AUGUST 17th, 2014--Today was spent in Portland, primarily at OMSI, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. After lunch in a restaurant there, we each found places to explore and things to learn. We wandered through the exhibit halls and hands-on science labs, to the planetarium and the USS Blueback submarine.
View from OMSI over the Willamette River
Our dinner was at a restaurant recommended by Jon and known for its unusual menu and eclectic décor. When one has leftovers, the server wraps them in a foil art masterpiece creature.
AUGUST 18, 2014--Today we left in separate cars to drive to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. Bonnie, Dugan and Sage made some stops in Portland first. Jon drove Maia, Dick and me on a scenic journey partly along the Columbia River Gorge. What spectacular country this is!
As we drove along the winding mountain roads, breathtaking views of Mt. Hood continued to appear.
Timberline Lodge, which stands on the south slope of Mt. Hood at an elevation of 6,000 feet above sea level, was constructed in 1937. As a National Historic Landmark, it continues to be used as a magnificent ski lodge and a beautiful mountain retreat.
Timberline's main floor living room--the heart of the lodge
Native American, pioneer and wildlife themes appear throughout the lodge. Historic exhibits enhance the area as well.
Mount Hood is the highest peak in Oregon at 11,245 feet and is considered an active volcano. There have been earthquakes there averaging every two years. Mount Hood is the most accessible of Oregon’s volcanoes since it is located only 50 miles east of Portland. A small remnant of the Ice Age covers about 80 percent of the cone in the form of twelve glaciers and permanent snowfields. There are innumerable places to view this mountain; but we have selected photos taken near Timberline Lodge for the following posts.
What a spectacular place for a picnic lunch--the patio of Timberline Lodge! Our pizzas were from the Blue Ox Bar in the lodge.
Today was our 52nd wedding anniversary, and we couldn't think of a better place to spend the day with our family.
Mt. Hood has many living glaciers which extend to near the timberline on all sides. Mt. Hood's skiing areas are popular with professional skiers. In the summer, the U.S. ski team actually trains here!
Not far from Mt. Hood is this historic cabin, Camp Festivus, in the Oregon forest beside a bubbling creek. The cabin is owned by Denny and Lyndsay Schuler. Denny is the son of our close friends in Cincinnati, Jack and Sherry Schuler. We spent three nights enjoying this great location.
Everyone enjoyed spending time on the deck of the cabin, even Veela and Biscuit.
This door to the storage shed near the cabin was so unique that I had to photograph it.
To celebrate our 52nd anniversary, Maia and Jon took Dugan and Sage shopping for cards and a cake, which they decorated for us. We were touched by their thoughtfulness.
Our cake had "G G" on it for "Grammy and Gramps!"
AUGUST 19th--This was a day to enjoy the cabin and its surroundings. Inside the cabin, the iron and woodwork and much of the furniture was custom designed and produced by Denny. Our breakfast included Jon's special waffles, which were delicious.
Living room with stone fireplace
Opposite view of living room looking out on to the deck
Views from the kitchen windows
This evening we drove over to the Zig Zag Inn for supper outside at a large picnic table. The sunset was truly memorable as we left the Inn.
AUGUST 20th--We began the day eating delicious cinnamon muffins that Judy had made from Sherry Schuler's recipe. We've been enjoying this recipe for over 40 years since she welcomed our family to the Madeira neighborhood with a plate of cinnamon muffins.
Bonnie, Judy and Dick spent the afternoon viewing the scenery on the Trillium Lake Loop Trail. We have seen Mt. Hood from many different places, and it continues to be beautiful from every one.
Jon took Dugan and Sage to the Mt. Hood Adventure Park at skibowl for the afternoon.
Only two people had the courage to jump from the bungee tower at this adventure park, Sage, and Jon. Here is Sage in the first two photos and Jon in the last two. They both thought it was great fun!
AUGUST 21st, 2014--After our last morning at the Camp Festivus cabin, we left to drive to the Huckleberry Inn near Mt. Hood for a delicious brunch. As one of Maia's favorite places, this is a restaurant she had taken Dick and Judy to when we visited her several years ago.
