A Memorial Weekend

A dormant mountain came alive. Written following prompt for contest.

May eighteenth of nineteen eighty
A dormant mountain came alive
Exploding boiling mud and ash
Fifty-seven victims did not survive

Sadly most lost their life that day
Because officials failed to foresee
The scale of the disaster area
Inside the 'Red Zone' - only three

Trees lay flattened on the ground
Seventeen miles from the crater
Mt.St.Helens sent plumes of ash
Blocking out the sun hours later

Volcanic ash began falling like snow
Reaching Montana at surprising rate
Measuring wide catasrophic scope
From a major eruption in another state

Two weeks passed before our invite
Convinced now we had nothing to fear
Loaded our camper packed up crew
For Memorial Day in Oregon that year

About halfway white stuff began falling
Seems St. Helens wasn't through yet
Finally we arrived outside of Portland
Ash covered everything like a blanket

Sought refuge inside during entire visit
Drove back through ash along the I-5 strip
Plastic bags filled served as souvenirs
We'll never forget our memorable trip!