After such a wonderful day at Mount Rainier yesterday, we were a little sad to leave this beautiful area, but at least we had two nights here rather than one. Like yesterday, Alexander's Lodge provided a picnic breakfast for us to enjoy today. From here on our stays on the trip was one night at each location. On our way west we stopped by Ashford Valley Grocery, this time with my whole family, to pick out food, snacks, and drinks to pack a lunch today. I knew in advance we would have lunch at our first major sightseeing stop today, but there were no restaurants of any kind there. The reason why two nights worked was because of our proximity to the next major destination. I made a point of having the children view the PBS NOVA episode "Mt St Helens Back from the Dead" to help them put what we were going to see next in context.

My daughter in particular became frightened of where we were going: a volcano. We reassured her that it already blew up 40 years ago, and if that was about to happen on this day, the scientists would know. Besides, we told her, she already walked into a volcano two years ago, at Yellowstone and made it back safely. I'm not sure she believed me.

Our route took us southwest on several small roads near two lakes and lots of farmland, but we did not take the I-5. There was no reason to go to the Mount St Helens Visitors Center because it was completely closed, according to their web site. So I took them straight to Johnston Ridge Observatory via the Spirit Lake Memorial Highway so we could take the Eruption Trail. My daughter would not let us take trails for a closer view of the volcano. On the drive there Mount St Helens was ridiculously easy to spot.

Time	Event	Range Remaining
9:26 am	Depart Alexander's Lodge	308
11:59 am	Arrive Johnston Ridge Observatory	161

Range/Distance ratio: 1.3
Conditions: Rural and mountain roads, started at 48°F

I remember my parents taking me to this area on our road trip when I was eleven. I remember seeing a video and many exhibits at the Visitors Center, but I did not remember viewing Mount St Helens itself. At that time, just a few years after the blast, Johnston Ridge Observatory was surely not yet constructed, and we probably could not get as close as I brought my family this time.

But the first thing at Johnston Ridge we needed was the restroom, and the parking lot had a couple dozen porta-potties available. Only the lobby area of the observatory building allowed entry, and even then it was converted into a little gift shop, so access to exhibits or other displays was blocked, and no equivalent of Rangers were available to answer questions. We shopped and purchased several items there.

Nonetheless the view from the Observatory viewpoints and the short Eruption Trail we took to the east was stunning. The crater edge and interior, including the lava domes, plus the glaciers around the crater were easy to see. The size is just massive; it was a mountain after all. But it's mind-blowing imagining something so big changing so suddenly that fateful day 40 years ago.

The other thing that was evident was the life returning to the area around it, just like the PBS NOVA special said. However I wasn't sure but I could make out some dust or smoke or mist down the slope from the western limb of the crater. Is that outgassing? Too bad the pandemic prevented me from asking a Ranger.

We took a short drive down to the Loowit Viewpoint and ate our packed lunch there, with Dog Mode on in the car (demanded by my wife because it was hot outside), in view of Mount St Helens. It wasn't so easy to take a picture of ourselves having lunch in the car. Finally after lunch we shot some more pictures from this location of ourselves too (see top picture) before we departed.

Time Event Range Remaining 1:41 pm Depart Loowit Viewpoint 157 2:50 pm Arrive Kelso Supercharger 114 Range/Distance ratio: 0.69 Conditions: Mountain roads, Downhill We drove down route 504 west eventually seeing the Learning Center and the Visitors Center near Silver Lake, then drove south briefly on I-5 to reach Kelso, where I knew there was a Supercharger and a Panera Bread, a favorite for my wife and daughter.

We used the well-cleaned bathrooms at Panera Bread, a far cry from the porta-potties we used earlier. I knew in advance we should take a bathroom break here because I calculated about another two hours of driving before we reach the hotel. My family then purchased some smoothies and other snacks before we were ready to leave Panera Bread.

Cost to Charge: $0

After leaving Kelso, it was a slow drive through this small shipping town on the Columbia River to reach the bridge from Washington to Oregon. I didn't have the camera ready for the bigger Oregon display on the south side of the River, but I caught the small sign on the bridge. We made our way west along route 30 through coastal forests and farmland, eventually finding our way to the picturesque little town of Astoria. Most people don't seem to know Astoria very well. A many movies over the decades were shot in this area for its cool fog-covered beaches creating a sense of both beauty and mystery.

The opening scene of the movie I had the children watch in July starts out with the bad guys breaking out their brother bad guy out of a prison. This building (right) was the building used to portray that prison. Because of that movie, this building was preserved as an Oregon Film Museum. I knew in advance where this building was so I made a point of driving the streets of Astoria to take a picture. It's closed during the pandemic so we did not stop. Along the way I pointed out the houses in Astoria, trying to remind my children of how much they look like the houses that the child characters in the movie were trying to save. Do you know which movie I'm talking about? A lot of good actors got their start in this movie, such as Josh Brolin who later appeared in Avengers: Infinity War and Sean Astin who later appeared in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Another hint is that the story of the movie was written by Steven Spielberg, who also wrote Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which was shot at Devil's Tower, where we visited two years ago.

Time Event Range Remaining 3:08 pm Depart Kelso 217 5:13 pm Arrive Tolovana Inn 127 Range/Distance ratio: 1.14 Conditions: Rural roads, Traffic, Sightseeing Tolovana Inn is a member of the Tesla Destination Network, meaning it has Tesla-native plugs. It is next to Tolovana Beach in Cannon Beach. This beach town is very pretty, but it does get crowded with tourists, especially those from Portland a few hours away. This is probably the most populated place we stayed overnight so far on the trip.

We were hoping to do some laundry here, but unfortunately due to the pandemic their laundry rooms in the basement were completely closed, with the nearest laundromat several miles away. In other respects this Inn was very good, including the spacious room I booked and our access to charging when we arrived.

Cost to Charge: $0

We had an excellent view from our room of Cannon Beach and its most famous landmark Haystack Rock. Once we settled in the room we made our way out to enjoy the beach and the views, walking to the water, dipping toes in the sand and surf, then walking north on the beach for a while taking pictures and smelling the salt air. We got here soon enough we hand time to slow down and take it all in. Once we got hungry, I made a reservation at Mo's restaurant next door to Tolovana Inn while my family cleaned off the sand and switched footwear. We enjoyed a seafood meal with dine-in service at Mo's.

Do you recognize which movie I was talking about? The police chase after the bad guys in the movie, which then merges with a beach truck race in front of Haystack Rock, which figures prominently in that scene. The movie is The Goonies which shot on-location here and in Astoria. Sorry but we didn't see the pirate ship Inferno, the cursed treasure, or booby traps.

Instead we ended our day with watching a beautiful sunset on the beach. The skies were clear enough that we waited to see the "green flash" but we had no such luck tonight. Still we had a very nice evening.

No pirate ship sailing in this sunset