Mojo & Lewis Do Oregon!

In the beginning of September, Mojo, Lewis, Kevin and Kim made the 3,000-mile journey from Philadelphia to Hood River for a visit. :) :) :) The Cornells arrived on Friday night and we enjoyed some laughs, libations and catching up. We hit the sack to rest up for a few days of gorge-style exploration.

After a Saturday morning stroll down Oak Street for some coffee and breakfast, we hopped in the car and went joyriding through the gorge to the Eagle Creek Trailhead.

Creek water = cold. Summer sun & air = warm.

We hiked the always enjoyable Eagle Creek Trail to Punchbowl Falls. When we arrived at the falls, Kevin, Tom and I went for an icy dip—a true Oregon initiation—in water barely above 40 degrees.

Clear water to the max.

Kevin high-tails it back to dry land and dry towel while Tom and I swim out into the pool right below the waterfall. Good morning!

Fun with camera perspective and cairns.

We built a few creekside cairns as company for the other ones that were standing around. In the gorge, people say that when you build a cairn, you are supposed to make a wish, and when the water level rises with winter, the cairn is washed away and your wish comes true. So, you can hike to Punchbowl Falls any day of the year and find other people's wishes (cairns) standing around, just waiting for their destiny. Many of the cairns are very precarious-looking. Tom is good at building cairns that seem to defy gravity.

Me, Kim and Kevin mosey along while the warm sun dries our wet butts.

The Eagle Creek Trail winds through a rugged canyon—some parts of the trail are ledges that was blasted out of sheer cliffs by Italian engineers in the 1910s.


We came upon a little Ringneck snake slithering along the trail. He was so small and cute!


After our hike, we decided to take a ride up to Timberline Lodge for some lunch and to say hello to Mt. Hood. The road winds through the scenic Hood River Valley and around the east side of the mountain before climbing to the Lodge at 6,000 feet. There's a stretch of road where you round the corner and Hood commands your attention.

The little man waves hello to Hood.

We snagged a GREAT table with a big picture window. The thin metal bar you see on the top part of the window is a brace to keep the big windows from breaking in high wind.

MMMmmmmMMMM. Lunch & Ice Axe IPA.

BIG door that leads outside to a balcony with a sweeping southward view.

Timberline Lodge was built entirely by hand, inside and out, by unemployed craftspeople hired by the Federal Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. The carvings, stonework and architectural elements combine to create a true living masterpiece. Every guestroom, for example, is furnished with hand-made draperies and bedspreads, as well as one of-a-kind watercolors, hand carved furniture and hand-forged lamps.

We spent some time exploring before heading back to the Hood to relax for the evening.

Photo shoot on the butte.

On Sunday morning, we took a ride out east to do a little climbing and wine drinking. Our first stop was Horsethief Butte, which is on the Washington side of the gorge, about 20 miles from Hood River. Horsethief Butte is a basalt landmark famed for its short, labrynthine scrambles and hidden pertroglyphs (that we can never find).

Primates on the precipice.

Bear on the butte.

Next stop was the Maryhill Winery, where we enjoyed a tasting followed by a French-style lunch of cheese, crackers and a bottle of white on the deck overlooking the vineyard and Columbia River.

Mojo, Lewis and Teddy especially enjoyed the pianist. Fancy!

We had a great, albeit short visit with the Cornells! We hope they'll be back to visit us again! :)

Cake and Fire

2007 was a big birthday year—Melis turned 25; Me–30; Mom–50; Granny–70; Great-Granny– 88! Since we had lots of celebrating to do, I came home for an August visit and a surprise BBQ to celebrate the big 50/70.

Mom's Darth Vader cake. :)

BINGO was a hit!

We had a fun (though rainy) day picnicking over at the Columbia Grove in Brandonville, PA. There was lots of good food and good laughs. The beers were sliding and we found out that Rolling Rock Longnecks make great microphones. Right, mom? ;)

A great afternoon hike through some beauteous, familiar woods at Locust Lake. The trail follows a creek through a mature Hemlock stand and also passes a neat rocky outcrop.

The weeks before I arrived in Pennsylvania, the weather was sunny, hot and humid. But, our annual camping trip to Locust Lake wouldn't be complete without pissing rain. So, we donned our raingear and made the best of it! We = Troopers

My funny Mom noticed this cute-faced rock. Is that a rock Yamaka?

Tree with a hole in it.

We had a scavenger hunt in the woods along the creek the morning we packed up to leave. The kids had a good time and we used the objects we found to get crafty. We're only one letter away from writing out both of the buddies' names. :)

Sierra's second "R".

Damian's second "A".

We weren't surprised that the sun hid for 4 days and peeked out right as we drove away from our cleaned-up campsite. We did manage a nice hot fire for cooking despite all the wet. Can you say accelerator?

My dad also celebrated a birthday while I was home. There was definitely NOT a lack of cake on this trip.

Hot dog hot spot.

We spent our last night in Bechtelsville with Tom's family and the jackass crew for white trash weekend. Big fire, cold beers, camp dogs, Zern's, dirt track races, lightning storm—a fun-as-hell finish to this week spent at home.