patriotic jell-o

I got to visit my wonderful home state of Washington over the 4th of July. Went home with the big sis to entertain the parents. As soon as we got home we left for Hood River, Oregon to stay there overnight. On the way I got to see one of those fabulous western sunsets you just don't get in Utah.

The next morning we got up and Dad took me and G whitewater rafting on the White Salmon River in Washinton. It was a blast! Our river guide was Keenan and he was very chill. I was kind of jealous that he gets to spend his summers goofing around on a river. He knew a lot about the history of the river and was the typical western washingtonian/granola/save the salmon that you'd expect. At one point he made me sit on the front of the raft to "ride the bull." I went through a stretch of rapids this way and got soaked. Also I kept falling into the laps of the couple that was in front of us. Poor people.

After rafting we drove towards Mt. St. Helens. On the way we stopped for a picnic lunch by a waterfall. A lot of curvy roads later, we made it to Mt. St. Helens but the weather was bad and clouds were obscuring the mountain. I did see the areas where all the trees were killed by the volcano during the eruption 30 years ago. It still doesn't have a whole lot growing there. Then we made our way to Randle, Washington to stay the night. The hotel was a little sketch, but we made do. I thought it was funny, but G didn't like that the box spring on her bed had blood on it. Mom joked that dateline had probably done a story about a murder in Randle. But it wasn't that bad, I called the local movie theater to see what was playing and at what times, the guy sounded confused as he told me their one showing of The Karate Kid had already started at 7:30. But it was so small town America, I felt patriotic and American seeing the sights of my state. In the morning we went to this pancake breakfast/flea market to support the local firefighters. They had a lot of good stuff at the flea market, better than DI.

After that we headed up to Mt. Rainier National Park. More curvy roads that tended to rock me to sleep more than make me sick. It was really beautiful in the park, but again, couldn't see the darn mountain. There was even snow at the visitor's park close to the mountain. Dad, G and I tried a short hike, but we were on top of six feet of snow. I fell a lot. We heard there was someone missing on the mountain and the helicopters were looking for him. Having just seen Vertical Limit I was freaking out. Everyone who tried to climb that stupid mountain died. I don't know what happened to the missing hiker. On the way out we did the hike to the Grove of the Patriarchs. Really pretty tall trees. On the way home we stopped in Yakima, Washington to get Miners, a great burger place that makes burgers as big as your face and shakes in any flavor. Yum!

Other highlights of going home include the barbeque dinner that I requested dish by dish. BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, canteloupe, potato salad, and this patriotic jell-o that my mom makes. Basically red and blue jell-o with coolwhip but it makes me feel more American when I eat it. Also, going to the pool, Zips (a burger place that is better than In-N-Out), Dairy Queen (I know, all I do when I go home is eat), cliff jumping in Othello, watching neighbors set off illegal fireworks and hanging out with the fam and friends. I love summertime in Washington and I'm glad I got a dollop this year.