We were shocked to see a herd of male big horn sheep as we crested the hill on our way from Yellowstone to the Idaho border. There had to be at least 10 if not 14 young males (no fully wrapped horns in this bunch). They hopped over the guardrail like it didn't exist.
The drive along the Columbia River was excellent. A lot of sights to see along the way. We got a glimpse of Mt. Hood as we neared Portland, OR. We stayed at a campground that was renovated from a trailer park. Total REN had to be around $28.00. LOL
We "saw" Mount St. Helens in 1988 (eight years after it's eruption). All we could see was anything within 150 feet of our hood ornament. Boy, was it foggy and cloudy that day. We saw thousands of pine trees that were sheared off at the base by the power of the eruption's blast. This time we saw the mountain (well, 90% of it). The forest has grown back amazingly well. The landscape has trees that are 10'-30' tall. An amazing recovery. Some of the areas seemed to be rendered incapable of growing trees again. Probably changes in the pH and subterranean soil now on the surface. This is my scientific analysis.
We drove right by Mt. Rainier on the way to Seattle. We saw unimpressive glimpses of the mountain due to low clouds. Once we settled at the campground in Bothell, WA we started our sightseeing of the area. The second day here we decided to drive to Mt. Rainer. The weather was gorgeous and the mountain was strutting it's stuff. With excellent competition, this national park may be the most beautiful we've seen. We really loved it. It took all day for us to see it all. Some of the roads will be closed until July due to the deep snow. The one visitor center area had 52' of snow this winter (which goes up to just a few weeks ago when the got a huge storm).
We are getting excited about our cruise. A great bit of news just last week. Our good friends from Brookston and the Thorntown campground have arranged to join us on the cruise. What fun!
Big Horn Sheep on road outside of W. Yellowstone, MT
Herd of male Big Horn Sheep crossed road between Yellowstone & Idaho
Campsite in Rufus, OR - renovated trailer park!
Mt. Hood from I-84
Columbia River separating Oregon and Washington - continuous viewpoint from I-84
Rooster Rock State Park - Oregon
Columbia River
Mount St. Helens National Park entrance
Mount St. Helens - clouds covering what is left of it's peak
Mount St. Helens from the Johnson Ridge Observatory - several hundred feet are in the clouds
Noble Fir trees - this is NOT a blurry picture - this is how they look
Another non-blurry picture - makes you dizzy - few raindrops on the windshield
Campsite near Seattle - Bothell, WA (parking lot trimmed in green, but nice and quiet)
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Mt. Rainier taken south of Seattle - ~50 miles from the mountain
Looking east to Mt. Rainier
Mt. Rainier National Park entrance
Christine Falls in Mt. Rainier NP
Looking north to Mt. Rainier
Peak near Mt. Rainier
Naranda Falls in Mt. Rainier NP
Naranda Falls - this picture needs to be rotated 1/4 turn to the left - my rotation didn't save :(
Trail at Naranda Falls is closed (for obvious reasons)
Mt. Rainier at Paradise Visitor Center
Trees in the park are up to 1,000 years old - these are some of the medium sized ones that we saw
Up close view of Mt. Rainier - looking south
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