St Helens: Johnston Ridge Observatory

Day 70 & 71

Day 70 did not have a lot going on. I think I only took two pictures all day with this being one of them. We were hanging out at a parking lot by Wal-Mart when Katie decided it was time to do some stretches. This is what I have to deal with on the road. My wife stretching over the dash in the middle of a parking lot just because.
Our trip for the day ended up with a new experience. Before heading out on our adventure I signed up with an internet forum for RV boondockers. We tried that out for the first time on day 70 and ended up at Kevin & Julie's house. They were gracious hosts and welcomed us onto their personal property with open arms. It's people like this that restore my faith in humanity. Upon our arrival we were greeted with water, sewer, electric and full fledged use of the garden hose. The RV got a badly needed bath and I couldn't be happier. These folks even went so far as to give us some fresh picked blackberries and sweet corn from their garden. All of this from complete strangers who just wanted to help in any way they could. 
The rest of the night was spent in the confines of the RV with the gracious use of their WIFI and some much needed catching up on the news. We picked up some local variety brew and gave it a shot. Not great, but not bad. 

Fast forward to day 71 and we took off for Mt. St. Helens and the Johnston observatory. The views were stunning as we barraged through the thicket of pines and mud slides.  

The observatory was a quick visit and we spent more time driving through the hillside then doing anything else that day. This side of St. Helens does't yield the true visual impact of the cataclysmic blast from 1980.  It was late in the day and we still needed to find a place to park the rig for some shut eye. A quick search yielded a casino about 40 miles down the road. We have had good luck with casinos thus far. Ilani gaming resort gave us a big place to park and the Earth, Wind, Fire cover band entertainment was no cover charge.  The band was actually a let down. They sounded good sure, but it wasn't the 70's cover style we were hoping for. It was a bluesy take on funky town which took away fromthe novelty of the songs. 

Day 72 is already in the works. Today we head back to the northeast in search of the Mt. St. Helens blow down forest. Breakfast just arrived at the table.... I gotta go.