I recall hearing on the news about a businessman who was in Spokane when St. Helens erupted, and he absolutely had to be back in Seattle for a meeting the following day (Monday). All airlines, including the one he was booked on, had grounded their planes. Busses weren't running either, and train connections were such that he couldn't make the meeting in time. He was stuck.

So he hit a taxicab stand and asked one of the drivers to take him to Seattle, offering the cabby a big enough wad of money that he figured he couldn't refuse. But the cabby did.   "Driving through that ash fall would wreck my cab's engine! No way!" So the businessman came up with an idea, and the cabby went for it. They dropped by a couple of auto supply stores and bought every air filter they had in stock, loading the trunk and the back seat with them. Then they picked up a bunch of filter masks for themselves and took off for Seattle. Every few miles they would pull over to the side of the highway and change the air filter.

He put the cabby up in a Seattle hotel and made his meeting okay. Presumably the cab driver got back to Spokane okay with a fat wallet, a more-or-less intact automobile, and a story to tell.

I remember following the recommendation of a newscast and buying a package of filter masks that fit over the nose and mouth (sort of like a surgical mask, but stouter) that filtered out particulate matter, just in case.   A day or two later, there weren't any to be had in the city. Turns out we didn't need them, so they're sitting on a closet shelf (I think).

I've heard that Mt. Rainier has a lot of potential. Now that sucker could make quite a mess!

Don Firth