Exploring on Saturday

We found two abandoned gold mine shafts;

we took Aneira and Heri along for the afternoon;)

Some Saturday pics

The granite we chose for our hearth, outside fireplace mantel, and some table tops....

Working in the beams and lights....

Pressure washing the outside while the Genie is still on our site so we can paint the exterior....

Taking Aneira for a ride in the Genie :)

Starting beam install!!

Beams and floor going in

Mount St Helens trip

Spent some time in an observatory first:

At a lookout; the first day was quite windy so

there was ash kicking up and blocking 

a lot of the view of the mountain

Intently listening to Mr Krul

who is a fountain of knowledge

At another lookout viewpoint

Hummocks are large hills that were created

when the dirt and debris rushed behind

large boulders that were blasted off the mountain

during the eruption and caused mounds like these

Trees were sheared off everywhere

Observing various pumice and basalt rocks

Beautiful new ecosystems created after the eruption

Mr Proos observing it all

The group on the first days' hike

The students are expected to take three months

on the project of Mt St Helens so

photos are crucial

Beavers somehow survived or came back 

to the area

Day 2 was much clearer and less wind

Seen some beautiful wildlife

Herd of elk down in the Valley when we were

hiking along the ridges high above them

Group shot in front of Mount St Helens

Hiking to Spirit Lake

Spirit Lake; the water rushed 800 m

up the other side of the bank of the

lake and took all these trees down...

With Courtney and Spirit Lake in the backgound

My crazy kids for the duration of the trip;

they were AWESOME ;)