Southern Washington – Falling Logs

All that mudflow used to be lush forest.

Mt. St. Helens.  The mudslides carved up the side of the

mountain.  The mountain used to be 1500 feet taller.

Downed trees flowed downriver and wreaked havoc.

The wind was so powerful during the eruption that acres of

trees were blown over and stripped. The lumber destroyed

could have built 500,000 homes.

The Washington coast is treacherous.

Ocean Spray has many cranberry growers in this region.

This region is one of the major cranberry producing regions

in the country.

A service station.

The electric company.

Ace Hardware.

Les Schwab Tires.

A trinket shop.

The shoe store.

The motel.

The grounds of Columbia Crest were beautifully kept.

And the wine was very tasty

One of the many million roses at the winery.

Southern Washington

July 20-27, 2007 - Now that we purchased a truck in northern

Oregon, we needed to get a new cap so everything in the truck

bed would be protected from the elements.  We had to wait three

weeks for the new cap, so we used that time to explore southern

Washington.  Our first stop was Mt. St. Helens.  We discovered it

had been spewing and sputtering since May.  Steam rose out of

the top, engulfing the area and giving the barren landscape and

stories of the 1980 eruption a spooky reality.

Next up was a visit to the Long Beach peninsula.  The skies were

grey and the air was damp and cold, but the area was lovely.  We

walked out to Long Beach and saw more evidence of this very

treacherous coastline: a government buoy had washed ashore

into the grass.  There have been thousands of shipwrecks along

this coast as well.  We also learned that this is a rich cranberry

growing region.  There was even a cranberry research station and

museum that showed all the crazy methods people have used

over the years to harvest cranberries.

As we drove along the scenic back roads we came across the tiny

town of Milton-Freewater.  They loves frogs. Every business in

town had a frog statue out front. They were charming.

Winding back through southeastern Washington we stopped in

at Columbia Crest Winery.  Their gorgeous landscaping and

buildings were a treat to walk through, and the wine wasn't bad

either!

Roses grow really well around here and many people have them in their yards.

Our travels next took us from southern Washington into the central and

northern parts of the state.