Getting ready to hit the road tomorrow...two Wally World nights (Moses Lake, WA and Coeur d'Alene, ID) and then we hit Missoula, MT for 4-5 mights before moving to Butte, MT for a week. We want to be parked over the holiday weekend and definitely hope to get in some good riding. We have friends in both Missoula & Polson so should have fun.
I'm also hoping to get a better aircard signal. So many photos to upload for Alaska. Right now I've spent over 24 hours trying to get one day uploaded and I still don't have Ketchikan all uploaded. Grrr.... LOL!
So please be patient about the Alaska journal...it will get done...eventually. LOL!
Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna & Stu
Mt St Helen's National Monument, WA
Sunday, June 27, 2010
We returned from our cruise on Monday and chores came first. While I did laundry, Stu took the Freightliner (Freddie) in for some service work. When he got back at noon, the gorgeous weather sent us out to take a short trip on the motorcycles. We took about a 40-50 mile ride, just to get our bike legs back under us and then stopped for a movie. We had wanted to see the A-Team and since it was still playing....we both really enjoyed it.
Thursday morning the sun was still shining....a rarity in this area. We mapped out a route to visit Mt St Helens
which we had wanted to see before we left the area. We had also heard it was a great motorcycle ride. Since it would be a 300+ mile day with lots of photo opps, my bike stayed home (sorry Twister).
The first part of the trip was the same as when we headed to Mt Rainier...and still beautiful. Gorgeous scenery...had to snap a few more shots. LOL!
We stopped for lunch in the interesting town of Elbe, Washington. We had passed this on our way to Mt Rainier...in fact, Elbe is the fork between the routes to Rainier and Mt St Helens. We knew we needed to be "Sidetracked". Whether you want food, drinks or lodging, at the Rail Road, you can do it train style. Family owned and operated, lots of quirk factor, good service and fresh food made to order. What more could you ask for?
We took our fork in the road and headed off towards Mt St Helens. A few more small towns and a lot more gorgeous scenery awaited us. At times we could view Mt Rainier in the rearview mirrors and Mt St Helens to the front. Wow!
I think everyone knows the history of Mt St Helens, but we couldn't believe that this was the 30 year anniversary of the eruption. Where did the time go? Much of the forest has been replanted but some is being allowed to return naturally.
We stopped at the Hoffstadt Bluffs Visitors Center for a drink and leg stretch. The view was amazing providing a panorama of the mountain and surrounding changes.
Inside we found a nice gift shop, restaurant with outside seating and some historical displays of the area. We opted for sitting outside to enjoy our iced teas. We also got to watch the helicopter tour arrivals and departures.
We continued on our way...making many photo stops and enjoying the beauty of the area while being a bit staggered by the enormity of the blast area. Rather than blather on more, I'll let some of our photos speak for themselves.
We hit the end of the road and it was closing time for the observatory so we headed back home. We did get to see some major steam rising from the top of the mountain!! Needless to say, the views were different coming from this direction. We saw more waterfalls and stopped at the beaver dam we had seen when riding up.
At mile marker 19 we stopped for some dessert (?? dinner) at the 19 Mile Restaurant & Gift Shop. We were greeted by the owners and their pups who were chatting with some folks on their way to their cars. They told us to go in and pick a seat. Talk about a beautiful setting....overlooking the river. Once again, great service and amazing homemade cobbler. We opted for the strawberry rhubarb (Stu also had the chili)...it was the best I've had in years! Topped with creamy vanilla ice cream...yum! You can read a review from Fox News here.
The only wildlife we saw all day, other than ants, was a ground squirrel near the top of the mountain. That changed on the way home as we rounded a corner and there stood a deer looking at us. Moving to the side of the road, they headed into the woods and then turned and watched us...glad they were solo!
To learn more about Mt St Helens, I recommend this website from the US Forest Service. To see the rest of our photos, check our SmugMug album. We got home around 9:30 pm...we had left the house about 10:30 am. Great day!!!
If you have to choose between Mt Rainier and Mt St Helens, we definitely recommend Mt St Helens due to the history involved. But we hope you don't have to choose and get to see both!
Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna & Stu
Thursday morning the sun was still shining....a rarity in this area. We mapped out a route to visit Mt St Helens
which we had wanted to see before we left the area. We had also heard it was a great motorcycle ride. Since it would be a 300+ mile day with lots of photo opps, my bike stayed home (sorry Twister).The first part of the trip was the same as when we headed to Mt Rainier...and still beautiful. Gorgeous scenery...had to snap a few more shots. LOL!
We stopped for lunch in the interesting town of Elbe, Washington. We had passed this on our way to Mt Rainier...in fact, Elbe is the fork between the routes to Rainier and Mt St Helens. We knew we needed to be "Sidetracked". Whether you want food, drinks or lodging, at the Rail Road, you can do it train style. Family owned and operated, lots of quirk factor, good service and fresh food made to order. What more could you ask for?
We took our fork in the road and headed off towards Mt St Helens. A few more small towns and a lot more gorgeous scenery awaited us. At times we could view Mt Rainier in the rearview mirrors and Mt St Helens to the front. Wow!
I think everyone knows the history of Mt St Helens, but we couldn't believe that this was the 30 year anniversary of the eruption. Where did the time go? Much of the forest has been replanted but some is being allowed to return naturally.
We stopped at the Hoffstadt Bluffs Visitors Center for a drink and leg stretch. The view was amazing providing a panorama of the mountain and surrounding changes.
Inside we found a nice gift shop, restaurant with outside seating and some historical displays of the area. We opted for sitting outside to enjoy our iced teas. We also got to watch the helicopter tour arrivals and departures.
We continued on our way...making many photo stops and enjoying the beauty of the area while being a bit staggered by the enormity of the blast area. Rather than blather on more, I'll let some of our photos speak for themselves.
