Over the River and Through the Woods

On June 22^nd Dad headed for California to go whitewater rafting with his friend Mark Verble on the Tuolumne River just outside of Yosemite National Park. He left very early and arrived in Fresno, CA very early. He and Mark drove to Yosemite and viewed El Capitan, a huge rock in the middle of the park that some people are crazy enough to climb! Dad had been there once before but spent a little more time on this occasion. They drove through the park and viewed some of the sights and waterfalls. They took some time to hike up to a waterfall and onto some treacherous rocks. Anyway, they thought they were treacherous; others were out there with their children climbing on them. The rocks were wet and slippery and it was a long ways down! They had a nice time and then rested up for the big day on the river. A very cool area, we are looking forward to when Rachel and Dean move to Sacramento so that the four of us can go down and spend several days seeing what is there.

To help understand how to pronounce the name of the river, one of the guides used this example; from all of you “to all of me” Tuolumne is pronounced “to all of me”. This was the second time on this river. It is a great river and the water levels are controlled by dam release. That is, the lake above the river is dammed and the city of San Francisco controls how much water can be released. There is another lake at the end of the river, that is used as San Francisco’s water supply. When they arrived, there was little water in the river but they opened the release gates about 30 minutes before they headed down the river. It was cool that day and they wore wet suits and wool sweatshirts to keep warm. It was a great ride down the river. No flips and no one lost out of the raft. The water was warmer than usual so it was okay to get out and swim. Overall, a good day.

The following weekend mom and dad worked on the back yard. It is time to plant grass and begin landscaping. They are getting ready to build a new house down the street and the contractors said we could have some of the dirt if we wanted. This meant manually digging it up, one shovel full at a time into the pickup, driving the pickup back up the hill, and unloading it one shovel full at a time into the wheelbarrow and dumping in the back yard. Dad shoveled the dirt into the pickup and mom helped in taking it out. The wheel barrow was pushed to the back yard and mom raked it out. Our backyard is so rocky that it is impossible to remove all of the rock. We decided to cover them up. We got the grass seed and fertilizer down, just as it started to rain. We have been watering every day and are hopeful to have a good stand of grass. We also plan to plant some shrubs and flowers to help fill out the landscape.

Afterward, we went to the farmers market and bought a couple of blueberry bushes to plant in the yard. They were loaded with berries and we were afraid to replant for fear that we would lose some of the berries. Once they are all harvested, we will plant on the hill. We also bought some strawberry plants (yuck) and ground cover to plant on the hill just north of the house. The weather has turned hot, dry and sunny. No, not by KC standards, but hot for the area. The rains have ended so frequent watering is required.

On the 4^th, during the day, we drove to Hood River (a city) to get some cherries and to do a little hiking. It is a little too early to get cherries in Oregon but we did manage to find a few. We went exploring to Lost Lake. Very appropriately named as it is in the middle of nowhere. We managed to find it and had a nice time. It is a beautiful area, between Portland and Hood River. The water was crystal clear with a breathtaking view of Mount Hood just behind it. It was a little cool as we didn’t take jackets or long pants. We hiked for a while and enjoyed the view. There is a campground at the lake. We will try to make it back again and maybe spend the night. You have to know how to get there to find it as it is not on the “beaten path”.

Hey, what is she doing there? This tree trunk was hollowed out like a throne (or a toilet)!

On the evening of the 4^th, we went to the church parking lot to watch the fireworks at Happy Valley Park. The traffic was crazy but we made it. It gets dark so late in Portland that the fireworks didn’t start until 10:15. It was a nice show. We really missed being with the family as this was our first 4^th of July celebration away from the kids and grandkids. We didn’t purchase any fireworks this year as the good stuff is not sold in Oregon. We found out that you can get the “good stuff” in Washington and most Portlanders do. Our neighbors were shooting all kinds of stuff off and when we drove to the church, we had to dodge the rockets and mortars being launched from the city streets.

Late that evening, Kari Burkhardt and her 14 year old son Geron arrive to spend a few days of vacation in Portland. Mom took them around on Thursday and Friday while dad was at work. On Thursday evening, Geron wanted to go bike riding. He had seen our bikes hanging on the wall. We aired up the tires and took off up the hill to the west of the house and then rode to Mt. Talbert Park. Fortunately, the ride there was downhill. They had to ride on the city streets, in the bike lane. It was a nice ride but had to breathe a lot of exhaust fumes and listen to a lot of noise. As noted the ride there was downhill, so, that means the ride back was; you guessed it; uphill. Dad was worn out when they returned. On Saturday, we headed to the coast and spent the day on the beach. The temperature was warm and the sky was clear, but, it was very windy and chilly. We stayed there all afternoon, walking and exploring. Dad and Geron went for a two hour hike down the beach, Dad getting worn out again. Mom and Kari stayed behind to visit and enjoy the afternoon. We took the propane grille and cooked Italian Sausages on the beach and then built a fire to roast marshmallows and make s'mores.  Dad and Geron ended up getting sunburned, they didn’t think they needed sunscreen. Everyone else had enough sense to cover up. Dads face and legs were sunburned as he wore a sweatshirt the whole time. Geron was sunburned all over.

On Sunday, after church, we headed to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. There were people snowboarding and there is still plenty of snow on the ground. It is normally very cool at that elevation, 6,600 ft., but, on this day it was 82 degrees with no wind and no clouds. It was quite warm. .
Then we headed over to Trillium Lake. It is one of the coolest places out here. It is a beautiful lake situated directly below Mt. Hood and is only an hour from the house. We hung out a bit and then headed home to a dinner of foil dinners. 

Monday was their last day in Portland and after dad got off work, he and Geron went hiking on Mt. Talbert. A nice hike with elevation change of 750 feet. Geron took off at a torrid pace, and dad could not keep up. Once again, dad was worn out. Mom and Kari stayed at the house to visit. 

Earlier in the day mom had taken both of them to Voodoo donuts, a famous donut shop in downtown Portland. The lines are long to get in regardless of the time of day that you go.

And last but not least, Portland's Moto on the side of a building.