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By Ginger (Virginia) Andersen (Hartel)
Our story is the second eruption on May 25, 1980, which blew over Rainbow Falls State Park (west of Centralia). My 11-year-old daughter, Tami Hartel, wrote about her experience. She still has the note and the ash that she collected. Both were put in a jar. It was an experience that stays with you.
“We were camping with Rick, Maureen, Eric, Terri, Steve, Jeremy, Nana, Tami Day (Tami Hartel’s friend), Ginger, Suzie, Zach, at Rainbow Falls Park, Washington.
“Tami woke up Sunday morning, ash was everywhere looked like mud fell from the sky like rain and snow and got in hair and felt like a lot of hairspray was on everyone’s head. We packed up everything real fast, things got ash on them, and it was icky. Drove home with Terri and Steve in a VW. We stopped most every five minutes to clean the windows. At Rainbow Falls, the sky was muddy water mixed with yellow color. We got some ash for a souvenir to show people. I thought it was very exciting to be in on it when she blew.”