A new chapter begins

On May 6th, 2012, The Noels got a puppy. He is a  Golden Retriever/ Springer Spaniel mix. He has the face of a Golden along with the body, and yet the wavy ears of a Springer. His name is Rocky. Yesterday he turned 13 weeks old. When we got him, he was 9 weeks. We got him at Harvest Hills animal shelter in Freyeburg, Maine. Quite a ways away, but worth it all the while.Here's a picture of him. I'll upload more later.

Last Day/ Home

We went to Mt. Saint Helens on our last day (that's the one that erupted in 1980!) and it was really awesome. It didn't just blow out of the top, like a normal volcano, but it blew out of the side, too! We drove around on it. It wasn't as big as a park as mt. Rainer, but it was still cool. We drove through a cloud!! That was really cool. I stuck my hand out the window. I've always wondered what a cloud felt like... but I won't give it away for those of you who wonder, too. Then we went to none-other than... BIGFOOT COUNTRY!!!!! There was a huge sculpture of Bigfoot made of fiber-glass and some other materiel but I don't remember what it was. On the flight home, it was like 6:00 AM, so we got to see the sunrise. We saw the top of Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainer, and Mt. Baker. It was really cool. So, now I'm home, and I'm returning to school tomorrow. We had a greatly awesomely incredible time. This is the end of my blog until we travel again. So, Goodbye!!! ;)

 Did I tell you how much my brother likes getting dirty?? Hahaha

This is where the picture of the bridge is.

This is where some lava spilt down.

Mount Rainer

Today we went to Mt. Rainer. It's huge!!! Here are some facts about Mount Rainer:

• It is a SuperVolcano, that is still active. It's latest eruption was in 1894. Rainer erupted at least a dozen times in the last 2,600 years, with it's biggest 2,200 years ago.
• It is Washington's highest mountain.
• It is the Worlds 21st most prominent mountain at a total of  14,410 feet high. It is the most prominent mountain in the lower 48 states.
• Native Americans called the mountain Tahoma, Tacoma, or Tahol from a Lushootseed word meaning "mother of waters" and a Skagit word meaning "great white mountain".

Here's some pictures:

Sitting on some rocks...

 I got my picture taken with a ranger! I didn't catch her name though...

 This was under a bridge. About 200 feet under a bridge, actually. The falls are called Christine Falls.

 This was sooooo beautiful, it didn't even look real.

 this lil' cutie was sitting there just taking a look at us!

 Some of the snowbanks were above 15 feet!

 This was at the top of the mountain we were driving up.

Mt. Rainer!

This tree is HUGE!!!

Cabela's

Today we went to Cabela's in Lacey, W.A..It was HUGE!!!!!! There was a big mountain in the middle with animals that had been shot and then stuffed. On the base of it, there was a pool with live Salmon in it. There was 2 floors, a grill, a shooting video game, and another shooting game. Also, on the second floor, there was a African Wildlife display with some animals that would be native to Africa. Here's some pictures.

April 2nd, 2012

Today we did lots of stuff in Seattle. It's a hour drive, so we had to make a day out of going to the city. First we went to the Seattle Aquarium, and there was a presentation. At the presentation, I learned that some fish can live to be 140 years old! Then we had lunch. Next we went to Pike's Place Market, where the fishermen threw the fish. Then we went to the Space Needle, but we didn't go to the top. Then we went and saw some sculptures, and finally we went home. Here's some pictures. Sorry that they're out of order.

 This is a picture of a scuba-diver holding a wolf-eel.

 I got to touch lots of star-fish and sea-urchens. They felt wierd!

 These are Moon Jelly-fish.

 This is an octopus.

 I went riding on a whale!

 Me in front of the sign at the entrance of Pike's Place.

 Tons of nutella!!! Yummmm

 I took this picture. i'm not sure of what kind of fish it is, though.

 This is the fish market, where the guys that work there throw lots of fish around. They usually catch it, but not always. When we were there, one guy missed some crab. Oopsies!

 This was at the veggie/fruit shop.

 Space Needle!!!!

 We also went to a furniture shop. This is a face-less clock.

 I stood on the sculpture!!!

Well, that was difficult.

NorthwesTrek Wildlife Park

Today we went to The NorthwesTrek Wildlife Park. We saw tons of animals, and we went on a tram scenic ride and saw lots of animals there, to. John and Jess took lots of good pictures with their camera. Here are some of the animals we saw. The amount of animals you see here is probably about 1/6 of what we saw today. Can't wait to see you guys!

 This beaver was doing a show, and he was sratching at his leash.

 This was  injured Eagle. He couldn't fly, so they just left the cage open.

 This is a American Bald Eagle. He was injured as well.

 We saw this female moose right when we got onto the tram.

 This little sheep was molting, so he looks pretty rugged.

 This bison seemed very tired!

 These two little trouble-makers were walking right in the middle of the road.

 Did you know mountain goats can weigh up to 300 lbs.?

 There were tons of elk on the tram ride.

 This is a grizzly bear... shhh!

 This coyote was going crazy! He kept running around in circles!

 This bob-cat didn't seem to like humans to much...

 You're getting very sleepy....

This is a cougar, also known as a mountain lion.

This tree is 640 years old. I did the math!

This is a silly otter.