All that metal made me sick! Well, that’s probably not the truth, but my stomach felt pretty nasty when I woke up. It was bad enough that I didn’t even want to eat breakfast. That’s pretty weird for me, I almost always want to eat. Virginia felt fine and I thought I would get better as the day went on, so we set out for our next adventure spot: Mt. Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument. It lies almost half way between Tacoma and Portland, and we thought after such a long stay in the city we would enjoy getting back to nature.
Turns out I was wrong about my stomach ache getting better, so I turned the wheel over to Virginia right before we got the park. Dozing in the passenger seat was nice, but I felt bad missing all the gorgeous scenery. I couldn’t sleep that well anyway because the roads were pretty curvy and I would experience a bad bout of nausea anytime I was settling in for a good nap.
We stopped at an overlook with bathrooms and a gift shop, and I got some fresh air.
Virginia got some postcards and by that time I was feeling like my stomach was settling. We got in the car, pulled out of the parking lot, and a wave of nausea immediately washed over me. Virginia stopped the car and I leaned out the door, emptying the contents of my stomach onto the asphalt.
 |
| Brrrr, yum |
 |
| That thing totally exploded like 30 years ago! CRAZY!!!!! |
Virginia got some postcards and by that time I was feeling like my stomach was settling. We got in the car, pulled out of the parking lot, and a wave of nausea immediately washed over me. Virginia stopped the car and I leaned out the door, emptying the contents of my stomach onto the asphalt.
I felt better almost immediately. My condition was so much better that I was able to take a very pleasant 3-mile hike shortly thereafter. The scenery was breathtaking and the colors lush and vibrant.
It has been one of my favorite areas to visit so far. Of course, a lot of the park was closed for the season, so we left Mt. St. Helens and the state of Washington.
 |
| We stopped here on our hike, the ground was all covered in green mossy stuff |
 |
| Beavers had been here! |
It has been one of my favorite areas to visit so far. Of course, a lot of the park was closed for the season, so we left Mt. St. Helens and the state of Washington.
We were going to spend the night in Oregon with Bob and Karen Evatt. Bob is my mom’s cousin (my second), and I had never met him. Even my mom hadn’t had contact with him in 20 years, but he was still willing to feed us and give us a room for the night.
We made it to his place eventually, but not without a few setbacks. It was very dark when we made it to the road to their house. They live way up on the side of a mountain and the road has several 180 degree switchback turns, and we got lost. We had to got back down and meet Bob at the 7-11 so we could follow him back.
During dinner I caught Bob and Karen up on my side of the family, then Virginia and I asked them what we should do and see at our next stop, Portland. They gave us all sorts of things to think of doing as we went to bed that night.
- Eric Lauterbach
No comments:
Post a Comment