Mount St. Helen’s Road Trip

Yesterday we went for a drive to get out of the hotel and unwind. I was driving, so I decided on a trip to Mt. St. Helen’s – I usually don’t go that way because the whole area is pretty boring now since she blew her top in 1980 and changed the landscape and atmosphere …

Mt. St. Helen’s in all her splendor and glory before her 1980 temper tantrum.

Mt. St. Helens after the blast - quite a difference, right?

… but we needed to kill time: we didn’t want to go on a quick drive and end up back at the hotel; and we couldn’t go home yet because the fellas were still working on our kitchen: the drive to the mountain and back would take a couple hours and we’d arrive back in town after the fellas were done so we could go home for a bit before going back to the hotel to go the bed. We are sooooooooooooooooo ready for this to end.

We may get back in our home this weekend – that is everyone’s hope anyway; I’m thinking that the work crew is as anxious as we are to have this project done.

Well, back to the road trip ;-)

We passed through Toutle and came into Kid Valley where the buried A-Frame house is … and the towering concrete Sasquatch too: don’t know who made this thing, but they did a fairly good job of it, even making sure the beast was covered with a heavy pelt of ‘fur’. Both the Sasquatch and A-frame are showing their age and are covered with the ever-present thatch of creeping moss prevalent in the PNW. Everyone thinks Washington is called the “Evergreen State" because of its majestic towering evergreen trees, but I’m inclined to believe it’s really the creeping moss that gave the State that moniker; the creeping crud literally covers everything – even people if they stand still long enough. LOL!

Concrete Bigfoot Statue - 20 feet tall.

A-Frame House before it was buried under eruption muck.

Buried A-Frame House today.

About 8 1/2 hours after our volcanic Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980, a raging 70 mph river of mud raced towards Kid Valley, about 25 miles distant. By the time the murky muck actually raced into Kid Valley the flow has decreased to 20 mph when it destroyed homes and bridges along Hwy #504. A newly-built A-frame house was flooded with 200 tons of superheated silt, mud, water and ash; the lower portion of the home was buried 4-1/2 feet deep. The owners hadn’t even had time to move in before their home was destroyed.

Leaving Bigfoot and the buried A-frame behind, we continued on the drive, commenting now and then on places we remember from 'before' and how much they have changed 'now'.

Quite a way down the highway we arrived at the point where I usually get choked up and can’t drive any further - Hubs usually takes the wheel from this point; but yesterday afternoon I was determined to cross that stinking bridge myself – AND I DID! – with Yeshua’s help. We are living in perilous times, and there may come at some point, a time when I will have to face doing something else unsettling; and I’ll have to push through without bulking.

Hoffstadt Creek Bridge – the longest and highest bridge on the Spirit Lake Memorial Highway. Tourists parked right in the middle of it to take pictures! Idiots. That bridge gets foggy.

Feeling accomplished and satisfied that I had hurdled and corralled a particular anxiety, I drove on to the Forest Learning Center - which is really just a fancy pit stop and Gift Shop – where we usually see elk grazing faaaaaaaar down below the viewing are of the parking lot. There were no elk in sight today: probably hiding from the hunters with ‘special permits’ to hunt them in their protected habitat. Elk are as smart as they are majestically beautiful creatures.

There were no elk in the field below, but there were clear lines of the road that had been put in after the blast zone was opened up to the loggers in 1981. My husband was one of the first loggers to be allowed into the area for salvage logging and he said that they were logging the logs from the top of the hill to the mud flats and at one point the boss had a cat out for a tail-hold for a skyline and he disappeared into a sink hole, and my husband had to pull him back out with the yarder – like he would fallen logs. It was dangerous work to do, but it interested them too.

Road used by loggers who salvaged blast zone logs. Not sure who opened the zone up, but they built the road.

The original Spirit Lake Hwy is in the middle of this picture - under a LOT of ashy mud; buried forever and the area was unsafe to rebuild the original road. The highway we are on now was built after the volcano’s eruption.

Ancient burnt out Cinder Cone in the background, shrouded by heavy black clouds.

I saw some things I would have liked to have bought in the gift shop, but it was an impromptu drive and we really didn’t have spare $$$ to spend: maybe now that I have conquered that emotional ‘bridge hurdle’ we’ll come back up in the Spring and I’ll buy them then ;-)

And that was the end of our road trip – I drove a little further up the road, around the bend, expecting to see THIS at the end of the road …

Mt. St. Helen’s today. Mt. St. Helens is still an active volcano: she still builds up a head of steam every now and then – and those ‘low-lying clouds’ around her open mouth are tendrils of steam.

… but the fog was so thick I could no longer see the road. So I nipped into a scenic view turnout and turned back towards home.

And got the happy news at home that we can move back home Friday!

((((YAY!!!!))))

