Day two started with overcast sky’s and very cold temperatures. During my regular morning soak in the hot tub I contemplated the possibility of us not having good weather for the trip to Mt. Saint Helen’s. However, by the time I got out of the tub the sky was already clearing.
I should tell you a little bit about each of my family members. My biological mom is Mary Louise Jacobs. My brother is Tom Jacobs and he is married to Tammy and they had a son, Tommy (13), and a daughter, Katelynn (8). My sister, Chrissee, and her husband Jason, were not able to make the trip west this year. We hope they can make a future trip.
At 8:32 Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted. The furry unleased on the Pacific Northwest was a wake up call to the dangers of major metropolitian areas being built in the foot hills of active volcanos.
The plan was to get up early and make for the first museum at the bottom of the hill. While driving north, Tommy got a taste of Uncle Ed’s question game. Never one to pass up an opportunity to make education fun, I love to asked the kids questions. Tommy got a BIG dose of American Civics. All in all Tommy did a pretty good job. He does need to read up a bit on how many people serve in congress and the differences between the House and the Senate, but he has a good grasp of American history. By the end of the trip, Tommy was really getting into the game and even stumping me on some questions. Like which country in WWII had the best tank. Good job Tommy!
The picture is a little over exposed, but here we are standing at the over look outside the St. Johns Ridge Observatory. This was the first time Kay and I had even made it to the ridge, in all our past trips we were turned around by snow and road closures.
From left to right, the people in the photo are:
Tom, Tommy, Me, Katelynn, Kay, Louise and Tammy. While the day turned out to be only partly cloudy, the temperature was in the mid 40’s. The white stuff on the mountain was fresh snow dropped the night before.
After touring the volcano, we made haste for TGI Friday’s. One of the common themes of this trip was eating. Louise insisted on paying for dinner, so I ordered the ribs! Thanks.
Wednesday evening Tom, Tommy and I played Tiger Wood ‘06 Golf. I didn’t realize just how much fun golfing on the XBOX 360 was. Afterward, we put in SceneIT and the entire family tested our knowledge of movie trivia. Tom knows more actors names, so he edged me out of first place both games.
Thursday made for a VERY interesting day. Doesn’t everyone travel great distances only to be made to go to school? I take a small business development class at the Clackamas Small Business Development Center and it only happens once a month, so Tom and I went to school together for the first time in our lives! To think it took 37 years for us to ride together to school and we ended up in the same class.
While Tom and I were partaking in the educational joys of small business management, Kay, Louise, Tammy, Tommy and Katelynn went shopping and to the movies. They went to see that TacoBell dog movie. Something about a stupid dog that sings.
I just couldn’t help myself. Here are a couple of pictures of Katelynn, the symbolism is right on target, if you know what I mean.
