Mount St. Helen's

Our next stop was only a few hours away, at another volcano.  Mount St. Helen's, known for it's latest eruption in 1980.  Here we camped at Seaquest State Park, in Washington.  It was the most expensive campground on our trip, and there was nothing special about it.  It was in a pretty forest, with mossy trees, but not worth double the price of the other campgrounds with no electric or water hookups.

That afternoon we again piled in the van and made our way up for a closer look at the Johnston Observatory, National Landmark Museum, for a great view of Mount St. Helens.  There we learned about the area and the last eruption.  It is quite fascinating learning about volcanoes and how land is formed and changed.  Seeing this volcano reminded me of visiting the Island of Montserrat, and seeing their active volcano and learning about it.  Both were pyroclastic flows, and so the area surrounding the volcanos look similar.

The kids all did the junior ranger program and learned a little of the science behind studying volcanos and eruptions

That night we attempted to grill homemade Pizza's for dinner.  It worked out okay. I parbaked crusts, so everyone could make their own, but the cheese and toppings still needed to cook or bake better, so next time I plan this I will consider lids a little better.  We used what we had or what the Despains had in their trailer, and it worked fortunately!