Thanksgiving

We had a quiet relaxing Thanksgiving weekend at our home.  Denise came home from college on Wednesday night accompanied by her new pets --- two guinea pigs and a bunny!  The guinea pigs are her roommate's animals, but the bunny is Denise's. 

I spent Thanksgiving morning running in a "turkey trot" race at the zoo.  It started pouring rain the minute the race started, and didn't let up until I'd crossed the finish line.   We ran down a big hill, and then turned around and ran back up it.  I earned my pumpkin pie that day!  We finished the race by running through the zoo, which was interesting (I've never run through a zoo before!) but I was cold and wet and ready to be done.  It seemed like the finish line would never come.

But I got home, dried off, and warmed up.  Then it was time to stick the turkey in the oven.  Once the turkey was close to being done, Denise and I sprang into action, making the side dishes.  Here is Denise making the stuffing (we cheat and make Stove-Top!).  As you can see, she is just thrilled to have her mother taking photos.

Here's Roger getting ready to carve the turkey.  Dinner was great, and we all ate way too much.  But hours later, we all thought we had to have a piece of pie (and then my stomach hurt for awhile!)

Here's Denise with her bunny "Bob"

Another shot of Bob the bunny.  He is a very cute little guy!

Denise with all three of her critters.  Bear was very jealous of the three little guys. We had to keep their cage in a separate room with the door closed.

The weekend went by way too fast, and before we knew it, I was taking Denise and her animals back to school.  But we had more guests for the weekend.  On Sunday, my parents stopped by for a quick visit.  I got to spend the day Monday with them, and Tuesday they headed home to S. Dakota.  I can't believe it, but I did not get any photos of them while they were here!  I guess I was too busy spending time with them and didn't think of it.  Oh well, next time.

So now that Thanksgiving is over, it's time for the madness of Christmas to begin.  Christmas seems to always creep up on me.  One of these days I'll be really organized, and actually get some shopping done before Thanksgiving (well, its a good thought.....)

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! 

Visiting Cody in Missoula

In early November, I made a quick weekend trip to Missoula to visit Cody. Cody had left some things at our house from this summer that he now really needed (like his down comforter - essential for winters in Montana!) So I loaded up the car with everything Roger and I could think of that Cody might need, and headed down the highway bound for Montana!




Cody now has his own apartment in Missoula all to himself. He's very happy to have his own place, and has been enjoying cooking in his kitchen. The first morning I was there, Cody made me a great breakfast. Here he is pulling the muffins out of the oven.




We took a walk into downtown Missoula, so I could visit my favorite coffee (tea) shop. This is a view of the old Missoula train station and the Clark Fork River from the bridge.




And here's another view of the Clark Fork River. It is winter here now - the trees are bare and everything is brown. It was cold out too!



Cody enjoys his hot chocolate on the bridge, while waiting for me to finish taking photos.



Cody made me an apple pie, and made some "mini-pies" with the extra apples and crust.




Here's a fun video I took with one of my cameras of Cody making bread. It's a little blurry at first, but it gets better!

We made butternut squash soup and homemade bread for dinner, and it was delicious!

The weekend went by way too fast, and before I knew it I needed to hit the road for home. But it was great to be able to spend some time with my son!

Halloween Trip to Cincinnati

Halloween is just not as fun anymore around our house.  With both our kids gone, we have no excuse to celebrate this holiday.  Lately, our Halloweens consist of waiting for the few kids that come to our door, holding off the dog when they ring the doorbell, and eating a bunch of the candy meant for the trick-or-treaters.  So this year I decided to do something different.  I journeyed to Cincinnati to visit my brother Ron and his family.

My brother and his wife have three boys - Thomas, and twins Nicholas and Christopher.  They totally enjoy Halloween, so I knew I was in for a good time.   When I arrived the boys treated me like a celebrity - all three of them wanted my undivided attention.   Here we are reading one of Thomas's books.

First on the agenda was a trip to the local pumpkin patch to get the boys some pumpkins.  The pumpkin patch was out in the country - very picturesque!  And the weather was really nice that day.  Here Ron's wife Tonya is showing the boys a great specimen. 

The pumpkin patch had all kinds of unusual pumpkins and gourds.  Thomas found a large blue pumpkin.  I'd never seen a blue pumpkin before!

The twins help out by pulling the wagon full of pumpkins to our car.

The leaves were fallin' all over the neighborhood.  The boys had a great time jumping in the leaf piles.

Here's Thomas enjoying a roll in the leaves.

And here's all three boys in a big pile of leaves.

Ron took me on a hike in a nearby county park. The trees were all in full color, and we walked along a stream with some waterfalls.  It was a beautiful place.

Another view of the waterfall with the fall colors.

The twins each found a favorite leaf from the many leaves on the ground.

A leaf for Aunt Linda!

A fine example of the many colorful trees at the park.

Then it was time to carve the pumpkins.  Anyone want a bite?

Ron scoops out the "pumpkin guts" as the boys look on.

The twins are having fun with the "pumpkin guts."

Thomas and Christopher admire their jack-o-lanterns.

Christopher shows off his jack-o-lantern.

The boys are ready to go trick-or-treating.

And they're off!  The boys were so excited to trick-or-treat, they ran from house to house.  Well, they did until their buckets got too heavy from all the candy!  Then they slowed down.

After the boys were done trick-or-treating, it was time to admire the haul!  Thomas is checking out all the goodies he received.

