This last weekend was a wonderfully rejuvenating time for our family of three. Brandon took off Monday from work, and we had an exciting little road trip where we made some great memories together!
Our first strop was Mt. St. Helens. Neither Brandon or I had ever been, and we were excited to see this unique mountain up close. It was awe-inspiring to see how the landscape was still greatly affected by the mountain’s eruption 34 years earlier. The contrast from the old forest, and the new vegetation was breathtaking.

We ended up going on a hike, which ended up being a bit more ambitious than we had planned. But, it was a fun challenge, and it felt really good to be out in nature, exploring. I was so grateful that my body was feeling good, and I had energy to spare as we walked the trail, as a couple of weeks earlier I had made a couple trips to the ER for Ulcerative Colitis issues. While I was definitely out of shape, I was pleasantly surprised at how I was able to complete this trail, and enjoy the beautiful scenery that it took us through!



We hiked the Lava Canyon loop trail. It was stunning to see the rushing river carving out a path through the islands of hardened lava left from St. Helens’ eruption. At some places the water was so clear it looked like a hot tub you might like to relax in with all the nice bubbles. But, I have a feeling it might have been a bit cold.

Julie enjoyed picking up sticks and pine cones along the trail, looking down at the rushing river from on the bridge, and riding on Daddy’s shoulders as we hiked along. She also did a little hiking of her own. When we were nearly to the end of the loop she was climbing up the path, on rather tired toddler legs. She fell down abruptly, and scraped both her knees for the first time. Then, she stood right up, dusted herself off, and kept walking without so much as one tear. We were very proud of our little trooper!


The trail took us over a fun suspension bridge. Julie was even a brave little girl and began to walk out on it with Daddy’s help, but she quickly decided that it was better for Daddy to carry her little toddler self across the swinging, wobbly bridge.

One of the funniest moments of our trip was on the car ride the first day. Julie was fussing a bit in the car before lunch, and we weren’t sure what was wrong. She had been playing with the velcro on her new shoes. When I went to get her out of the car, I saw that she had velcroed one foot to the other, and was unable to get them apart! I laughed until I cried at that. Poor baby girl was frustrated because she stuck her feet together. Haha.
All in all, we loved Mt. St. Helens, and look forward to visiting again. There is a lot more to see there! Such a beautiful place to enjoy God’s creation! Perhaps a camping trip will be in our future. We didn’t spot Sasquatch, but maybe next time.