Nov. 2 - The sun shines on the Old West

Good Morning Longview!

One more quick look at the beautiful Old West Side, before we continue south into Oregon.  This time with blue skies.

Nov. 1 - Mt. St. Helens again (or for the first time...)

I went back!  In the morning, Bill and I went for a drive along the Columbia and over to Astoria, but in the afternoon, I decided to give Helen one more chance.

 More of the same-same forest.

 Ah, there she is.

Some of the surrounding land.  Areas look like the eruption just happened yesterday!

 Another view.

It is interesting though to see at least some green (however little) right near the most affected area.

Looking into the crater through the side opening that was left after all seismic and lateral volcanic activity was over.  That's a pretty big chunk of mountainside that's missing!  Unfortunately, I didn't get to the good lookout till nearly dark so I can't show much detail here.

Mt. St. Helens - at peace?  According to the USGS geological experts, the alert level is at normal...for now...

Oct. 31 - Halloween, at Mt. St. Helens?!

No, I'm afraid we had no trick-or-treaters this Halloween.  And we didn't dress up our kids as monsters and go door-to-RV door (much to their relief, I'm sure - and actually, they already are little monsters!  So they came as themselves...).  Instead, we drove up to Mt. St. Helens, and I guess - if you know its history - that could be considered a bit spooky!

 First stop was a diner.  The RV park staff had both recommended this place and asked that we get sample menus to bring back for them.

 I could tell I would like this place by the two regulars we spotted out front.

 Next stop:  one of the many bridges along our route.  I'm not sure I've ever seen so many bridges in one area before.  Just lots of creeks and gorges to cross.  This one is special because it's at the edge of the "blast zone" (see here for more factoids about this volcano:  http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/Sustainability/People/Communities/ForestryEducation/MountStHelens/BlastFacts)

 Take a good look at this forest scene.  Does it look to you - as it does to me - like you're looking at it through a screen mesh?  Weird, huh?  It's just the optical effect of a forest of like trees planted at the same time and at the same stage of growth, etc..

 Another bridge.  With a little bit of fall color.

 Wait.  Is it fall?  Or winter?!    Yep, that's snow falling on Bill as he hurries to the overlook!  

 Not much to see at most of St. Helens' overlooks!  A lot of still mostly barren land, even though the eruption was in 1980 - over 30 years ago!

 I couldn't help it!  One last shot before I jumped in the car - a snowy self-portrait.

 Sun and rain clouds duke it out on our way back down the hill.

 Making for some very pretty scenes.  I was, once again, left pining for my real camera.  But still grateful to at least have my point and shoot.

 Back into a sunnier realm.

 And guess where we stopped again!?!  This time for a late lunch/early dinner, to pick up those sample menus for the RV park, and to see our old friends...!  Who were so obviously stressed-out by their lives!

Funny-looking with his dried-out, dirty nose, but a good-looking total cutie pie nonetheless!!  

And we highly recommend the food at Patty's Place!  Wow!  Yummy!!!  I had their Volcano Burger (jalapenos, pepper jack, spicy mayo - you get the picture) and beer-battered fries.  Super!!!  And Bill had one of their famous cobblers, which was as good as advertised.  Gee, sure wish the road to St. Helens wasn't so darn far from San Diego...!!!!!!!

We never did get to see Mt. St. Helens, which was in the snow-throwing clouds.  Which is why...

Oct. 30 - Old West Side in Longview, WA

Sometimes our destination is one of well-known grandeur, with some famous, incredible attraction.  But sometimes it's just a spot on the map that's convenient, on the route, with a decent-sounding RV park.  And once in a while, the latter actually surprise us with some unexpected, wonderful surprise.  That was the case with Kelso, or actually Longview, which was the immediately adjacent (and larger) town.  Cruising through town, we stumbled upon this absolutely gorgeous park area/neighborhood known as Old West Side.  I fell in love with it on this cold, cloudy fall day -

see if you don't as well...