Mount Saint Helens

Before we set out on the road in our RV, we did a little test trip with my son's BFF and his mother (who is also our friend). We wanted a place not too far away, halfway betwen our homes, that could accommodate both tents and RVs - namely our 40' Class A motorhome, which is a bit of a behemoth.

We decided on Mount Saint Helen's - there was a KOA not too far away, and we could have a fun weekend there both sightseeing and hanging out together. 

The drive to Mount Saint Helen's from the KOA was close to an hour, but the kids had a fun time amusing themselves in the back of the van. There were some curvy roads, which made it hard for me, but we did it! And I didn't throw up. Win! It was also very beautiful.

 We got to the Visitor's Center and there was a walk up, up, up a ramp to get "the best view", I'm assuming. At first I thought I wouldn't be able to handle it. But then I thought I'd give it a go, and I did make it all the way up - go me! 

The kids liked it, too - they found a staff-type stick and were doing fight moves and playing all the way up and down - and they enjoyed the amazing view of the volcano.

There was a presentation inside the Visitors' Center in the form of a movie - we caught the last show - but it was more than I could handle. I didn't know it would be like that, it was WAY too much movement and "following the path of the lava from the lava's perspective" for me to be able to handle. I had my eyes closed through most of it.

 But the rest of the visitor's center was interesting, and had a scale model of the volcano with lights where the lava flowed, and it told a story of the eruption back in 1980.

This was a wonderful first place to go - none of us had been to Mount Saint Helens before, and it was a beautiful sunny day, so we had clear views all the way. We really lucked out!

More photos of this amazing volcano...

The steep ramp up that at first I thought was more than I could do. 

But then I made it to the top!

And was rewarded both with a sense of accomplishment and this gorgeous view.

Looking back down the ramp.

Mount Saint Helen's in all her majesty.

This compass map was at the top. 

I'm not encouraging scratching words into wood or anything, but my people had apparently been here.

Some of the foliage. 

A tree that had been scorched by lava. 

More wildflowers. 

My family and the volcano. Proof they were there! All in all I'd say this was quite a successful first trip out in the RV - and a great destination. Apparently it's a beautiful world out there  - if you can, go see it!

Canon Beach, Oregon Coast

We took some time out of our constant working on the RV this weekend to just go and have some fun. I realized that our life this past year has just become business all the time - go to doctor and physical therapy appointments, work on the RV on weekends, be fatigued at home - not much fun anywhere in there. Maybe an occasional movie or game of mini golf or LEGO event, but other than bi-weekly play dates and Skyping with friends, we really haven't been giving our son or ourselves a very fun time. 

So I decided we needed to remedy that. After all, it would be good practice for RV living to go start exploring this amazingly beautiful state we live in. We've been here three years and have barely seen any of it - I mean, that's a crime when you live in Oregon! 

Sunday we took a day trip to Canon Beach. We only live an hour and a half from the coast, and until a few months ago, we had never even been there - again, HOW??? Craziness. 

Click this to see the full photo album.

It was so fun and beautiful - we only lasted a couple of hours, but Kiernen had SUCH fun chasing the tide with Muffins and feeling the sand beneath his toes. And he found a fully intact sand dollar! Beautiful!

We haven't been to the ocean in years! It rejuvenated all of us. I even did some tide chasing and a lot of walking and standing for me. We are definitely taking the RV back to the coast and spending some real time there - Astoria and Canon Beach are such amazingly beautiful places, and need to be further explored.

We're starting to have a sense of where we'll be going when we finally launch our maiden voyage in the RV.