Hi All My Family and Friends!
We came back to Oregon (and Washington) to see our newest grandchild, #15!!! But. on the way, we went to try one more time to see Mount St. Helens.
As our plane landed on Tuesday, July 9, 2019, John turned to me and said “it’s rainy and foggy”. Oh, no — that was the weather in May when we were here, surely not again!!!! Our first stop was to eat fried clams before leaving Portland; the weather forecast was not good, but our options were to eat our hotel room cost or not. So we powered on to Packwood, WA to a lovely motel, the Cowitz River Lodge. There were some nice views along the way….
On Wednesday morning we started the day early with a peek outside just in time to see a bunch of mule deer (I think) grazing just outside our window.
After eating a nice breakfast, we opted to go to a different viewpoint of Mt. St. Helens — one much closer to our motel — the Windy Ridge Viewpoint. It was a gorgeous ride, even in sad weather…..so much beauty in this part of the world. John did decide that the name might not be windy……but pronounced wine — dee. Crazy winding roads. And more interesting sights along the way…..
Mural on the wall of a convenience store and an enlargement of the sign at bottom right:
Loved the flowers!
We did get our “moment of nature”– a comment you will only “get” if you watch CBS Sunday Morning. Every show ends with about 45-60 seconds of nature — a moment I never miss!!!
The tall leafless trees are leftover from the eruption. There have been concerted efforts to replant the forest which are the smaller trees.
See how it’s burned from the bottom up.
Well, even though the outcome looked certain, we persevered over bad, winding roads to the viewpoint. It was as expected. The good news is that there was an employee of the Mt. St. Helens Institute there who gave us lots of great info — and a map of the National Park.
The first picture is of a picture that is about what you should see from the Windy Ridge Viewpoint. The second and more are the actual sights we saw:
The weather continued as we came back down the mountain but we did get a good tip for lunch — Lone Fir Cafe in Cougar, WA. It was terrific!
We thought these roots looked like a piece of art!!!!!
I was trying to show how beautiful and dense the forest was all around us.
The short white mesh screens are protecting the small trees that have been planted.
Gifford Pinchot was the first director of the Forest Service and two-time governor of Pennsylvania. The forest is huge and includes lots and lots of acres!!
This guy was out in front of Lone Fir Resort; there is a place called Ape Cave that is not too far from where we were.
We continued our trip back to Portland for two nights — happy to be back in civilization, i.e., phone and internet service. We checked into the Marriott Downtown Portland Riverfront where we had stayed in May. It was grey outside but not raining. They views were nice of the Willamette River.
We went to Dan and Louis Oyster Bar for dinner — for what else — more fried clams! Delicious! Then had to do a redux to Salt and Straw, discovered last trip here in May. Yummy and unusual….
In the morning we headed to Washington Park; it’s a huge park right in the middle of Portland. Once there we headed to the Rose Garden. It’s been in existence since 1917 and is a test garden — whatever that means. I guess it’s that they cross-breed kinds of roses. Wow! The scent of the roses almost took our breath away……beautiful. And, it was a nice sunny and cool morning thing to do. Here are some pictures……
We just liked the colors of green (and blue) as we left the park…..
We discovered that somehow the battery for my scooter had run down a lot. Maybe it got left on in the back of the car because it should not have been that low. Anyway, that necessitated a trip back to the hotel for a sort-of-quick charge before continuing with the day. We had lunch at Din Tai Fung after discovering that there was one in Portland. We have followed this restaurant — fast food Chinese — around the globe: Singapore, Shanghai, Sydney, Seattle and now Portland. We LOVE their Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings). Go try them if you’ve never had them and are near one of these places!
Then we spent most of the rest of the afternoon shopping for the wee one…..not so successfully. There were lots of cute pajamas but not any clothes that were a little more dressed up; i.e., grandparent clothes. Oh, well! He was cute in anything! Or less…..
We opted for more Salt and Straw around 4:30 p.m. instead of dinner!
That afternoon we saw two things that amused me. First, two people on a motorcycle with the passenger reading his email and not holding on — that was, to me, a real sign of the times!!! Second, a warning sign for me (or really for cyclists) about the holes in the street; hitting a pothole is how I have caused two of my scooter turn-overs.
We did opt to go back to Mother’s for breakfast in the morning — it’s a favorite place for John….
So from now on, it will be pictures of “the cutest baby in the world” – some of just him and lots with one or both of us……or with Campbell and/or Autari.
Calder was born on June 13th in Roseburg, Oregon. Not that we are prejudiced, but he is perfect!
And another surprise bonus, Campbell and Autari decided to elope on July 4th; they knew they would not forget the date if it were the 4th 🙂
By the way, Calder was 6 lbs. something when he was born and had gained three pounds by three weeks later.
In the morning we went for a walk around the property — so beautiful:
The owner collects signs….
Side of the stohouse:
Feeding time
Getting ready for our day out…
On the walk….
We stopped at a vineyard for a little tasting:
And then we got this in the email from Kemp and family in Creed, Colorado:
We shopped at this great farmers market:
And we stopped in the town of Oakland — historic and quaint. Then ducked into the bakery for “instead of lunch”.
And some more stunning views on the way home….
We stopped at a dispensary; I decided we should have some cbd oil in our house; they all sat in the car while I shopped and thought it was very funny watching me come out of the store!
On our last morning, Pops was up early and enjoying more time with Calder.
Campbell texted us that we had worn out Calder that morning and he was out like a light; I texted back the selfie below. John was driving back to Portland for our plane in the morning and I was pretty out like a light too!
A great trip even without spotting Mount Saint Helens. This is from the internet; it will have to do!
Thanks for coming along,
Beth
