Westport, Washington

We spent a day of our vacation on teh Westport beach and port.  There is really no explanation that can describe the sight of the ocean and its vastness.  Those of you that are priveledged enough to live near or on the ocean, probably take it for granted, but to see the ocean for one of the first times is quite an experience! While there, my in-laws took us crabbing.  For those that don't know, crabbing can be done right from the docks.  You can rent pots from one of the stores there, put bait in them, and then throw them out into the ocean to see what you get.  When you pull them in, they have crabs!  With four kids, they could barely leave them in long enought to catch any of the, but we did get one that was a keeper!While at the beach, we bought all different kinds of seafood from one of the docks.  We also spent some time on one of the beaches, beach-combing.  Fortunately for us, this beach was just filled with sand dollars and pretty rocks for the taking.  (We've been to California, where there was nothing to be found for miles.)  We brought home two and a half gallon ice cream pails full of sand dollars!

One of the other things that I did while on the docks, was take a close up picture of each of my kids.  I wish I could share these with you, because they turned out great, but I have stalker that doesn't need to see my kids.  Sorry I can't share that with you.  Anyway, when you are out in a new, beautiful place, consider taking some great photos of your kids, not only together, but alone.  I often turn these into their yearly blown up picture on the wall.  It saves money and you will always remember that family vacation together!

Great Memories of Mt. St. Helens & Mt. Rainier

We are at home and safe and sound after our 14 day trip.  Mr. Airstream figured out the mileage for the trip and we drove 5323 miles and used 490 gallons of gas!  Priceless!I did want to share some of the memories we had at Mt. St. Helens.  As for most of our trip, it was raining for our visit to Mt. St. Helen's and had snow at the visitor center.  We were determined, though to learn many facts about the volcano and check everything out.  Fortunately, they had a wonderful movie that ended with a view of the volcano from behind the screen.  Even though we couldn't see the very top, the view was fantastic.  While there, the older kids completed the Jr. Ranger Program and got a wonderful folder, postcard, and badge.  The Junior Ranger activities were a little difficult, as they had changed the exhibits, but not the questions, so some of the answers, the kids had to scramble to complete.We spent another rainy day at Mt. Rainier.  We thought for sure that we had seen snow on Mt. St. Helen's but weren't able to get to the top of the mountain because of all the snow.The Junior Ranger program at Mt. Rainier was much more fun and doable for the kids this time.  All of the kids were able to complete the program with some help from Mom & Dad.  One of the activities that we had to do was a hike.  Because of the rain, we only jumped out of the car and ran down to Christine Falls to take a photo and then jumped back in the car to warm up!At the Paradise Visitor Center, we were able to experience over 10 feet of snow and a beautiful facility.  There were skiers and hikers who had been trying to get to the summit all week, but to no avail yet.  They only made it to 10,000 feet of the 14,000 total feet.  Not my idea of a great time, but hey, we were amazed with their ability to try and stay overnight at on the mountain in such lousy weather.Later in the week, we did get a glimpse of the top of the Mt. Rainier.  We snapped a photo quick while it was clear.  Stayed tuned for more updates of our trip.

Still in South Dakota

For those of you following our travels, we are homeward bound, but still in one of the longest states ever - South Dakota!  It seems to go on forever.  Just wanted to give you a quick update - no time to give pictures, but many more to come very soon.  We plan to be home around midnight tonight.  Windy in SD, but everything is running great down the road!  figured out that we need a full water tank to keep the Airstream from wavering down the road!  A cheap and easy fix for sure!