The twins are lining up all of their candies by type.  They thought of the candy more as toys than something to eat.  I'm sure that will change!

It was fun to experience Halloween with little kids again.  I had a great time, and will have to visit someone with young kids again next Halloween!

Fall in the Gorge

There is no better season in the Columbia River Gorge.  I love hiking the Gorge in the fall.  It is incredibly beautiful!  I've posted some photos from two of my recent October hikes to give you a sample of the Gorge in all its splendor.

Horsetail Falls

Brilliant fall colors on the Latourell Falls trail.

Upper Latourell Falls

Large yellow leaves decorate the forest

The Gorge is a patchwork quilt of color when viewed from above.

Lower Latourell Falls

Sheppard's Dell Falls

The Wahkeena Falls area is a large blast of color.

Leaves caught in the current of the stream.

Wahkeena Falls and the leaf-strewn pathway.

Fairy Falls -one of my favorite Gorge waterfalls.

Even Bear stops to admire the fall colors along the trail.

Sadly, fall never lasts long enough.  It is a short couple of weeks, and then the trees are bare.  But I did get a couple of good weekend hikes at the peak of the color.  My photos will have to tide me over........ until next year!

Badger Lake Loop Hike

One brisk Sunday in early October, I wanted to take a hike I'd never done before.  My goal for the last several years has been to hike all 100 of the hikes featured in William L. Sullivan's "100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon" book.  I've hiked about 3/4 of them so far, and the ones that are left are not as easy to get to, or not as interesting to me. 

But my goal for this day was a new hike, so I decided to try one of the loop hikes to Badger Lake in the Badger Creek Wilderness east of Mt. Hood.  The hike described in the book was a measly 6.7-mile loop.  I decided to add to the distance and elevation gain by taking the Gumjuwac Trail from Highway 35.  This trail is supposed to switchback up 1700 feet in 2.4 miles.

After parking on the side of Hwy 35, and dashing across the road, I was at the trailhead.  It was really cold and windy and I thought to myself "What am I doing?"  But the climb up warmed me quickly.  The trail was as steep as it promised to be.  Near the top, I started running into small patches of snow.  Just before the Gumjuwac Saddle, was a nice viewpoint of Mt. Hood.  The mountain was looking a little bit barren---it  needed some snowfall!

Bear and I reached the trail junction at Gumjuwac Saddle.  The saddle was marked by a beat-up sign telling the history of the Gumjuwac name.  Apparently it's named for some French-Canadian sheep herder who used to camp in this area.  He was nicknamed "Gum Shoe Jack." 

There are lots of trails departing from this area, and I had to search to find the trail I was looking for.  As you can see by the photo above, I also encountered a lot of snow.

I started down the Gumjuwac Creek Trail.  After all that climbing I did, this trail headed downhill quite rapidly.  It was really cold up on the saddle, so going down in elevation meant warmer temps.  That was fine with me!  This trail also featured lots of nice fall colors.

A stunning vine maple tree and red huckleberry bush leaves make for a very scenic spot.

Bear gives me one of his cute doggy expressions as he peeks through the golden huckleberry leaves.

More great fall colors courtesy of the abundant huckleberry bushes.

The fall foliage looked like red fire on the forest floor.  What a great scenic trail!

Unfortunately, the rest of the hike was not as nice.  The next trail I hiked, the Badger Creek Trail, was two miles of solid blowdowns.  It took me over an hour to go two miles. I had to scramble over, under, or around hundreds of downed trees.  I scraped up my legs and wore myself out.  By the end of this trail, I was cursing at the trees, and just wanted to finsh the hike and go home.  There was no more photo-taking from this point on.  There really wasn't anything nice to take pictures of.

This trial (oops, I mean trail!) ended at a junction with Badger Lake.  Badger Lake was not very pretty, and I could hear gunshots in the distance, so I didn't linger long.  I headed up the Divide Trail, which was to take me back to Gumjuwac Saddle.  I was hoping that I wouldn't encounter any more blowdown trees -- by this time, I'd had enough!

Luckily, there were no more large blowdowns.  But the Divide Trail launched uphill, seeking to gain the elevation I'd lost from the Gumjuwac Creek Trail.  By this time, it was really getting cold, so slogging up the trail was keeping me warm.  I'd never noticed before, but I discovered that my altimeter watch has a thermometer---and it read 32.1 degrees! 

At the saddle, it was really cold, and I took off down the Gumjuwac trail just as fast as my legs would allow me.  I was never so happy to see Hwy 35!  I got to my car as the sun was starting to sink behind the mountains.  I was so cold, I hit the Starbucks in Hood River for a warm drink, and blasted the car heater all the way home (Oh do I love my heated car seats!)

So, this hike was not so great.  I doubt I'll do it again anytime soon.  But now I can check off Hike # 78 in my Sullivan book!


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Time to Rake the Leaves!

Fall has arrived in Portland......It is a beautiful time of year.  There are lots of different varieties of deciduous trees in our area, and they all turn colors in the fall.  It is a wonderful sight, all these brightly colored leaves of orange, red and yellow.

BUT ----- The downside to this is that the leaves eventually fall to the ground.  And then someone has to rake them all up.  This chore fell upon Roger one nice fall afternoon a couple of weeks ago.

Roger raking up the leaves in our backyard.

He's starting to get a leaf pile together.

Here's the culprit!