The Eruption of Mt. St. Helens

I took these pictures of photos from a ranger presentation. These were taken from an observer at a look out point 5 miles away! He snapped and ran I'm sure.

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument

Seeing as the weather was going to continue to be georgous we headed over to Mt. St. Helens. What you see in this picture are weathered logs still floating on top of Spirit Lake. For those of you who may have forgotten, Mt. St. Helen's erupted in 1980. Today one can still see the devastation of how the eruption has reshaped the landscape.

When we first arrived to Windy Ridge the mountain top was covered in clouds.


This is about an hour later when the clouds lifted. Notice the right side of picture which is the north side of the mountain top. This is where the mountain bulged then erupted blasting away everything in its path.

Spirit Lake has returned but note the lack of vegatation around it.

Beautiful Mount Rainer

Mount Rainier

Summer finally kicked in for Washington state so the weather was perfect for a visit to Mount Rainier National Park. We entered in from the north end first visiting the Sunrise Visitor center area. We were early as we had boondocked at the ski lodge at Crystal Mountain the night before. Enjoyed a nice hike but due to my limited hiking abilities(bum ankles) I turned back only to come across a bear by the trail. Luckily a Ranger was there keeping an eye on things, the bear was enjoying wild flowers and sunning himself ,about 30 feet off the trail, close enough for me. But darn it all I had given the camera to Jim. Good thing we arrived early because as we were leaving the area past the toll booth they had traffic stopped allowing a few cars in as others left. I guess everyone wanted to catch in on the favorable weather!

It was a beautiful drive through the park as we headed over to Paradise. Amazing as the weather was all the trails going out of this area were still covered in snow. They had cleared a short trail out behind the visitor center which was packed with people!

An added bonus to the beauty all around us were the wild flowers that were in bloom due to the late summer.

Family Fun in WA

More More Manson visits

We all drove up Chelan Butt Rd to the top of the hill. From this 3000 ft mountain top you will find hang glidders and paragliders taking off. What a fantastic sight this is. This is our second ride up here to watch.

Our swim baby Kourtney.

Cooking in the kitchen with Grandma, Lauren mixing up a pie, with baby sister Kourtney looking on.

Our big girl Lauren gets the big pool.

Coming to Manson

Ganddaughters Winnie and Abby arriving on the Amtrak for a weeks stay with us for Bach Fest in Chelan

Winnie, Grandpa Jim and Abby attending the Noon Series concert.

Yeah! More grandkids. These are our grandson's from Hemet Ca. for their first visit to our Manson home. This is Adam & Mason.

Their dad, my son John.

Son John, his son 10 yr old Adam, cousin 11 yr old Alex and John's 16 yr old son Mason.

Family Fun

Kourtney bathing in the sink.

Lauren having her first ice cream float.

The family at the Community Memorial Day Potluck

Cousins 10 yr old Nikki and 11 yr old Alex having time at Grandma & grandpa's

Jim off for a swim with the grandkids.

The group shot. Jim, Nikki, Diane, and Alex

Our daughter Denise with son Alex and niece Nikki.

Friends at & near Manson

We were thrilled RV friends Laurie & Odel were coming through our area. They were looking for a large enough spot to pull in with their Motorhome. We remember the The Lone Pine Cafe on Hwy 97. Worked out great, we enjoyed lunch and a nice leisurely visit. Always fun to see them.

Our dear friends (and Yuma neighbors) Carol and Ron stopped by for a few days. We sure enjoyed having them.

We had heard about the mountain top here in Chelan where Hang gliders take off but had never been there before. We all thought this would be fun. The mountain is 3000 ft with a spectacular view of the lake and surrounding areas. We were so lucky as the hang glidders were having a meet, so we got to see several set up and take off. We learned so much about this sport. Just amazing.

Getting reading to take off.

Seattle & family

We had a great time watching Lauren our 5 year old granddaughter graduate from PreSchool!

Lauren's first Diploma.

Kourtney , Lauren's little sister just couldn't stay awake for the ceremony. So cute!

This is our daughter-in-law Laura who plays in the Elliott Bay Pipe Band. We were thrilled to get to see the Band play at the Ballard Locks in Seattle.

Here is our 10 year old granddaughter at soccer practice.