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Here in Quincy, WA, we are right on the Columbia River. What a beautiful place. 
What a view from our campground.
Our Pitstop
John stopped for his pot of GOLD.
Randle, WA
The sun setting in Randle, WA.
Well today we had some excitement. John & I went for a ride to see the other side of Mt. St. Helen & the Ape Cape. On the way to the Ape Cape, a bear ran across the road right in front of our car. It wasn't a full grown bear, but not a baby either. Man was it in a hurry. It ran across the street so fast. I was so excited, I was screaming with excitement. I tried to get my camera up to take a photo, but I dropped it & picked it back up & dropped it again. I was too excited to get the darn camera up. John said he ran across the street so fast, I wouldn't been able to snap the picture anyway. But it was something to see. We were both very excited. So... no photos....
So we drove to the Ape Cave. It was discovered in 1947 by a logger who almost drove his tractor into it. It was named after the outdoor club he belonged to, the St. Helens Apes. It was a cool 42 degrees inside. Very, very, very dark. We wore our head flash lights. 
But it would have been better if we would have gotten lanterns. The flashlights just weren't strong enough. The cave is a pristine lava tube full of fragile formations. It is 13,042 feet long, the third longest in North America.
After the Ape Cape we went to the east side of Mt. St. Helen. The road up to Windy Point Observatory was closed due to a mudslide.
The road will have to be rebuilt 
and may take more than one season. There are also major cracks in the road and sink holes so deep, your car will disappear. The view point is limited from this entrance to the park as you 
can only go up to the first viewpoint.
If you are planning to see Mt. St. Helen in the near future...take the west entrance. A must see is the view from the Johnston Ridge Observatory. There are 5 visitor centers coming in off of Interstate 5, all but one are open. Previous posts show the views from Johnston Ridge Observatory. (check Mt. St. Helen Post)
Mt. Rainier
Yesterday we went to Mt. Rainier. 
Four years ago we visited the mountain & missed the view from Sunrise view point. So we headed up there first thing. Lots of road contruction to get to this view point. It was very slow going. Sunrise is the highest point you can go on Mt. Rainier in a vehicle. Of course you can always hike and get much higher.
We stopped just below Sunrise to take in some breathtaking views. .jpg)
Then we stopped for awhile at Reflection lake .jpg)
& watched an eagle fly by & drop down to the lake for his dinner. Again we were unable to catch this on camera, but we enjoyed the view. The eagle dropped down to the lake several times. Also on the edge of the lake was a deer grazing.
Next we stopped at Box Canyon. .jpg)
There is a 180 foot drop here from the top of the canyon to the water.
John stopped for a little dip in the water. 
Ice cold water!
While we were in the park 
& driving back through the forest to our campsite we only saw one eagle & one deer (at Reflection Lake). After leaving the park, right in front of someones home right in the town of Packwood there was a herd of elk. 
There was about 20 of them. There must have been some good grazing at this house. Then down the road just a few blocks there was another herd of elk. So we were lucky to see them.
