Columbia Gourge, East of Portland, OR

On our way south we had spotted a climbing area just north of the Oregon border.  Ainsworth State Park, OR was just a few miles away.  We were astounded by the beauty of this valley. 

We only had a couple of days.  So rather than go rock climbing we visited the water falls along the valley. 

We also visited Vista House, it had really nice views.

Mt Saint Helen

Most of us remember the news articles of Mount St Helens.  Those that don't remember the annoyance of ash in the atmosphere.  Nothing brings understanding to this event like visiting the monument itself. 

 

The immensity of moving a mountain in just a few minutes is mind boggling. 

 



After all the visits it was nice to run off to the wilderness by ourselves and leave all the city stuff behind.  What better place than the Rain Forest of Mt. Olympic. 

This remote and wonderful place has both mountain streams...

and Pacific Ocean Coast lines

It's big claim to fame is the large trees.

We only got to see a small portion of the interesting area.

Madison's Summer Visit

Our granddaughter Madison got to fly out from Houston Texas for a little summer vacation.  She looks like such a jet-setter at the airport.

Our first adventure was to visit some snow caves.  This is her first experience with snow.

Then it was a drive back over the mountain to do some white water rafting on the Wenatchee river.

Then a nice visit to Pioneer Village, where we learned about being a settler in the late 1800's.

It was not all run around and have fun, we had some down time also, a little time around the camper.

We got to ride a ferry and visit a lighthouse.

 

 

 

Next it was off to Mt. Rainier, it took us two days to explore and discover.  During this time Madison became a Junior Ranger.

 

 

Of course there has to be a snow ball fight in here somewhere.

And snow Angels

But ultimately the Junior Ranger is on patrol and guarding the forest.

 

No trip to Seattle can be complete without a trip to Northwest Trek, a zoo and rope skill course combined.

 

Madison hit's the ropes.

 

 Grandma and Grandpa help and ensure that safety standards are met.

 This one was a bit more challenging, her steps were not big enough so she had to step on the cables between the steps.  Awesome job....

 

To finish out the trip there was a trip to Wild Waves Water Park.  After the other adventures this one was almost relaxing.

 

 

That is until Grandma got the idea of doing the roller coaster. 

 



 There was a lot of fear until the third or fourth time around.  Then it became just fun.