Home Sweet Home

Once Upon a Cold and Blustery Day....

Today, our last day, we picked up the light rail at the base of Mt. Hood and spent the afternoon in Portland.

Today it was cold and rainy, unlike yesterday which was perfect.

What do you do on a cold and rainy day? You find a good chocolate maker and have rich, dark hot chocolate.

We also just happened to stumble across my favorite microbrew in the world—Rogue Ales. What a coincidence.

Portland has some beautiful parks. My favorite is the Waterfront Park that runs for several miles along the Willamette River. It's easy to tell why they stay so green.

Portland is a great walking city and has a certain character all its own.

I’ll close with some Oregon yard art. This one’s for Paul.

And tomorrow we’re home and ready to be there. Barb is missing Rasta terribly.

Here Kitty, Kitty

We spent yesterday at Cannon Beach. The impossible task today is to pick just a few pictures for the blog. We were told this is one of the most beautiful places in the world, but we were still in awe of the beauty and diversity. Here’s a small taste.

We started off hiking in Ecola State Park, which is a rainforest bordering the ocean. One minute your hiking in rainforest, the next your in a clearing with breath taking views of the ocean.

The plan was to hike 1 ½ miles through the rainforest to the next parking lot and then return for a 3-mile hike.

But…

…about a mile into the hike we decided to turn back a little early. I may have forgotten to mention the posted warning to Barb until after the hike. Silly girl thought there was a bear out there. I kept assuring her it was not a bear.

I don't know, what do you think...?

After our day at the beach we were starving and looking for seafood. Cannon Beach had a seafood restaurant, “Ecola Seafood” (real name). Somebody might want to take a marketing class at a local college. We passed on that and drove down to Oceanside and ate at “Roseanne’s” (much more appealing name) where we had a wonderful lunch with a gorgeous ocean view.

We finished our day with a tour of Tillamook Cheese Factory and a few scoops of Tillamook ice cream—very tasty.

I think we’ll spend our last day taking the light rail into Portland and walking around. Then we’ll have a nice homemade dinner with local produce and finish off the last of the wine…we can’t carry it on the plane.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Well, as planned we stayed home and rested. We did fall asleep on the couch, but nobody was around to take our picture so you’ll just have to imagine us sleeping on the couch below.

We did go to the fitness room and we worked out for an hour and a half. Who does that on their vacation?

Barb also used the cheeses, roasted peppers, and tomatoes we bought at the Farmers’ Market to make the best grilled cheese sandwich I ever had.

Tonight we went up to the Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood and consumed 10 times the amount of calories we burned up in the gym, but it was worth it. Everything was perfect. However, I was disappointed that they didn’t have any oysters from one of the nearby bays. I just won’t eat the kind that come from the mountain.

It was also nice because we actually got to see Mt. Hood. All week long it’s been behind clouds. We also got to see snow. As you can see, we were right at the snow line.

Here’s Barb once again staying inside where it’s warm while her husband is out freezing in the cold.

Next stop is Cannon Beach--from the highest point to the lowest.

What A Blast!

After 500 miles of driving the past two days, we’re happy to be back in our condo. At least it was 500 miles of gorgeous scenery.

Blackberries and blueberries grow like weeds around here, which makes you wonder why they cost so much in a grocery store in Phoenix.

Here’s a view of Mt. St. Helens from the hiking trail, which I was on by myself because my wife thought it was too cold, wet, and windy on the side of a Washington mountain in October to go hiking—wimp. I had a great time by myself while she sat in a warm movie theater.

Mt. St. Helens before I was abandoned.

Here’s some of the devastation you can still see 28 years later. Thousands of very large trees were snapped like twigs. It may not show up well here, but you can click on these pictures and get full-size photos so you can see the detail.

Just before we left, some of the clouds started to clear so that we could get a better view of the crater from the explosion.

During my hike I walked up on some deer. You definitely need to click on this picture. Do you see them both?

I was here 10 or 12 years ago and it still seemed pretty devastated. Since then a lot of the trees they planted have grown into thick forest. They planted a lot of these noble firs. The funny thing is that as you look at them, you feel like you can't focus your eyes. The way they look in the picture is the way they look in reality.

I think tomorrow is a day of rest. You may get pictures of us napping on the couch.