Portland, OR 7/07

Snowshoeing in shorts, sans snowshoes, across Mount Hood

Harry the Cat wanted to go with us on our excursions


This photo's for you Mr. T. (Pike Place Market, Seattle)



The following article was prepared by an honored guest writer, Westward Ho. I only made minor changes to protect the unsullied. Thanks for the great summary of the trip out west, Ms. Ho, and if anyone ever wants to join the ranks of "guest writer" on this blog, please let me know - I would welcome the help! I keep thinking it's time to wrap things up with this writing effort and move on to the great American novel, but we'll see. I told myself I would try this for two years and see how I felt after that - that two years is fast approaching so I will accept all comments, suggestions, input and wisecracks.

Courtesy of Westward Ho:

Several of my Atlanta friends were here in Portland last week visiting me and the great state of Oregon. We had a total blast. 5 women traveling together could be challenging, but we managed to have a great time without much fuss. We spent the first weekend here in Portland checking out all of the fine establishments …beer…food…wine...shopping. You know – the good stuff in life. We hit one of the best restaurants in Portland – Andina – a wonderful Peruvian restaurant.

Next it was off to wine country for a bit of tasting and then on to Bend. The scenery was amazing as we traveled along Highway 22 and 20 and went along a river valley. We made our way to Deschutes National Forrest and through a huge burn area. The effects of forest fires last for decades, and out here each summer it gets bone dry because it doesn’t rain much in the summer. We stayed in Bend at a place called McMennamin’s in a little cottage called “The Nunnery”. (Fitting for a bunch of women, don’t you think?) The next day we drove up through the canyon lands and into the Mount Hood National Forrest, where we stayed at the Timberline Lodge up on the mountain. Mount Hood has skiing all year round. The lodge is up at around 6,000 feet, just 5,000 feet from the Peak.

We ended the trip with a drive through the Hood River Valley and into the Columbia Gorge, where we hiked, saw wind surfers going nuts, and saw the amazing waterfalls. It was a blessing to spend such good times with people I love. It really makes me value good friends.

And here's my two cents: Westward Ho treated us like Princesses, beer-drinking Princesses, but Princesses nonetheless. She picked us up from Amtrak in Portland since we had flown into Seattle. Then she drove us all the way back to the Sea-Tac airport at the end of the trip. She stocked the fridge with just about every Portland brew possible, which is quite an achievement given the number of breweries in the state. She let us drive her car while she was at work one day so that we could traipse around town and tour a distillery (Kali's kids go to school with the distillery owner's brother's kids). She gave up her bed and slept on a blow-up mattress. She didn't chastise us when we stopped to fill up the tank and went into the bakery next door to claim a free fried apple pie (since the sign on the door said free pie to anyone who's driver's license ends in "8" and mine does). She took us to some excellent restaurants and we saw some of the most amazing scenery. She loaned Doc. B. her walking stick when we were on a hike with some very narrow trails. She read us meaningful poetry and still had the ability to laugh when Tequila followed it up with a quote from Dr. Seuss.

Thanks for the great time Westward Ho!