We entered Mt. St. Helen's park on highway 504 the one way in and out to the blast crater. The landscape was surprising green and lush with Nobel Firs, Douglas Firs and various other Christmas tree looking trees.
P- Yes dammit and I was just thinking about how I'd love to shoot someone's dog, pitch a tent and drink a beer.
G- Well, we don't have a gun, dog or tent, but we always have beer in the ice chest!
There was a sign marking the entrance to the blast zone and the landscape began changing to a grayish pumice stone look. There were naked, downed trees on the tops and sides of mountains and although there was some sort of ground cover tree stumps still defined the hillsides.
At one of the lookout points, we finally saw 2 elk with big racks! Signs had been warning us of elk crossings for days but we had not seen so much as the tip of an antler.
G- Well, I know from the song that "the deer and the antelope play" but I'm not sure if deer and elk play. Maybe it's some kind of hoofed animal hierarchy.
P- You stupid!
We returned back down Hwy. 504 toward I-5 passing a man, on his John Deer tractor, plowing a field. His adorable blue painted house, separate garage and barn was just up the road in an idyllic setting, with neatly manicured grounds and abundant flowers.
G- This seems like such a peaceful place to live, but what does someone up here do for a living?
P- Maybe he's retired or maybe he works in one of the towns off I-5.
G- Well he's farming something, but that plot is so small, he can't earn a living from it.
G- Maybe they get together with friends, or a big city is not all that far away, and they had a Direct TV dish, so if you think about it, Monday through Friday we just worked and went home and on weekends sometimes we got together with friends and sometimes we didn't.
P- Nice place to visit of have a weekend home, but we could never live so far from a biggish city cause we're city girls.
G- Yep. But we did pass that park and ride sign and lot. Where the hell are they riding to after they park? And who are "they"? How many people can be around here that need to ride to somewhere?
We got on I-5 and headed north to Seattle. Ironically, the sun finally started to appear. We had seen very little sun since leaving Nor.Cal., being shrouded in fog and cloudy skies. It was bizarre to end up in Seattle, the rainy and overcast city, and have the most sun we'd seen in a week.
We found Shannon's sister, Alyce's, house in west Seattle with no difficulty, thanks to Fran, and sat on the front steps, drinking our evening Bloody Mary and basking in the setting sun. Alyce arrived several hours later and we enjoyed an introductory chat.
