Family Vacation

We are here in beautiful Washington state. The kids are thrilled with everything from the little bags of snacks on the plane,to the GPS navigator in the rental car.:) Traveling with kids is great. They get excited about things that grown-ups take for granted –so we’re reminded to take a little pleasure from those things,too.

Today,we’re headed for Mount Saint Helen’s. Though I was only four years old in 1980,I have very clear memories of the ash fall in Moscow,Idaho where my family was living at the time. It was absolutely surreal –especial for a four-year-old. I remember the sky going dark in the middle of the day. The white masks my father brought home for all of us. The strange,silent “snow”that fell and covered everything. They canceled the kite-flying contest,and my siblings got out of school a few weeks early. And for months afterward,there were white drifts of ash in low places. The great power of the eruption was lost on me –so far from the mountain. My strongest memories are of the strange muffled silence of the ash fall.

I don’t have photos from Mount Saint Helen’s,yet –so I’ve posted a shot from Olympic National Park. We’re headed there tomorrow.

I’ll try to post when I can –but this trip is about the kids,not photography. So picture-taking will not be a priority. Except for family shots.:)

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