Mount Saint Helens Up Close

This is the side of the mountain we usually see.  It's the back side (north side) of the mountain the eruption devastated.  That was where we were heading.

The month of July Cathy gets off work and gets a little time to play.  We decided this would be a good time to go experience some Northwest attractions we hadn't yet.  One of those attractions was the Johnson Observatory of Mount Saint Helens.  Grandma G, Aunt Cathy, Carson, McKenna and I took a day trip to this historical place.  Most of our Mount Saint Helens experiences: camping, hiking, boating, etc. have taken place on the other side (South) of the mountain.  It was very interesting to see the volcano from the opposite side.

The observatory was educational and really opened your eyes to the power of nature and the devastation behind the May 18, 1980 eruption.  They had video, guides and tours and a museum to walk through.  The situation after the eruption was bad on the South side of the mountain, but to see the devastation on the North side (even 30+ years later) was eye opening.

We were able to hike a trail along the observatory ridge.  It was a lot of fun and had some spectacular views.  It was amazing to see what little life had returned to this side of the mountain since the blast, but we did find some.

I summit-ted the crater a few years ago, but even more now than ever I want to hike the circumference trail of the mountain.

Could this be the once beautiful retreat of Spirit Lake finally returning?

Spirit Lake Before 1980

Spirit Lake August 2012

It was a great day!

Loss of Wisdom or Just Teeth?

At the end of July Austin had his wisdom teeth removed.  It was not a pretty sight and seemed to take forever to heal.  It will be a long time before Austin wants another smoothie!

Dirty Dashin’ With Dad: As Experienced by Austin

Eric and the boys wanted to spend some quality man time together this summer.  Thanks to Groupon they scored a deal to participate in the Dirty Dash.  Here is the adventure through Austin's eyes:

We started off the journey in dad’s truck and drove for a few hours down to Eugene Oregon where the Dirty Dash was taking place. We camped overnight in the truck and had the breakfast of champions, pop tarts and water. 

(Mom's note:  Carson must have had the camera during the drive ;)

Austin Sneezing

Dad Singing

Carson enjoying the scenery.

Champions fueled and ready to go.

We drove for a bit and arrived at a big field packed with thousands of people. Showers were off to one side filled with hundreds of muddy runners and thousands more were roaming around in costumes and having a good time. Carson and I were both wondering what we’d let dad talk us into. We started off the race behind a huge starting line packed with a few hundred runners. The pack thinned out and all three of the Sork gang stuck together through the first few obstacles of mud pits, hay bales, and climbing walls. Carson and I ran ahead of dad as his old legs started giving out and we quickly ran by the beer stop (halfway through the race where runners were stopping to have a good time drinking beer and getting tipsy).

We finished the race and had a blast climbing over cargo nets, monkey bars and tons more mud pits and mud slides. We crossed the finish line and cheered on dad as he finished just a little behind us.  

Fun for the boys, they had the camera and got to catch Dad in action.

We were caked head to toe in mud and grime, so we lined up and waited in line for an hour for the showers. The worst part of the whole ordeal was sitting and waiting for the showers because the mud hardened and itched on our skin. 

"These were some of my favorite socks."

 It was a great experience to have with our dad and we’ll be able to remember it for years to come due to our mud stained shirts and happy memories. Thanks Dad!

Happy Birthday, Eric!

To celebrate Eric's Birthday this year we had a family BBQ at the park.  One of the few years Eric has actually been at home to celebrate his own birthday.  Eric’s Mom made him his traditional birthday cake, zucchini bread, and placed the birthday candle puzzler with care.  Can you tell how old he is this year?

While the Parents Are Away, The Kids Will Play

McKenna enjoyed her third year of cheer camp with Kennedy and Cassidy Rushing.  These girls and their friends have been on the Union High School Cheer Squad and Dance Team.  To earn money for their summer activities and school events, the girls put on a camp in their backyard and teach the "up-and-comers" some of the ins and outs of being a part of these teams.  This year McKenna invited her cousin, Kylie to participate with her.  They had a good time spending the week together.  And added bonus was having Grandma helpthem make their t-shirts for performance day.  I was glad I made it home just in time for the show.  

Barcelona Day 6: Terragona

We felt like we had seen all of Barcelona and walked almost every street there was to walk.  What a great way to see this city, we would have missed so much had we not walked the streets.  I don’t know that we ever got our bearings in the Gothic quarter even with all the walking.  If we saw a shop or restaurant we were interested in, we had to stop then and there because we would never find our way back to it later.  We would have missed way too much of this city had we driven from location to location.

On our last day we wanted to spend a day outside of the city. We chose to take the train, a form of transportation we hadn't experienced yet in this country, along the coast to Terragona.

