Happy Flag Day everyone,
Today was a total waste of time. This morning I set out for Mount Saint Helens from Astoria, a 120 mile drive. I checked the hourly forecast before leaving the hotel. It said cloudy in the morning clearing off around 11:00. So I stayed at the hotel a little longer than usual to give it time to clear up. On the drive up it was completely overcast with occasional very thick fog. I arrived at the Johnston Ridge Observatory shortly after noon. While the observatory itself wasn't encased in fog, everything around it was. I couldn't see Mt. St. Helens at all.
I go inside and ask a ranger if there is any point in sticking around and is the weather going to improve. He said it may clear off later. So I listen to a ranger giving a talk. I then watch a movie about the eruption in the theater. That killed about an hour but there was still no improvement so I left. Below is a picture of the view today and some folks taking a selfie of themselves in the fog.
This trip to Mt. St. Helens was 120 miles roundtrip out of my way. The only thing that wasn't covered in fog was the Hoffstadt Creek Bridge twenty two miles west of Johnston Ridge.
It's about a one hundred mile drive to Olympia from my disappointing visit to Mt. St. Helens. I stopped there for a few minutes to photograph the state capitol.
Next it was a 23 mile drive to my hotel outside Tacoma. Interstate 5 was a parking lot the whole way, like it always is. It took almost an hour to go that last 23 miles. I am staying at a Holiday Inn Express. Since you must be disappointed that you didn't get many pictures today, I will include a picture of my hotel room.
I went back out in that awful traffic to get my dinner. I went to the Black Bear Diner. Most of their restaurants are on the west coast but I was surprised to see they have a restaurant as far east as Missouri. The food was good but they messed up my order and I was missing a couple items.
Tomorrow I turn the car eastward and start heading for home.
More later,
Tim
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