BAZARR SEASON

The weather is bizarre this year – that is true, but I also have my 1^st 2017 Holiday Bazaar lined up for the last week of October at Rosburg Hall (Hub’s hometown), so the other day I stopped by Jo-Anne’s and get some more tulle and scrubby yarn to make new scrubbies – they always sell so fast. I have lots of other things in my bazaar bins, but no scrubbies. Anyway … long story short, I got 10 colors of stiff tulle to cut into 1-inch strips, and 6 colors of glittery tulle in medium , that is true, weight to work with the scrubby yarn for Holiday sparkle ;-)

Bag of tulle strips waiting to be crocheted into scrubbies.

While I was at Jo-Anne’s I realized I have no scissors at the Hotel room where we have been sequestered by the Home Insurance Company while our kitchen is being remodeled due to the water damage that happened 3 weeks ago, so I started looking for a small pair to carry in my purse. I spotted this cute zebra stripe scissors and just had to have it! It are actually for kids 12+, but they fit my hand; and they are sharp and will work for the project intended. And they match my funky glasses :-D :-D :-D

Artsy glasses for a crafting dive. hahaha ...

So far I have worked up 6 scrubbies - the top 4 are holiday colors - Fall orange/black, Thanksgiving, Seahawk games, Christmas. The bottom 2 are Christmas and Seahawk colors.

New scrubbies: top 4 are tulle; bottom 2 are tulle & scrubby yarn combo. The bottom scrubbies are thicker and heavier, so they are priced a little more. And the glittery tulle gives a whole new meaning to 'sparkling dishes' ;-)

We stopped by our house yesterday, and the tile layers were busy at work. The tile flooring is gorgeous! And it’s gonna look real N.I.C.E. when it’s grouted and sealed … 

SASQUATCH & LAVA VALLEY DAYTRIP

It started out with a plan, but the plans fell flat the closer we got to the goal which was *Layser Cave near Randall (info at bottom of post)*. But I wanted to go in the back way through Cougar, so we stopped at the Ranger Station to see if the road we wanted was open … the woman working the desk said it was not. BUMMER! She said there had been a washout and the forestry service has decided not to fix it – ever. Double bummer :-(

While there we spotted this Sasquatch ‘orphan’ that needed ‘rescued’, so I bought it: we, here in the Pacific Northwest, must do our part in helping to keep this beloved elusive creature safe ;-)

Bigfoot rescue Kit. Bought at Cougar's Ranger Station.

So … our plan spoiled, we decided to try for Ape Cave and Lava Valley: we’d come all that way, so we might as well go home with some recorded memories imprinted in the gray matter data bank, right?

Lava Valley. Cougar, WA: A big, pretty, dark magenta colored rock caught this rock hound's eye.

Lava Valley. Cougar, WA: I have a rock fetish, what can I say? LOL. Seriously though, I do like to study rocks, and this white mineraloid rock is interesting with the bright green spots of lichen on it. Lichen takes a long time to grow – mere millimeters or less a year; and they are the oldest living things on earth. Lichens that are 3 inches wide are estimated to be about 600 years old; I estimated this lichen to be the size of a pencil top eraser, so it probably began its life on this particular rock after the Mt. St. Helens eruption in 1980 … making this lichen about 37 years old.

Lava Valley. Cougar, WA: Actual path of a lava flow … past (known record of a Mt. St. Helen’s eruption was 200 years before the 1980 eruption) & recent (1980) flows, making this Lava Valley at least 237 years old – or more.

Mt. St. Helens backdrop behind Lava Valley. Cougar, WA

Lava Valley. Cougar, WA: White pumice gravel made nature’s way.

The 4x sufficiently dusted out and our awe-inspired juices flowing, we back-tracked to Ape Cave and milled around with the other visiting gawkers. We happily tramped up the trail and oohed and awed over the volcanic lahar tunnel, but we did not go into the Cave because our old legs simply could not stand the steep stairs necessary for the descent into the murky, musty bowels of the earth – and with baby boy prone to asthma attacks when moldy dust is stirred up, we just stood around the yawning mouth of the underground tunnel cave and watched everyone else ascending and descending. Apparently there is some sort of fungal disease that the Cave bats have been infected with and the visiting humans can carry it out with them; if they do not clean their shoes with the shoe brushes provided, humans can carry the fungus and spread it to infect other bats which will wipe out the entire colony. 

Ape Cave Gift Shop. Cougar, WA

Ape Cave Requirement. Cougar, WA

Huge piece of volcanic pumice rock from Mt. St. Helen's eruption. No way of knowing whether it was ancient (200+) or recent (1980).