After brunch, Bonnie, Dugan and Sage drove back to Portland to spend the afternoon at the zoo, while Maia, Jon, Dick and Judy set out to find Little Crater Lake. Maia had been camping here before and, because of its beauty, wanted the rest of us to see it, too.
The trail through the woods to the lake is picturesque with many evergreen trees.
Little Crater Lake is a crystal clear natural spring lake that is bright blue. The area has faults, since it is a volcano, and when it shifted under this area, it created a crack allowing water to travel up through fissures. The water came to the top creating an artesian spring which carved out a small lake in the soft siltstone. .
The temperature of the lake year round is 34 degrees Fahrenheit because it’s filled by melted snow waters. Jon decided to take the challenge to see if he could stand in the water for one minute. He made it!
Dick, Judy, Jon and Maia along with Veela and Biscuit on the bank of Little Crater Lake
On the way back to Portland from Little Crater Lake, Jon took us to Oregon City, which was the end of the Oregon Trail and Oregon's first capital. Oregon City is on the Willamette River where the river plunges 40 feet at Willamette Falls.
Dick and Judy checked into the Shilo Inn, where Dugan and Sage had a most enjoyable time in our pool, and Bonnie spent time in the hot tub.
August 22nd, 2014--Our breakfast with Sage at the Shilo Inn was a scrumptious buffet in a dining room overlooking the pool and courtyard. After breakfast, the rest of the family arrived to pick up Sage to leave for the airport.
It is a rare opportunity for us to have a family photo, so we were very pleased to get this one of the four of us as well as one of our two daughters, Bonnie and Maia.
After Bonnie, Dugan and Sage left, Jon drove the rest of us on a sightseeing tour of Portland. One of the unique things about this city is the many bridges which give it character. In this photo is the Fremont Bridge, which we had just crossed on our way to Mt. Tabor Park.
From Mt. Tabor Park, one of Portland's largest, which has an extinct volcano within its boundaries, we had wonderful panoramic views of Portland.
At a picnic table outside Broder Swedish Restaurant, we searched the Scandinavian menu while waiting for our inside table.
Bicycles are extremely popular in Portland, as one can see everywhere. These were all parked near the Broder Restaurant.
Each of us ordered a different Swedish dish for our brunch and shared an order of aebleskiver for dessert! Scrumptious!
Back at the cabin in the woods, Jon and Dick relaxed on the porch, and Maia posed with the walking stick that our dear 93 year old friend, Cliff Reeder had carved and sent to her.
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Surrounded by scenic forest, this cabin could not be in a better location. This was our last view of the cabin before we had to go to our motel at the airport for our early morning flight.
How very happy we were to have spent such a memorable time with Maia and Jon as well as the rest of our family, Bonnie, Dug, Dugan and Sage, who had already left Portland.
August 23, 2014--This morning we were up at 3:45 to get to the Portland airport for our early morning flight to Denver. The carpet in the airport is famous for all who come to Portland. In fact, it seems to have a cult following with its own Instagram tag (#pdxcarpet).
Our flight was scheduled to leave Portland at 6:00 a.m., and we were on our way by then.
How beautiful it was to see the sunrise as we took off. We could even see the outline of Mt. Hood on the horizon and were hoping to see it as we flew by.
In the pink glow of the sunrise, the snow atop Mt. Hood provided a lovely scene from the air.
Flying over the Rocky Mountains with some clear skies gave us many opportunities for scenic photos.
We had a short layover in Denver before boarding our plane to head home to Cincinnati.
As we flew over the great plains, we could only think of how difficult it must have been for the wagon trains going West crossing the plains and then the mountains further in the West.
As our Frontier Airlines plane flew over the Ohio River and over northern Kentucky, we knew we would soon be landing at the Greater Cincinnati International Airport, which is not in Ohio but in Kentucky.
Cincinnati, Ohio, welcomes us back home.
The trip is all we could have asked for as a wonderful way to celebrate our 52 years together! We'll have lots of memories for many years to come.
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