Apparently comments somehow got turned off, so for you thousands out there just gagging to comment on our travels you're now at liberty to do so...
After the success of Crater Lake we decided to make a double header of it and head right off to another volcano... this time Mount St Helens... far to the north and over the boarder in the state of Washington. We had a lot of miles to cover so I roused the gang early and asked them to make me some damn breakfast... that didn't really go according to plan so I got up and got some breakfast myself... ingrates.
When you've got a lot of miles to cover by car theres really only one way to go here in the states, and thats by interstate. Zipping along on 2,3,4 or more lanes at 70 miles an hour and over. Its fast, flat but far from fun...
The only fun to be had is looking at the blue information signs that start pop up as you near every major cross road showing every interesting fast food joint with names like Arbys and Carls Jnr.... I have no idea what these places sell but feel it would be interesting to find out sometime... in the same way that it would be interesting to find out how it would be to loose a finger... The fast food places swarm like gnats around these glowing intersections of commerce as the Interstate passes high above. The only sign we have from the car that theres any habitation nearby is the gangle of neon fast food signs jutting up on their long rusting legs.
Apart from this the interstate seems to have been designed to 
remove any possible driver distraction and all evidence of habitation while you drive... for mile after dangerously speeding mile all that be seen is the flat farming plains, truck after truck and the occasion strange twisting form of a willy willy tossing a frustrated farmers freshly cut hay hundres of meters into the air in some strange juggling game. Every town is either passed way over or hidden behind high sound walls.
Off the interstate though things get much more interesting. You can take any road, go in any direction and I bet that within five miles you'll come across some interesting new small town, with a colourful and intersting (though short) mainstreet with a bank, petrol station, pizza joint and a waetherboard bar, with ubiquitous neon COORS and OPEN signs flashing in the window. These towns are everywhere... in Australia even in the populated areas you sometimes have to drive for hours just to bo so bitterly dissapointed to find out the next town is Dubbo or Bungendore... but these small towns are the kind of place you just wish you had a few more moments to explore, or to talk with some of the locals.
But no, the svelte and sexy interstate with its sevently mile an hour allure is calling... and when you've so much ground to cover that 70 miles an hour helps make up for any missed opportunities... and there's always next time... right?
