https://www.npr.org/2020/05/18/85482...helens-erupted
I was staying in a cabin with my parents near Kalispell when it erupted. I remember seeing the dark cloud coming while we were outside barbecuing. The next day ash covered everything. I took some to school for show and tell.
Volcanos are amazing and scary as hell. Having half a mountain blow up and scatter ash for hundreds of miles is like a hydrogen bomb being detonated.