The Pacific Northwest is truly a breathtaking place, not to mention the fact that the temperature is pretty awesome.
Washington
Pine trees in Washington
Our plan was to see Mt. St. Helens in Washington. We ended up arriving a little later than we expected, so we decided to postpone that until the next day. In the mean time, we drove around and admired what was around us.
It was getting dark soon after we got into Washington, so we got some nice sunset views.
The next morning we set out to see Mount St. Helens. Our GPS took us to a trailhead where we could actually hike to the volcano. Unfortunately, you had to have a permit to do the hike. It would also have taken quite some time to hike there, and we didn’t really have the extra days worth of time to do so.
The road that led us there was unpaved and was quite rough. If you ever go, it might not be a bad idea to have an SUV, although that definitely didn’t stop people (including us).
We saw the thermostat drop rather quickly in our car as we ascended up the mountain.
Mt. St Helens
When we finally got to the parking area, the first thing we noticed was the snow on the ground. This was pretty unusual for us, as I have never seen snow up close in the middle of July before.
Visitor Information
The only real negative thing about the way that our GPS took us was the fact that we didn’t ever have a really good and clear view of the volcano. It was definitely still a fun experience though.
Oregon
After spending a little time wandering around, we decided to head to Portland.
Eating at a food truck in Portland seemed like the right idea. I have never seen such a large food truck gathering before! The options were pretty vast. “The Grilled Cheese Grill” had the longest line, so we took that as a good sign. The wait was about 20 minutes, which was expected given the length of the line. I would like to say that the wait was worth it.
We then went for dessert.
An awesome vegan bakery
We went to “Petunia’s Pies & Pastries” after lunch due to its high reviews. I got vegan chocolate ice cream and I was not disappointed. They had a large selection and everything pretty much looked delicious.
After leaving Portland we started making our way to San Rafael, California where we had camping reservations for the next day. We decided just to drive as far as we felt like that day and see where we ended up.
We saw a sign for something called Silver Falls and thought that we should check it out.
It was a nice place to stop and relax for a few minutes.
Northern California
After driving for a bit into California, we saw yet another volcano. This time we had a much better view.
Mt Shasta
We just kept getting closer and closer to it, which was awesome. Our views just kept getting better.
Our hotel that night looked like something out of an old horror movie, but I kind of liked it anyway.
-Haley
The scenery is gorgeous, but that grilled cheese. Yum
Yes! They were so good! 🙂
Love those volcanoes! And yes, the hotel room does like kinda scary. Glad it wasn’t, though! Sometimes movies make us scared of things that we really shouldn’t be scared of, like sharks.
I loved seeing the volcanoes so much, this was my first experience seeing any. And that is so very true, you have an excellent point! Thanks for reading! 🙂
Volcanoes 😍😍😍
They’re so interesting and beautiful! 🙂
Beautiful pictures and very inviting to travel to these places.
Thank you so much! I truly enjoyed all of these areas!
Great post! I’ll definitely be putting this on my bucket list!
Thank you, I appreciate it! Volcanoes are truly amazing to see.
Such a great adventure! How nice it is to see a volcano (behind Mt. Shasta) in its ‘glory’. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks so much for reading! 🙂
I think I saw views of Mt Shasta and Mt St Helens a million times, and it never gets old! I did not get to get as close as you did though- what an adventure. It would have been a such a great hike. And food trucks in Portland? ALWAYS a good idea. Thanks for sharing!!
Oh I can imagine seeing them 100 times and still loving it! I’m very glad I had the chance to try one of those food trucks! Thanks for reading! 🙂
Wow looks like such an amazing place! Would love to travel America someday
Grilled cheese truck and Silver Creek Falls… making me miss home over here!
Thank you for the follow!
I rented a vehicle for a Colorado trip. I’d reserved a standard sedan. None were available. The substitution was a Hyundai hatchback. In the Colorado backcountry! It was a nice little car for city driving, but it was definitely not my first choice for the red clay roads. We both returned to the airport safely and I got a good story from the experience.
Wow! I’m sure that wasn’t what you expected at all! I bet it was amazing to drive in the Colorado backcountry. I’m sure it’s so beautiful out there! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
What fabulous pictures!!