Our first stop was Mount St. Helens National Park. This was the last in the chain of volcanic mountains we visited on our trip and another chance to discuss geology. Mount St. Helens erupted when Jerry and I were in grade school, and we both remember ash in the air as far away as Sacramento. So, it was particularly interesting to show the boys what the volcano looked like before what looked like the entire top blew off and to see how the devastated area had recovered.
Mount St. Helens
After leaving the park, we drove into Portland to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. I cannot recommend this science center more highly. It is enormous and contains an endless variety of hands-on activities across the spectrum of scientific disciplines. In short, it was the boys' idea of heaven. Again, I can't begin to do this museum justice in a few photographs, but I will give a few highlights. This is an overview of just one side of one of the exhibit hall at OMSI.
Here is the other side of that same exhibit hall.
Kipp watching humans use robots to play a game where the robots drop balls into the gray grid to form a line.
Landry watching an experiment in the chemistry lab.
A body heat exhibit (I think this would make a very neat Christmas card photo if we had gotten the whole family.)
OMSI had an entire room devoted to balls and tubing and vaccuum-like engines to propel them. The tubes even leave the room and arc across the exhibit hall so you can watch balls roll on the second story. The boys couldn't get enough of this.
Again, this is just a small sample of the exhibits to see at OMSI. I simply can't do justice to this museum in one blog post.
After leaving OMSI with great reluctance, we found our final lodgings in Salem. The next morning, we visited our last museum, the A. C. Gilbert Discovery Village in Salem. The only words to describe this attraction are quaint and charming. The village consists of three Victorian houses set around an amazing play area. All three houses contain exhibits. I would say that this is better for younger children, but we made the most of it.
Galen watching a turtle
Outdoor water exhibit
Amazing outdoor play structure
The history behind the museum is really pretty interesting as well. A. C. Gilbert was, among other things, a toy maker who made many popular educational toys. I wish we had more toy makers like him today.
The stomach room (ala Magic School Bus)
The bubble room
With that and a long drive home, we ended our first family road trip. So, now you know how a bookworm, a geek and their three geeklets vacation.
With that and a long drive home, we ended our first family road trip. So, now you know how a bookworm, a geek and their three geeklets vacation. 
Waiting for the bridge to open. 
Overall, it was a lovely day in one of our favorite cities. ]]>
In Ashland, we found Science Works Hands-On Museum. This museum is smaller, but the boys made the most of it.
Renegade, a very cute resident of Science Works 
Galen absorbed in an energy exhibit.
Kipp with an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine on recycling.
From Ashland, we chose to make the the long drive directly to Seattle and arrived there by nightfall. ]]>
From Ashland, we drove to the coast and stayed in Bandon for two nights. But, that's the subject of another blog post. 
Wildflowers
The boys found one of the few remaining patches of snow and made the best of it.
Another shot of the gorgeous scenery.
An overview of the four-story rainforest biodome at the Academy. The water you see at the bottom is part of another huge aquarium you can walk under on the lower floor.
There were way too many beautiful animals at the zoo to include in this post. These are just a few of my favorite shots.
Capybara
