We headed off this morning for Mount Saint Helen National Monument. There was only one route near the mountain open and that required a long route back West to catch the open road and then back East to the mountain. It was a pretty long drive, over 2 hr one way, but we didn’t really have anything else to do today. We stopped not far outside of Packwood to see the Cowlitz Falls park. We thought based on the name we might find a waterfall. What we found instead was a quiet park and lake where we were the only ones there. Maverick really enjoyed running around off-leash. After the park we next stopped in Mossyrock to take some pictures of a Tulip bulb farm. While we were there they were cutting the tops off of the Tulips as part of the process to grow bulbs. We got some nice pics before they were gone. We stopped in Toledo for a burger at about the only place in town called Betty’s Place. The burger was pretty good but also pretty slow. We sat outside in the warm clear weather. Once on the road we headed up the mountain. I wasn’t positive what we could see since the Johnston Ridge Observatory was closed until May 16. It turns out we had great views and could drive all the way to the Observatory even though it and the Visitor Center were closed. The views of the mountain were great and the viewpoint information signs were very good. The mountain erupted explosively in 1980. Much of the area was quickly cleared and replanted by a logging company that owned much of the area affected. Today there are 35 year old trees everywhere that will resume logging in about 2026. The highway viewpoints provided a very nice view of the crater and the resultant lava and mud flows. The weather was mid-70’s and very clear so the views were great and the stops very pleasant. After viewing the mountain and crater we stopped at Castle Lake. Castle Lake was created by the eruption and is very beautiful. Maverick enjoyed the break from the car. On the way back we were treated with partial views of Mount Ranier peaking over and around the closer mountains. You could even see it from our RV spot today. Tomorrow is a travel day to Copalis Beach. Why Copalis Beach? No particular reason other than it is about halfway to Port Angeles. Port Angeles is a destination for Olympic National Park and day trip(s) to Victoria B.C. Copalis Beach is, as the name implies, on the Pacific so that should be nice.