PNW wonderland tour, we headed southeast to the general direction of Mount St. Helens with no real planned destination. Our day started off cloudy *enter shock here* as we landed our first stop at the Mount St. Helens Visitor Center at Silver Lake. I’d seen some gorgeous panoramic views of the mountain from other Instagram users I follow from this location so I was eager to get my photographic geek on.???????? Sadly, the mountain was not in view so we grabbed a park map and headed further east to the Johnston Ridge Observatory. It was only about a 45+ minute drive along some state road, but with beautiful views of the once bare valley and other little pull-offs and viewpoints along the way. The views at the top were so pretty…it took us, like, 15 minutes just to get out of the parking lot! It was so peaceful and picturesque I didn’t want to leave! I mean, even just the wild flowers in bloom during summer were enough to fill my creative cup. But, alas, we did just drive 1.5 hours to see even more from ol’ Helen. There was a small fee for adults, but because we are military we get free entry to all National Parks…it’s a park perk if you will. ???? The gift shop/observatory was really nice inside with interactive maps and diagrams throughout. They even have a movie theater where they play a short film on the history of Mt St Helens and the astonishing resilience of nature after she erupted in 1980. *This just in: according to Wiki the Mt St Helens’ eruption was the most deadly and economically destructive volcanic eruption in US history.* Who knew you’d be hit with historical facts on LtL?? For those of you that know me, you can close your mouth now…???? Ok, that’s enough education for the day…now, please scroll through and enjoy some pics!
^^^ I spy with my little eye…????
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^^^ There she is, playing peekaboo
^^^ Caption this: I’m the king of the worldddd!
^^^ There were (squirrel-sized) chipmunks running all around, so to keep B entertained a bit longer we told him to call for them along the trail. This is him calling “Helloooo, Chipmunkss!” More accurately heard as “hewooo ????”
This is the ledge outside the observatory with indescribable panoramic views of Mt St Helens, trails, mountain ranges, and rivers…all of this greenery sprung from hundreds of square miles of thick ash. The fortitude of nature after seemingly zero chance of life is giving me all kinds of symbolism over here, y’all… “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Hebrews 11:3 I hope y’all enjoyed our day trip to Mt. St. Helens! Geoff and I both agreed another trip is in order before we leave when she is out and about, shining bright for her viewers to admire. Happy weekend all!❤️ Lemons to Love, 
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