After a whole week in Spain, Eric was feeling pretty confident with his language skills and didn’t think the train station would be a problem.  It was rather comical when we found the only ticket machine we could use was in Catalonian.  After a frustrating ten minutes we had to ask for help, something Eric hates to do, but we finally had tickets in hand and still plenty of time to catch the train we wanted.

Looking over the town of Terragona to the sea.

Terragona is a quaint little town, it gleams on the Mediterranean coastline with little whitewashed  buildings, beautiful gardens and charming little shops.  The cobblestone streets wind their way up into the hillside overlooking the bright blue sea and taking advantage of the breeze passing off the water.

A hillside of cute shops and restaurants with winding cobblestone streets leading to the cathedral sitting above the town.

We enjoyed a fabulous fruit smoothie while walking through the Roman ruins and gardens. We saw a well preserved Roman Coliseum and Circus and visited what was rumored to be the summer home of Pontius Pilot's family and where it was believed he was born.  

Eric at the Roman Amphitheater

The Pilot summer home sitting above the Roman Circus.

Hipolito's sarcophagus was displayed in one of the history museums.  It had been found in the sea near Terragona.  The bas-relief sculpture depicted his mythological story of Hipolito's story:  The son of Theseus who was killed after rejecting the advances of his stepmother who in her spurn convinced Theseus that Hipolito had raped her.  Theseus then used one of his three wishes from Poseidon to curse Hipolito.  Poseidon sent a sea monster to terrorize Hipolito's horses, who in their fear dragged him to death. I wish I had gotten a picture of the side that depicted that part of the myth.  It was too hard to get with the lighting.

One of the best meals we had was in a plaza in this cute little town.  We didn't know for sure what we were getting, but when it came we were pleasantly surprised.   

 I loved the olives while we were in Spain. I wouldn't eat these in the states, but they were delicious here.  The tomato and feta salads with olive oil and balsamic was also a favorite!  Mmm, the salmon I had at the taxidermy shop was divine too.  I guess we had a lot of good meals - I'm just not a tapas fan.

Our time in this little town was too short.

The beach was magnificent!  Had we known better, we would have spent a few days enjoying sun and sand here before returning home.  This little side trip was definitely worth the headache of the train station.  It was a great way to end our Barcelona experience.

Though all was not said and done...here is what we had to deal with at the Barcelona airport:

No wonder we couldn't find our flight information to Philadelphia, PA!  We were looking under "P" not "F".  Not even Eric's knowledge of Spanish wasn't going to help us with that one.  What an adventure!

Barcelona Day 5: Park Güell

Monday morning we decided to try a mode of public transportation we hadn’t experienced yet in Spain, the buses.  We could use our metro passes to use the city bus system too.  That seemed to be the best way to get to Park Güell and our final Gaudi experience in Barcelona.

We were packed in the bus like a bunch of sardines.  That was an up close and personal view of the people of Spain.  We also met some other nice tourists on their way to the park.  Even though Eric had a hard time understanding Catolian, he was better off than the other tourists and it showed in our navigation of the city bus routes and understanding when and where to get off.  The other tourists were grateful, and there were a lot of other tourists!

It was a beautiful day to walk through the park, and there were lots of quiet corners and shady groves off the beaten path where you could find a place to sit and relax away from the mass of people at the park’s main attractions. 

After seeing all of Gaudi’s architecture it was fun to see his imaginative side unleashed on the landscape and development of land.  Again his vision and attention to detail was inspiring and the visual impact of the park created a sense of relaxation and fun for anyone who entered.

The most comfortable (REALLY!) stone bench in the world. Gaudi was amazing with ergonomics.

Not even his aqueduct system lacked design.

The ceiling of the carriage staging area for community gatherings.

While touring the park we met a local artist, Josè, who took Gaudi’s work and turned it into something of his own.  If you hold the picture one direction you would see Gaudi’s art, if you turned it another direction, you would see Josè’s art melded with Gaudi’s style.

After spending much of the day at the park, Eric said it was time to take a nap!  This was a vacation after all.

Upon returning from the Park we went to the Placa Reial to catch a Flamenco show.  The dancing was very fun to watch, but my favorite part of the show was the Guitarist.  He was amazing to watch!

For dinner?  Tapas, of course.  Squid rings, cod bites, croquets, papas braves, Mediterranean salad, Iberian ham, artisan bread,a cheese plate, the best olives ever with peppers and onions in olive oil and reduced balsalmic vinegar. 

To top the evening off we found a gelato shop…YUMMY!  True gelato tastes nothing like the gelato we have in the states.