After Yellowstone

The day after we went to Yellowstone, Angie took us to the headwaters of the Missouri River. Doesn't this fence that Kyle, Anissa and Jeffrey are sitting on scream "Montana" to you? Every time we'd see one of these fences I'd think of the quintessential Montana ranch.

Other than the headwaters, we had a very relaxing day. After our marathon day at Yellowstone, we really needed it.

I left Bozeman with my sister, Jenny, and her family. We drove west out of Montana, through the north part of Idaho and into Washington. The scenery was so beautiful. I've never seen anything quite like it. Maybe it was the time of year. Or maybe it's the most beautiful place in the country. Right now I'm just not sure. You be the judge. Keep in mind that these were all taken out the window of the van.

This is a park in downtown Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where it was very beautiful and very warm.

Anissa eats lemons. Can you believe it?

The three kids took a dip in the motel pool where we stayed in Kennewick, Washington, after a long day of driving.

The next morning (Saturday) we drove south out of Washington and into Oregon and drove along the interstate west toward Portland. The interstate follows the Columbia River most of the way. In this photo, you can see Washington across the river. Our destination that day was Longview, Washington, which is just north of Portland about 45 minutes.

Sometimes when you're traveling in a van with six people (especially two teenage boys) things get a little funky. Luckily I was prepared with my super-duper nose plug. Surprisingly I only had to use it a couple of times.

Saturday afternoon once we'd checked into the local motel in Longview, we drove out to the Mount St. Helens visitor's center. Jenny, Jeffrey, Anissa, Kyle and Fred were kind enough to pose for a picture outside of it.

I think Washington and Oregon have the biggest, tallest, most beautiful trees I've ever seen. My photos don't even do them justice, but they are just spectacular. After the visitor's center, we drove up closer to the actual Mount St. Helens. I remember when this volcano erupted back in 1980, so to see it was pretty cool, even with the clouds that day.

Even though it was warmer down where we'd come from, there was still snow in the parking lot at the overlook spot. Since snow in June (OK, it wasn't technically June yet, but it was May 31 and that's close enough in my book) is one of my dreams come true, I was thrilled to be wearing flip-flops in the snow.