Kalama High School - Twilight site

Between Mount St. Helen's and Portland, heading south on I-5, lies the small town of Kalama, Washington. If I hadn't read it in a tourist brochure, I would not have learned that Kalama is the site of the famous high school used in filming the movie Twilight. Upon entering the town, I expected more fanfare about the movie; after all, it must have been the most exciting thing to have happened in Kalama for quite some time, I'm sure. The town is actually quite picturesque, as it rises steeply from the highway; the school is located at the top of a hill and there is a nice view of the surrounding area from up there. The only evidence that there had been a movie filmed there was a small plastic container with maps of the school grounds for those interested in taking the "Twilight tour". The photo shows the famous parking lot where Bella almost crashed her truck, and Edward saved her.

Mount St. Helen's 30th anniversary

August 1 we took a road trip to Mount St. Helen's, Washington. It was about an hour's drive from I-5, with several interpretive centers along the way, featuring different aspects of the mountain's history and explaining the science behind the volcano's magnificent eruption back in 1980. I remember the event, but as I was not living in BC at the time, I don't think I realized just how incredible it really was. The personal accounts of people who witnessed or survived the eruption were fascinating to read, and the video footage was spectacular. One of the big stories of the event was that of Harry Truman, a resident who had lived all his life at the foot of the mountain and refused to leave when the evacuation order was given. He made the international news at the time and his story is now legend.

The Komo 4 news car is now parked outside one of the interpretive centers, as a monument to the eruption. It is still covered in the ash that blackened the skies of Washington after the blast.
Amazingly enough, due to the wonders of physics, the people closest to the blast heard nothing. I found it humourous that "a Canadian town" doesn't appear to have a name. I guess if it's not Vancouver, it's too small to acknowledge.
At the highest point of the highway, we got a good view of the summit of the volcano. In this photo, our interpreter is getting us to reconstruct the original peak with our hands, to show how much of the mountain was blown away during the blast.