Last Sunday we skipped out on church and drove up north to see the Mt St Helen’s area is the state of Washington.
Since the time it blew in 1980 the US Forest Service have been building beautiful scenic spots with information and video’s portraying the monumental force of that volcano.
We drove up there with the intention of seeing the mountain, having a picnic lunch then finding someplace for dinner on the way home.
If the weather was good we might get to do a small hike in the day sometime too.
It was really quite amazing.
The day was sunny and on the warmer side for January.
The wind was calm and the time away was exactly what our ‘spirits’ needed.
From our house the drive is about 2 hours long so we made it to be a lot of fun and in the process of coming home we even stopped for some wine tasting at a cute little tasting room.

On the way up to the mountain we drove by a small building which wasn’t open but the sign near it had the map of the destruction zone.
The whole entire area surrounding the mountain shifted hundreds of feet and the many buildings buried were never founds along with those who lost their lives.
They were just ‘gone’ buried under a powerful force of nature.
The trees were laid down like small tooth picks and these are some of the ones who have grown back since that massive day of destruction.

Another part of our journey was driving over a deep bridge that seemed to go down for miles.

You didn’t realize when driving over it how far down the bottom level of the ground was and the best advise is to not look down.
The hillsides still show some of the damage done by this tremendous force of volcanic activity.
This is part of a visitors center showing the landscaping while heading to the mountain.
The visitor centers were incredibly beautiful and filled with video’s and pictures.
The forestry service has done a wonderful job of showing the mountain and it’s story. 
Normally for this time of year there would be a lot more snow in this area making it not open for scenic viewing.

This picture shows the side of the mountain that blew and the deep crater left from the destruction of all the hot air.

The mountain really is beautiful I just cannot even begin to imagine the magnitude of power.

We have always wanted to go see this mountain after the destruction and it was a beautiful day to go do that.
Would I recommend it to anyone, absolutely.
It is not a waste of time.
It is very interesting and very beautiful.
Part of living now is seeing what we have always wanted to see.
This one can be scratched off of our ‘want to see or need to see list’.
The journey continues and we wonder what will be the next adventure for us as we continue to work on our personal bucket lists. The things to do while we have time and health to do them.

Can you see the face in the sky? it was an amazing and beautiful day.