Day 4 7-14 Longview Wa to Seattle Wa via Mt St Helens

Longview Wa to Seattle Wa via Mt St Helens


View Larger Map

Our first view of Mount St. Helens was thru the trees


This was our first clear view of the mountain in the distance


Beautiful country on the way up to the mountain









There is no dirt left in the valley due to the blast






Dad and I standing near one of the helicopter tour places











All the trees in the area are the same height and type because they are all replanted











This is the stump of one of the trees that was sheered off with the force of the blast. The ranger said that the force of the blast was 500 times the explosive force of the hiroshima bomb.




The ranger said there was enough dirt displaced for everyone in the world to have 2 5 gallon buckets full.




Some leftover blow down timbers. They took 800 logging trucks a day worth of lumber out of the area due to blowdown, this lasted over a year.



This was one of the most awe inspiring places I have ever been to in my life, I highly recommend everyone go there.

Day 3 7-13 Tillamook Or to Longview Wa

Day 3. July 13 Tillamook Or to Longview Wa


View Larger Map


That is the super guppy in front of the hangar that is designed to haul solid fuel rocket boosters for the space shuttle. In front of that is my dad on his bike, as you can see this museum is ginormous. According to the curators every plane inside can be simply fueled up then flown.







A blimp launched depth charge
Dad found a new riding partner
This place is huge. It was originally built to hold 9 navy blimps during WWII. There was another hangar nearby and between the two of them they handled all of the anti-submarine patrols on the west coast of the US




Meet the Russian Mig
Oops, I guess those really aren't real

Inside the Bomb Bay of one of the planes


The surface of this plane is still super reflective

I believe this was the seat out of a p-51 but not positive


Man this is heavy...







Goofy pic of myself if they cranked up the F-14 lol


Flightline Tractor

I sure would love to have this in my garage


A sign nearby said that each camel signified a combat mission flown during desert storm.... Cmdr Sanders was a busy man. Above that are shown the standard weaponry for the F-14 Tomcat and how many of each were fired during those sorties... Glad he was on our side
I love the judicious use of duct tape... although the military calls it 100mph tape





The view as we left Tillamook, Or
Dad getting Hot Chocolate from a friendly waitress in Warrenton, Or
Our first view of Astoria, Or and the Astoria Bridge
We were told the Columbia River Maritime Museum was worth visiting, it was.
A display in the museum, showing just how rough it can get at the mouth of the Columbia River
The Coast Guard Lightship Columbia is now a Museum so that you can see how they lived on the floating lighthouse.
The Astoria Bridge as seen from the Columbia River Maritime Museum
A tanker awaiting a local pilot to take them out to sea
The Astoria Bridge as seen from the Columbia River Maritime Museum
We got stopped by road construction in the middle of the Astoria River Bridge, worked out good to me, got to get some pictures most people do not, from the middle of the bridge.




Dismal Nitch State Park in Washington State was our first stop in Washington, just north of the Astoria River Bridge.
Why would you pick this for a name, seriously...


These were taken between the east side of Dismal Nitch Park, Wa. and Longview, Wa.