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Sunday, May 18, 2003
I left Mom and Dad's place after lunch - and after a quick load of laundry. The drive to Portland was fairly uneventful. In fact, I was making better time than I planned. So, when I saw the exit for the Mount St. Helen’s Visitor’s Center, I took it. I spent about an hour there. Admission to the museum was free that day, as it was the 23rd anniversary of the first major eruption. I hadn’t realized it had been that long. The mountain was shy that day, however. All that could be seen was a strip of snow between the clouds and the foreground trees. I can still remember a bus trip I took to Washington many, many years ago (I was still in high school). We had a very early morning stop at one of the towns near Mount St. Helen’s. It was about 6 am and it was absolutely gorgeous. A perfect cone. On to Portland, where I spent half an hour trying to find the hotel. The internet directions were very good, but... there were no signs for the hotel on that road and the road sign for the last turn was missing. I drove around for a while, realize I’d passed it, stop and take out the map. Found where I was and where I needed to go. Missed again. I must have driven past the actual turnoff five or six times before I finally turned in there in desperation. If I hadn’t found it on that turn, I was going to stop at the Ramada Inn that I kept passing and ask. Turns out it was right behind the Ramada.... I got checked in (first floor room for a change) and hauled everything inside for the night. Walked around a bit, then went for dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. Not bad for a hotel restaurant. Bill Manning, our tour leader, called and we made arrangements to get together the next morning. I warned him about the tricky roads in the area of my hotel. He also mentioned that one of the other photo tour participants was staying in the same hotel I was, so I gave her a call and we made plans to meet for breakfast. |