Mystic Explorer

Mystic Explorer has returned home from our Lewis and Clark trip. We left home May 6 and returned June 30 making this 56-day adventure our longest trip to date.
We traveled a total of 6,059 miles through 14 states, camped in 9 new states and now have been to all 50 states. Jai not only received 7 more Junior Ranger Badges but pumped $2928.27 of diesel to keep us going strong!
Many of the sites we encountered were new to us and the Pacific Northwest is an amazing area that I would love to go back to.
Now to unpack and let her and us rest till late fall to head out again. Thanks for coming along with us.

We have been in Astoria Oregon the past three days days and had little to no WiFi so I was unable to upload my pictures and post to the blog. We toured the Astoria area including the Maritime Museum, Astoria Column, Cape Disappointment lighthouse, Fort Clatsop to name a few. Jai was able to add to his Junior Ranger count. I thought he had completed many until I saw the partial display at the Fort Clatsop Visitor Center. Guess we need to keep traveling to add to his collection. The coast was beautiful and all of the huge trees amaze me.
Today we begin our trip home to Michigan.

We have been near Mt. Saint Helens the past few days. Jai received a Junior Geologist badge and had fun with the ranger administering the pledge. Never a dull moment with this guy.
Yesterday I drove up as far as I could to see Mt. Saint Helens. There was a landslide that took out the road to Johnson Visitors Center and it will not be replaced until 2027. They just celebrated the 43rd anniversary of the eruption in May. We had been here when we traveled to an MG car show but the area was still desolate and grey. It is amazing to see the work the tree companies had done planting and harvesting trees. They mark each area with date it was planted and date it was or will be harvested. The area is thriving and so beautiful.

We took a bus tour of the area visiting Columbia Gorge and River area, Multnonah Falls and brunch at the Falls Lodge, Bonneville Dam and Fish Hatchery. We rode up the Oregon side and down Washington side seeing the beautiful scenery.

Yesterday we went on a jet boat tour that started in Washington, traveled into Idaho and Oregan in the Snake River. Our outfitter was so knowledgeable of the tributaries along the way and history of the region. We made stops along the way to explain the layers of rocks, how they came about, lots of wildlife, and history of the whole area. We left at 10:30am, stopped for a great lunch at the company site and returned about 5pm. The weather was perfect and so much fun, we saw eagles, osprey, numerous types of herons, big horn sheep, mule deer, coyote and petroglyphs.
Today we traveled from Washington through Idaho and ended up just outside of Pendelton Oregon.