Was fishing for crappie off old the I 90 bridge at Moses Lake when we saw this huge cloud south of us. At first we all thought it was a thunderstorm. Then the wife came out and said “The mountain just blew." We went back to our camper and watched the most awesome thunder and lightning. I drank beer and read a book while the wife tried to catch an ash sample in a saucer on the hood of the truck. By 2:00 PM it was completely dark.
We were stuck at the park for three days. We spent the time at the ranger's house helping stranded motorist. We were taken out by convoy with water truck wetting down the ash for more than 30 miles. It was quite an adventure to say the least.
I walked to downtown Moses Lake the next day and it was strange. Not a soul out. Within 48 hours the Grant County sheriff had no operating vehicles. I remember the sheriff’s office coming on the radio and telling us that they could not respond. If we had a problem we should try to solve it.