Back in the USA

September 16-20, 2011

Safe and sound,
back into the USA!

Headed for Interstate 5!

We could see the Space Needle in the background as we drove through Seattle, Washington!

Other sites along the highway going through Seattle.

On the left, Safeco Field, the Seattle Mariners Baseball Stadium and
on the right is Centurylink, stadium for the Seattle Seahawks!

The Port of Seattle in the distance and below is Boeing!

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument  

Eruption   May 18, 1980

The weather was not good, but we decided to drive the extra miles 

to see Mount St. Helens.  The drive to the observatory 

showed many results of that 1980 eruption.

It was misty with lots of cloud cover, so we were not able to see the top of the mountain. The landslide that fell from St. Helens was the largest in recorded human history. Down the river valley, it traveled 14 miles.   Amazing!
The laterally directed blast this landslide triggered impacted a 234 square mile area, the largest ever recorded.

Notice the tree stumps and parts of trees laying on the ground, 

all shoved in the same direction from the volcanic blast.

The Observatory was fantastic with so much information and stories of how many survived.  Fifty-seven people were killed that day.


Our next stop is Oregon!

This may be the bridge!  Or, it could be one of the many bridges our trailer went over as it bounced and bounced!  As we neared Eugene, we could tell there was a problem!

Yes, our trailer springs were breaking, so we drove directly to a business that could do the repairs. This would be the 2nd set of new springs for our RV.

The only positive in all of this was that we had a special friend in Eugene and we would be there for 3 days.

It was a great few days of visiting with our friend, Jody.  Her apartment is in a beautiful place.  It was wonderful to spend time with her!

We loved seeing Buster's and Jody's paintings on her walls.

With new heavy-duty springs on the RV, we headed west 

out of Eugene toward the Oregon Coast!