Bat Preservation Plaque at Ape Cave. Cougar, WA

Entrance to Ape Cave. Dark & mysterious ... and not for old duffers. Cougar, WA

Look at ALL those STEEP stairs.  We passed on exploring the depths pf Ape cave. Cougar, WA

Pumice rock chunks litter the ground around Ape Cave, which is just a GIGANTIC lava tube.

By then, we were getting hungry; so back into Cougar we drove. We immediately saw a restaurant that appealed to us … and ordered food that would have made our elusive hairy Legend proud. I ordered a ‘Bigfoot BBQ Bacon Burger’ made with a ground baby back ribs/brisket patty which was DELISH! (eating like this every night until our home is finished has made me REGAIN the weight I lost PLUS – and I am certain more will be gained before this is all finished), and Hubs had a ‘Crazy Ape Burger’ liberally sprinkled with chunky slices of jalapeno peppers; we are going to be rolling home ... literally. I have already warned Hubs that as soon as we are back home we are exclusively eating Weight Watcher’s recipes; every single WW recipe book I own will be employed and we are not deviating until we lose at least 1/3 of what the scales say we weigh. Restaurant food can be delicious for adventurous eaters, but it is also very fattening.

Lone Fir Restaurant in Cougar, WA. Of course we had to stop after spotting Sasquatch advertising the food ;-)

The food here was DELISH – and you get your $$ worth. Definitely worth a return.

Staggering out to the pickup loaded down with the load we put on at the Lone Fir restaurant, we turned the 4x towards home and had a ‘gotcha!’ moment when I spotted what looked like 2 big elk in a field. I excitedly called out: ‘2 elk!’ and asked Hubs to make a u-turn so I could get a better look at them, saying, ‘they’re a lighter color than normal – aren’t they supposed to be a dark brown with a buff colored rump? These 2 are just plain buff ...’ and then we started laughing because when we got a closer look at them, they were spendy cardboard imitations of the real deal; cleverly done …

GOTCHA! Fake cardboard elk faked me out. Cougar, WA. We have seen albino elk, but these were not real.

And for once there were no vehicles behind us and Hubs was able to pull over at Eli’s place so I could get a picture of his flashy tepee. Eli is Kerry’s (my BIL) friend & carving buddy; he is also Native American and has a novelty shop on his premises where he sells Native American flutes, artistically carved woodwork, and other tribal doodads. But I like the spacious and colorfully painted tepee ;-)

Eli's tepee. 'Eli's Creations' in Ariel - this side of Cougar, WA. Near the Tribal Lodge.

It was a great way to bring a close to the Shabbat menuchah (rest).

*However, once we got back to the Hotel, I did a search online for the Layser Cave and found that the road leading to Layser Cave was OPEN from the RANDALL SIDE and going to Layser Cave by way of Randall would have gotten us there. Maybe next time we have buddy with us we’ll go the Randall route. We first stumbled upon this cave when our granddaughter Alyna, was about 5 years old, and the cave was pure then (17 years ago)… we have been back there many times since, but we understand that it has now been turned into a tourist trap and that vandals have defaced it with graffiti and wood-smoke stains from illegal fires. But I would still like our little prince to see it because it is a cool cave … small compared to other caves, but still pretty cool to experience. It looks claustrophobic glancing at the entrance opening, but when you get inside, it’s a rather open area; and there is comfortable standing space before it slopes at a backward angle.

From Randle, Washington travel south on State Highway 131 (Forest Roads 23 and 25). Veer left in 1 mile at the Y of Forest Road 23 and Forest Road 25.

Continue to follow Forest Road 23 for about 7 miles to spur road 083. Turn left on Forest Road 083. The hard to find trailhead is on a sharp turn that goes up and left.

2 State Hop

We had a hankering for a tasty hamburger and the need to get out of Dodge for a little bit, so we decided to hop over to Oregon and get a Bundy Burger at Bundy’s: https://www.facebook.com/bundysdrivein/

But first we stopped by the house to see how things were progressing …

Men on the roof! (pic taken 1 street over from our home) The ROOF was DONE by 5 p.m. I was impressed at how quick the men were :-D

Then on down the highway to Puget Island, WA, where we caught the Ferry to Westport, on the Oregon side:

Ferry channel; mid-river. Columbia River.

Westport, OR Ferry Landing.

Not exactly a 'packed house', but the Ferry was loaded. 3 spots to spare ...

Having satisfied hunger cravings with deliciously messy hamburger drive-in cuisine, we crossed the river again to spend some time on home turf; and we peeked at the kitchen while there …

Guest Bathroom skylight. Rebuilt and installed today.

Kitchen skylight. Rebuilt and installed today.

Sink cabinets installed today. Matt even picked a larger overhead cupboard to attach the microwave to so it will be lower to the stove, which is very helpful to a small person like me, who has to reach overhead safely. I keep joking that I need a kitchen built for midgets, but I have a 6'2" hubby who would not appreciate that :-D :-D :-D Chris and Matt are doing a great job in designing and building a kitchen that is beneficial to the 2 of us. We really appreciate them and will not be able to thank them enough for going 'above and beyond'.

