10th and Lawrence Streets, N.E. Washington D.C. 20017
Rose .... Peering into Volcanos
Sounds like you had a fun trip to Seattle! Did you go to the Space Needle?
I would like to go to Washington state some day. I hear it's really
beautiful, especially near the bays and harbors. Is the cost of living
high? Apparently they don't devote much tax money to museums, zoos, etc. or
the entrance fees wouldn't be so high.
Three years ago when we were travelling in Indonesia, my son was doing a
science report on volcanos. (He was home schooled that semester and had to
submit his work to a teacher for evaluation and credit.) We visited Mt.
Bromo in eastern Java. It was on a vast plain with another volcano and
several mountains. The terrain around it looked like moon-scape because of
the lack of vegetation.
One afternoon it rained a typical monsoon-type downpour while we were there
and it was just amazing watching the landscape transform before our eyes.
Gulches were cut, paths obliterated and the water ran off so fast, the
ground probably wasn't wet more than 1/4" deep! We hiked back to the nearby
town (about 1 mile away) and bought soup to warm ourselves, which seemed a
little weird since the weather is so incredibly hot without the temperature
lowering effects of a rain.
The next morning we arose in the dark and hiked out to the rim of the
volcano to witness the sunrise. (Asians love sunrises.) We were crowded
onto a rim with no guardrail and about 200 other people. The sunrise was
quite lovely. Afterward, in the interest of science, Braden and I decided
to circle the volcano on the rim. In places the path was so narrow and the
footing so loose, we found ourselves crawling on all fours. The view into
the volcano was intimidating with the hole in the center belching
sulfurous smoke. It was a very exciting adventure, a great way to study
volcanos, I think.
On the way back to town this time, we rented horses because we were
supposed to catch a bus and we were running late. The brisk ride was a fun
prelude to being stuffed into a van with 29 other people, but that's
another story.
Willow's first week of college seemed to go well. She also started a job at
a local bed and breakfast. Our exchange student from Brazil got mildly lost
on his way to high school, but the bus driver was kind enough to make a
special trip to deliver him on his first day. We hear from Braden that he
has started school and that the attendance rules are loose--so much so that
his teachers don't always show up.
It's getting amazingly cool at night! Elsie, are you getting any hurricane
rain yet?
Rose