers to be inside rather than out so he will come down the steps and sit but will not hop down and chase the Geese or even the baby rabbits that ran by.
5/21- We were nervous as we had never driven across a border into another country so for the first time ever we headed out of the United States in a vehicle. We arrived at the Canadian border and found crossing the border went very smoothly. We had our passports and Teddi’s shot records available. We had cleaned out the fridge of everything that we read was not allowed but all they did was view our passports and make sure they matched our faces and sent us on our way. We arrived in Vancouver and found our campsite before heading across the Lion Gate Bridge to explore. We hiked down to the seawall and walked along the wall and checked out the city of Vancouver. We enjoyed watching seaplanes take off and laid and even watched a cruise ship sailing away.
We stopped and checked out the totem poles in the park and Brockton Point Lighthouse.
We walked well over 4 miles and were exhausted. We decided to have dinner out and Frank had told me about McDonald’s serving packets of vinegar with their fries. I love Salt and Vinegar chips so I had to try French fries with vinegar. They were really good and I now wish that the McDonald’s in the US offered the vinegar packets too.
We are looking forward to another day in the Vancouver area and doing some more touring tomorrow.
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