The final days of summer

Braving the not-so-great forecast, we stuck with our plans and went ahead and ventured out for a final camping trip at Mt. St. Helens.  Thankfully, the weather was gorgeous and our campsite was more like a freedom forest for the boys.

Before I go on, I've decided to use pseudonyms for the boys, and this helped me get the idea for their names:



Huey, Dewey and Louie in descending birth order... 
These beloved childhood characters often make me think of my three boys and how much they do together. This cover picture suited this blog entry perfect too.

And so, back to the tale of our camping trip. Immediately upon our arrival, while DH and I were trying desperately to level the trailer on a anything-but-level pad, the boys explored the forest behind our site. Dewey spotted a deer and her baby and we all stood in awe watching them.  That is until male instincts kicked in against any mother's effort, and they chased the poor darlings away.

Having done that, it was time to climb the trees, naturally,

We endured a very cold night, but the payoff was being awaken by the calls of Elk throughout the night. That was a first for all of us.

The next morning we ventured up to the Johnston Observatory, which sits directly in front of the mountain.  The ranger gave a very informational talk, complete with pictures and descriptions of the mountain before the eruption, each step of the eruption on May 18, 1981, and then the effects in the 30 years since.

Inside the observatory, there is a wonderful movie that makes the entire tale come alive, and the kids loved it. Every step of the eruption is reenacted and seems very real.  At the end of the film, the curtains opened, and we had an incredible panoramic live view of Mt. St Helens, sitting directly in front of us.  The kids absolutely loved it!

Here is Louie and Dewey staring out at Mt. St. Helens, and the crater that still remains.

We left the observatory and headed out for a long drive all the way around the mountain, to its south side. This drive took over 2 hours, but we were destined to explore the Ape Caves.  Named after the original outdoors club who discovered these caves (that do not have anything to do with primates :)), the caves were created by lava flow that scientists estimate to have happened about 2000 years ago. 

Absolutely pitch black inside, we carried our camping lantern as well as flashlights to go exploring.  The cave we went through lasted about 3/4 of a mile, and was approximately 20-30ft. high and wide. It was large enough to have quite a few other people down there with us.  The boys all loved it, something totally new for DH, but reminded me on a smaller scale of Carlsbad Caverns, although not as large and no stalactites or stalagmites.

This was a very long day, but the weather was great, and we all truly enjoyed all of our sight seeing!



Overall, the weekend camping trip was a complete success!  I love this picture of the boys together.