Floor tiles picked up and delivered.

Things are looking good. This house is pretty much 'custom made' so the guys do run into snafus that eat up time and frustrate everyone, but they are troopers and we thank them for their dedication and hard work. Elohei will bless them abundantly, I am sure.

And we had an enjoyable day, which is always a plus ;-)

Then we came back to the Hotel and settled in for the night.

What A Difference A Day Makes

The kitchen remodel is coming along – this is what has taken place in just two days; yesterday and today. The pictures without cupboards in them were taken last night after Supper: what a difference a day makes! It is looking good and we are happy :-D

The appliances will not come until around the 21^st, so we will still be eating out until then. We are so tired of restaurant fare! I’m thinking we won’t grace the threshold of any restaurant for at least 6 months … at least that is what Bob is hoping :-D :-D :-D

There were also men on the roof this afternoon (I didn’t have my camera to catch that, darn it!), and that should be done either tomorrow or Saturday at the latest. Hopefully before the rain comes ;-) Rain is forecast for this weekend.

Sept. 13th, 2017 - Kitchen remodel begun; old cupboards removed; area prepped for new ones. HALLWAY wall.

Sept. 14th, 2017 - Kitchen remodel begun; new cupboards placed in position and ready for trim. HALLWAY wall.

Sept. 14th, 2017 - Kitchen remodel begun; trims.

Sept. 13th, 2017 - Kitchen remodel begun; old cupboards removed; area prepped for new ones;

black mold taken care of. LAUNDRY ROOM-BACK DOOR. 'Fridge area.

Sept. 14th, 2017 - Kitchen remodel begun; new cupboards placed in position. LAUNDRY ROOM-BACK DOOR wall. Fridge area.

Sept. 13th, 2017 - Kitchen remodel begun; old cupboards removed; area prepped for new ones. It looks like the previous owner has a water leak at some point before we bought it: a HUGE patch of black mold was uncovered. LAUNDRY ROOM-BACK DOOR wall. Cook stove area.

Sept. 14th, 2017 - Kitchen remodel begun; new cupboards placed in position and ready for trim. LAUNDRY ROOM –BACK DOOR wall. Cook stove area.

Sept. 13th, 2017 - Kitchen remodel begun; old cupboards removed; area prepped for new ones, including getting rid of the black mold. CARPORT-DINING ROOM wall. Sink area.

Sept. 14th, 2017 - Kitchen remodel begun; new cupboards placed in position and ready for trim. CARPORT-DINING ROOM wall. More to be placed tomorrow. Mold situation taken care of.

Sept. 13th, 2017 - Kitchen remodel begun; wooden floors removed and area prepped for new tiles.

RAIN!

It rained last night and earlier this morning – not a lot, but enough to make the air fresh again. I hadn’t realized how burnt-brown and dried-out our world had become until the wildfires sent so much smoke into the hemisphere that is shrouded the sun and turned it blood-red in the hazy overhang. I was miffed when I first felt the raindrops because I had wanted the roof on the house before the rains came, but it smelt so darned good I couldn’t really work up enough anger to keep the miffed angst alive.

Instead we went shopping :-)

It was over to Home Depot, then to Lowe’s, where we looked at kitchen cabinets, countertops, appliances, floor tiles, and a deep ‘farmer’s kitchen sink’. Matt & Chris – our Contractors – met us there, and between the 4 of us we pulled the new kitchen design together and are pleased with the way it is formulated in our heads. Economically it’s a good design too – these guys deserve to be fairly compensated for their hard labor and I feel that with the items chosen, and the funds we have to work with, they will be. Kitchen Prep will start on Monday; thank Adonai. My understanding about the roof work is that THAT won’t start until the 17^th – NOT HAPPY about that, but what can I do? Time was wasted in that regard and we can’t get it back, so we have no choice but to roll with it. Unhappily. I wanted the roof on BEFORE the rainy season started but things did not work out that way. Anyway, the kitchen design was worked around the floor tile design which is really colorful and reminds me of being outdoors walking in the sunshine on broken shale; the boxes of tile are a mixed lot with varying shades and color designs. When the tiles are laid out and put in place, the floor is going to be real nice when it’s installed. This is just one tile:

We all think this floor tile will go great with our dark floors in the rest of the house.

And the floor tile will be highlighted in the kitchen with the white walls and white cupboards. The colors will really 'POP!' with the sunlight streaming through the skylight and making the kitchen bright.

Since work on the house won’t officially start until tomorrow sometime, tonight we are spending the night back at home where the bed is kinder to our aging bodies, and I can get some clothes washed and repacked for the week ahead.