what i've been doing...and the near future

i know i don't fly nearly as much as ian but i do my fair share...but not really. this is what i was looking at while waiting for my flight to Portland to board. very industrial. i was able to take a visitation trip to visit my wife while her father visited for a few days.


during my flight on final approach to PDX the passengers all get a very clear view of these two mountains. i think the one in the foreground is mt. Adams? in the background is mt. rainier...but i wouldn't bet on myself. out the other side of the plane one could easily see mt hood and those further south. the closer we got to portland a view of mt. st. helens became quite prominent.


so our adventure begins. this picture was of a completed grass shot and an orange-mango chaser. it tasted like grass and i still don't know what the benefit, if any, there was. thank God for the monstrous "surf rider" jamba juice that followed.


our first destination was the coast. along the way on highway 26 you are afforded the opportunity to see the largest sitka spruce in the U.S., so guess what we did? we saw it. if you guessed that...congrats.


so on to cannon beach and haystack rock, or "the goonie rock" as my sister and law calls it. "baby ruuth?"


and on we drove south down the coast. some magnificat views along the way.


and what is a visit to the oregon coast without a stopover at the Tillamook cheese factory? i don't know. so here we are. immediately after this photo was taken i had to be rushed to the restroom from a cheese sample overdose. and immediately following that i had some tillamook ice cream.


this photo was taken on the beach at Lincoln City.


the next day we took a trip into the cascades and visited Timberline Lodge. it may be hard to distinguish but if you've seen stanley kubrick's "the shining" then you've seen this lodge. unfortunately the interior set wasn't on location, so i couldn't perform my version of Jack's character looking through the splintered bathroom door. a very nice property however, built during the great depression as one of our nations' public works jobs.


timberline lodge is located 6000' above sea level, almost mid mountain on Mt. Hood where you can still ski/snowboard/sled/hike/climb/hitchhike during this time of year.


during this same trip we made a stop at Beonneville Dam to see fish swim up the fish ladder. good times.


then on to Multnomah Falls. its one of the highest in the U.S. or something like that...i forget.


tomorrow its back to the great plains to build more railroads and earn more tuition. my goal over this summer is to gain a basic grasp of Francais so that when school begins in August i won't be such a dumbass...as if i have a choice.

cheers.