Volcanoes and Such

Driving to the west coast the boys first spotted mountains in Wyoming  They saw some that were cylindrical and the volcano questions began.

When driving to the reservation we had to go into Lakeview, Oregon, drop down to Alturas, California, and then drive toward Yreka, California.  On our way we saw Mt. Lassen which is a dormant volcano, the last time it erupted was in 1917.

We drove over a portion of Mt. Shasta which erupted in 1786.

The boys visited Mt. Hood and Timberline Lodge.

The last eruption was 1866.

So we decided to visit Mt. St. Helens, which incidentally erupted 35 years ago in 1980, I remember because I was 16 and I could see the eruption from my home that morning.   The Mountain has since erupted once again in 2008.

Of course the day we visited it was cloudy, and the mountain was socked in.  I did get this picture where you can see the dome rebuilding.

Our next stop was Yellowstone National Park.  We explained to the boys that we were standing on the top of what is essentially a super volcano.

With hot springs which are boiling.

Paint pots which are hot springs with a lot of mud which bubble.

And boy are they stinky.

And geysers that are erupting.  Unfortunately the park was very busy that day we could not find a spot to park at Old Faithful after looking for over an hour, but they boys were mightily impressed with all of it overall.

Our parting shot of the day at Yellowstone Falls.

One fun vacation memory:  The most requested song on Grandma's Ipod?

There is nothing cuter than listening to the little boys sing the song.