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Sunday, September 28, 2008

Columbia River Gorge and a Shy Volcano


Our last trip from the Seattle area was a trip that I had planned each year for four years - a trip to the Columbia River Gorge. I finally got to use those plans.

We headed out for Mt St Helens first which is in the Southern portion of Washington state. It is a little drive from the highway, but both Chris and I had longed to see it. We drove to the lookout point, but the fog at the top of the mountain was so thick, we could not even see each other when we got out of the car. So we left sad, but promised to hit the mountain again on the way home.

Next stop - Columbia River Gorge - the border of Washington and Oregon and home of many, many waterfalls. We followed the Historic Columbia River Highway which is a quaint two lane road through a rain forest and the road is lined with white picket fences and stone work. It was a gorgeous drive. Then we hiked to 5 or 6 waterfalls. Chris was enjoying the opportunity to use our "fancy" camera including "stitching" pictures together to make panoramic shots of the falls. I had planned the trip for the fall hoping for a little "leaf peeping," but it was still a little too early. It was beautiful weather though. Even though it was raining, we hiked without getting soaked because the forest was so thick. There really is nothing like an "old growth" forest. Absolutely breathtaking.

After 2 days in the gorge it was time to head back to Mukilteo. We planned to arrive at St Helens around 3:30 hoping all of the fog would be burned off. Alas, the mountain proved shy again. Our drive was clear, but a cloud sat just on the top of the volcano. We did see the base of the mountain and the powerful destruction that is still evident almost 30 years later. The power of 1000's of atomic bombs displayed by our awesome God. It is amazing to me that anyway living through that could deny a powerful God.

It was a wonderful end to our stay in the west. We were both sad to miss the volcano, but glad that it did not "make any noise" while we were there either.

Psalm 115:3 Our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.

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