July 24 - July 27

24 July

Slept at a Walmart last night.  Lisa made french toast for breakfast this morning, then we headed to Hatfield Marine Science Center where we saw a lot of sea creatures & interactive displays.  We were hoping to be able to touch an octopus, but he was sleeping!  There were a lot of other things to touch though – sea anemones, sea cucumbers, star fish, etc.  It was pretty neat.  Spent an hr or so there, then were on our way up the coast.  We wanted to make Portland before 5 pm to pick up a thing Roger had ordered at an RV place.  We did make it there, got the part, and went to Flying J for the usual things – internet service, laundry & showers (we DO take showers other places too!)  It was 106 degrees there & we didn’t have air-conditioning, so we were HOT.  Roger had bought corn on the cob along the road that day, so we needed to beat that for supper.  It was too hot to cook more than that, so we just had some fresh fruit we had also bought at a roadside stand, then later we went to an Outback & got a couple blooming onions (which we had coupons for) and sat outside & ate them.  We needed to let the camper cool down so we could sleep, and it actually did, and wasn’t too bad.    –posted by Jolene

25 July

   This morning we went to this little (and I mean little) Mennonite church we found in the phone book.  When we walked in, there were four other people there.  More people slowly trickled in later, but the six of us still almost outnumbered the members. They were really friendly and it was a neat little church.  Not one person there could sing though.  Everyone just sorta sang whatever/however they felt like.  I think the song leader was one of the worst singers.  It was really funny.  After church we found a park and ate a roast and potatoes that had been in the oven during church.  It was yummy.  We went back to Flying J to dump, then were on our way again to Mt. St. Helens.  However, we AGAIN had more maintenance problems on the way.  At first we thought it was just a tire, but then the truck started acting really weird, so we crippled it into a campground along the way.  It was a little more expensive than what we usually pay but at the time our only option.  But it had a beach and electric hookups, so all was well.  Dad didn’t really do anything to the truck besides change the tire, and he says he thinks whatever else was wrong will work itself out.  That’s a little scary, but I guess he knows what he’s talking about.  –posted by Nicole

26-July-2004

Today we just sat around and watched TV mostly while Dad worked on various problems. We were supposed to leave the campground by noon, but it took us so long to fix the truck that we left an hour or two later. Then we went to Mount St. Helens National Monument, which is a really neat volcano. At some places after it erupted on March 18 1980, the debris was as thick as 600 feet.. There was also a movie at the visitor’s center, which was neat. Then we left the park and went to a town called Packwood to find a place to sleep. We found a Shell gas station, and before we went to bed (except Mom, who was really tired) we went to a restaurant across the road and had ice cream and mozzarella cheese sticks. They didn’t have any chocolate ice cream, though, and I love chocolate. –posted by Renae  

Mt. Saint Helens was very intriguing to me.  I was impressed by the enormity and power of that eruption.  Three foot diameter trees broken off and shattered from the blast – 9 miles away from the volcano.  Just trying to imagine that mountain being blown apart in a short time was hard to fathom.  It was very educational and interesting.  One cubic mile of material spewed from there in a short period of time – quite something to try and grasp.  Seeing the devastation and topography first-hand was very worthwhile. - posted by Roger

27-July-2004

Amazingly we didn’t get kicked out last night.  We were almost certain we would be.  We went to “Ohanapecosh” visitor center for Renae’s Jr. Ranger program thing & went on a nature hike there.  We then drove around Mt. Rainier NP.  It was beautiful – 25 glaciers on the mountain.  The mountain was covered in snow & extremely high.  We went to a few more visitor centers, hiked to some waterfalls, ate lunch at a picnic area in the woods, and were then on our way again.  To Flying J, of course, in Tacoma.  –posted by Lisa 

Left Travis & Nicole at the Flying J while the rest of us went to my cousin Weldon Nisly’s house in Seattle to pick up some mail we had sent there.  He is on a 2 week trip, so just talked to his wife Marg for a bit before heading back to the Flying J.  We had hoped to be at my cousin’s by Sunday to go to their church where he is a pastor, but with the maintenance problems, didn’t make it.  Got groceries on the way back since we’re pretty much out of everything.  The cost of living is certainly higher here than Lancaster County, PA – couldn’t believe the grocery prices.    –posted by Jolene