OH NO...don't let the rain come down....

After almost 3 weeks of beautiful weather, we are getting a good rain. It actually won't really be much of a hinderance since we planned today to do inside museums. Besides worse case scenario....I will have to settle back with The Kite Runner....it is the #1 best selling novel and not anything I thought I would enjoy. My friend Bobbi Lee insisted I get it....thanks Bobbi it's wonderful. Since I know she hasn't been convinced to come into the 21st century yet (email) I will have to count on one of the Pullaw girls to pass the thanks along.

Bobbi also knitted the most beautiful afghan for us and unbeknown to her it matches the stripe in the upholstery. I LOVE it and use it almost every night!

OK...so we went up to the Visitors Center at Mount St. Helens. I am SO glad we did. We gathered so much information not only on the volcano but also lumbering in the area which is a huge industry, and much info on the animals that inhabit the area.

One thing I learned was that the guy from Missouri (who we met up at Windy Ridge) didn't know what he was talking about. He told me there was 2 million trees planted....that would in fact be 2 billion! 18 million were planted, by hand, in the first 7 years after the eruption by Weyehaeuser. This same company also salvaged 850 million board feet of lumber....enough to build 85,000 homes. The destruction spread over 234 square miles. http://www.mountsthelens.weyerhaeuser.com/

From Washington we headed to the Oregon Coast. Check out the logs being shipped ....they were piled up on both sides of this bridge we crossed.

We settled in a beautiful KOA http://www.astoriakoa.com/

The landscaping is beautiful here. This Hydrangea bush is right outside my computer window. There is a large inside pool and hot tub. We settled in for 2-3 days before moving on to Redmond, where we will visit with Jason Renzi (Mike's best friend)...and one of our favorites.

We did some shopping this morning....I broke down and bought a FEW warm clothes and Salt found a Black and Decker outlet which was having a big sale. He ended up with a new cordless hammer drill for half price.

We decided to have a cup of coffee before we went grocery shopping so we popped into a chocolate/espresso cafe. Check out the candy apples; this was only one of the 3 carts of different

coated apples. I tried to rationalize.."an apple a day keeps the doctor away" but backed down and only had the coffee.

Brother Joe called from Horseheads, NY where Janna was playing in a Volleyball Tournament. There team is HOT! They took first place and are 7-0 for the year. Janna is the only Freshman starter on the team (middle, back row)....You go Janna!!!! Love and miss you!

Joe sent the picture from his cell phone so it is a bit blurry, but not bad for a phone!

I guess if I am going to put a picture of Janna in the Blog I can't forget Matthew.....here he is on the first day of school this year! Handsome Dude isn't he!!

Salt is mapping out the route for tomorrow. We are planning to travel 101 along the coast. We have been told it is a beautiful drive so expect a lot of pictures tomorrow!