We hit the end of the road and it was closing time for the observatory so we headed back home. We did get to see some major steam rising from the top of the mountain!! Needless to say, the views were different coming from this direction. We saw more waterfalls and stopped at the beaver dam we had seen when riding up.
At mile marker 19 we stopped for some dessert (?? dinner) at the 19 Mile Restaurant & Gift Shop. We were greeted by the owners and their pups who were chatting with some folks on their way to their cars. They told us to go in and pick a seat. Talk about a beautiful setting....overlooking the river. Once again, great service and amazing homemade cobbler. We opted for the strawberry rhubarb (Stu also had the chili)...it was the best I've had in years! Topped with creamy vanilla ice cream...yum! You can read a review from Fox News here.
The only wildlife we saw all day, other than ants, was a ground squirrel near the top of the mountain. That changed on the way home as we rounded a corner and there stood a deer looking at us. Moving to the side of the road, they headed into the woods and then turned and watched us...glad they were solo!
To learn more about Mt St Helens, I recommend this website from the US Forest Service. To see the rest of our photos, check our SmugMug album. We got home around 9:30 pm...we had left the house about 10:30 am. Great day!!!
If you have to choose between Mt Rainier and Mt St Helens, we definitely recommend Mt St Helens due to the history involved. But we hope you don't have to choose and get to see both!
Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna & Stu
Cruise to Alaska - Day Two - At Sea
Day two of the cruise…we’re at sea and when we woke that was all we could see…was sea. LOL! (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) Breakfast at the buffet was in full swing when we arrived around 8:30. We couldn’t find a table and ended up sharing with a couple from Australia.
They were retired, sort of forced retirement after the husband’s stroke. He gets around very well, understands everything but still has trouble talking. We really enjoyed chatting with them and hope to see them again on the cruise.
After breakfast I took my Kindle and headed to the pool area to read a bit. It was cool…I lasted less than an hour and moved to the lounge area at the front of the boat. Ahh, nice view, quiet and comfortable chairs. I spent most of the morning there, moving back to the pool area around 11 so Stu could find me.
Lunch turned out to be as busy as breakfast and we ended up sharing our table with a couple from Ft. Lauderdale. Lunch was delicious (okay, everything has been delicious….LOL!) and we sat there for a while reading (the crowd had pretty much dispersed). The highlight of lunch was our first WHALE SIGHTING!!! We saw the fluke (tail), the head and the blowing. WOW!! Not real close to us but definitely visible. Tomorrow night we hope to see more and much closer to the ship.
After lunch I headed back out to read and Stu decided to take a nap. Several hours later we swapped…he read and I napped. LOL!
Dinner was formal tonight and once again our table for four couples was occupied by only three. Not sure if we will ever meet last two table-mates. Some folks end up opting for the casual anytime dining once they understand how it all works.
After dinner we headed back to the room to grab some shots of the sunset. Now mind you, it’s after 10 PM and the sun is just setting. We managed to snap a couple of good ones before we headed to the casino where we quickly dispensed with some cash.
We changed into comfortable closes and headed up to the lounge where I had been reading earlier in the day. There was music, comfortable seats and drinks. We chatted, watched the sunset and remarked that we hadn't seen another ship since leaving Seattle. In less then 15 minutes....yup, you guessed it. We saw another ship....a large cruise ship that appeared to be heading back towards Seattle.
We have to get up early in the morning. We arrive at Ketchikan, our first stop and our excursion leaves at 7:25 AM. We're doing Totem viewing and a lumberjack show. We'll also get in a little shopping and hit our first of three chances at a Harley-Davidson store. LOL!
Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna & Stu
All the photos from day one and two are in our SmugMug album.
They were retired, sort of forced retirement after the husband’s stroke. He gets around very well, understands everything but still has trouble talking. We really enjoyed chatting with them and hope to see them again on the cruise.
After breakfast I took my Kindle and headed to the pool area to read a bit. It was cool…I lasted less than an hour and moved to the lounge area at the front of the boat. Ahh, nice view, quiet and comfortable chairs. I spent most of the morning there, moving back to the pool area around 11 so Stu could find me.
Lunch turned out to be as busy as breakfast and we ended up sharing our table with a couple from Ft. Lauderdale. Lunch was delicious (okay, everything has been delicious….LOL!) and we sat there for a while reading (the crowd had pretty much dispersed). The highlight of lunch was our first WHALE SIGHTING!!! We saw the fluke (tail), the head and the blowing. WOW!! Not real close to us but definitely visible. Tomorrow night we hope to see more and much closer to the ship.
After lunch I headed back out to read and Stu decided to take a nap. Several hours later we swapped…he read and I napped. LOL!
Dinner was formal tonight and once again our table for four couples was occupied by only three. Not sure if we will ever meet last two table-mates. Some folks end up opting for the casual anytime dining once they understand how it all works.
After dinner we headed back to the room to grab some shots of the sunset. Now mind you, it’s after 10 PM and the sun is just setting. We managed to snap a couple of good ones before we headed to the casino where we quickly dispensed with some cash.
We changed into comfortable closes and headed up to the lounge where I had been reading earlier in the day. There was music, comfortable seats and drinks. We chatted, watched the sunset and remarked that we hadn't seen another ship since leaving Seattle. In less then 15 minutes....yup, you guessed it. We saw another ship....a large cruise ship that appeared to be heading back towards Seattle.
We have to get up early in the morning. We arrive at Ketchikan, our first stop and our excursion leaves at 7:25 AM. We're doing Totem viewing and a lumberjack show. We'll also get in a little shopping and hit our first of three chances at a Harley-Davidson store. LOL!
Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna & Stu
All the photos from day one and two are in our SmugMug album.
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