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lilyleia78I've spent my first full day back home doing nothing, and it's been great. I'm caught up on DW and on LJ (where 'caught up' means I've bookmarked everything that I need to read later.) As promised, here's my vacation report. I haven't downloaded the camera yet, but I'll make links to relevant sites/pictures.
Tuesday: The first day we (my Mom and I) got in around noon, picked up our rental car at the airport, and got settled in at our hotel.stagnation13 had a delay in coming to meet us so we went out on our own to see Portland, but little sleep + new car + strange town = cranky lily and we only went about 10 miles from the hotel. It did eat enough time for Stag to be almost to us though. When she got there we hugged and screamed and made fools of ourselves (much to my mother's amusement) before loading up and heading to the Columbia River Gorge.
Our first stop was the Vista House to get some beautiful views of the Columbia River and the mountains of Washington. Then we went down the road a little further and saw the first waterfall, Latourell. It was gorgeous and huge - or so we thought. But eventually we ended up at Multnomah, which put all other Portland waterfalls to shame. It was rainy/misty/cold (by my standards) and still beautiful and awesome.
We also tried to make it to Mount Hood but there was a snow zone, so we had to turn around. If I understand correctly, snow zone doesn't necessarily mean there is snow, but you have to carry traction devices or face a huge fine. There was certainly no snow when we were forced to turn around, but I know there is still skiing going on higher up. In APRIL! We did get to see the volcano (our first!), just not as closely as we had hoped.
Anyway, that was day one.
Wednesday: Mom and I were on our own until three (Stag had to stay at home with a sick kid) and we explored Portland a bit. We went to Powell's Bookstore which claims to be the largest new-and-used bookstore in the world. It was really, really big. It was multistory and had a great selection. I bought myself a Supernatural book, mostly b/c I left my list of favorite authors at home and couldn't find anything I didn't own by the ones I could remember. Also, because my local Borders doesn't carry older SPN titles. :)
Then we had lunch at Old Town Pizza which is supposed to be haunted. Didn't see any ghosts, but the pizza was decent and the atmosphere was cool. Since I wake up much earlier than normal when on vacation we still had time to visit the World Forestry Center where we practiced hitting a target when parachuting (without leaving the ground), whitewater rafting, and learned that Mom and I have no future as loggers.
Then it was time to get Stag, but we hit a RL snag and she had to stay at home. So Mom and I went to the coast by ourselves. We've both seen the Pacific before, but mostly we go to the Gulf Coast in Florida. It's much different. The ocean's grey-blue instead of green, the sand isn't white, and the waves are twice the size. It was beautiful and really, really cold. We saw Haystack Rock but didn't stay too long. We took a different route back home (hotel) and reached 1600 feet in the mountains.
Thursday: Thursday we always knew Stag was going to have to work, but we met her for lunch before going to Oregon City and the end of the Oregon trail. Unfortunately, the museum is closed due to budget issues, but there's an info center there and the lady working there was very informative and helpful and there were a few items from the museum in the center.
We went back to the falls after that, and did some (very mild, but very steep) hiking to see them better. We hiked down to see Bridal Veil Falls and up to the bridge at Multnomah. You can hike all the way to the top, but that's really, really steep and really, really high.
Because I'm like that on vacation, I wanted to make an attempt at seeing Mount Hood from the other direction after that, but Mom was done for the day so we went back to the hotel (and the hot tub) for the day.
Friday: Friday was the big one for us. Stag met us early (after little sleep) and we headed up to Washington to a little volcano you may have heard of called Mount St. Helens. We knew going in we couldn't go all the way to Johnston Ridge Observatory which looks into the crater from five miles away, both because it isn't open until May and because the road is closed due to snow about 15 miles from there. However there are several info/tourist places to stop along the way and we went as high/close as we could go (3000 feet and about 5-10 aerial miles). At that point there was some snow on the roadside even though the road itself was clear.
The view was amazing and I learned a lot. I want to go back and make it all the way up. I'd love to get in better shape and do some hiking too. I've seen the ocean, I've seen the mountains, and I live right by the longest river system in North America, but volcanoes were totally new to me. I really enjoyed it.
Then we went to visit Stag's mom whom my mom and I adored. She's a lovely lady and very fun.
And that was my trip. Flew home into a storm system and got tossed around quite a bit, but landed safely. Meetingstagnation13 was wonderful and I wish I could meet a lot more of you.
Now I'm off to work through my backlog of bookmarked entries. ♥ you!
Tuesday: The first day we (my Mom and I) got in around noon, picked up our rental car at the airport, and got settled in at our hotel.
stagnation13 had a delay in coming to meet us so we went out on our own to see Portland, but little sleep + new car + strange town = cranky lily and we only went about 10 miles from the hotel. It did eat enough time for Stag to be almost to us though. When she got there we hugged and screamed and made fools of ourselves (much to my mother's amusement) before loading up and heading to the Columbia River Gorge.Our first stop was the Vista House to get some beautiful views of the Columbia River and the mountains of Washington. Then we went down the road a little further and saw the first waterfall, Latourell. It was gorgeous and huge - or so we thought. But eventually we ended up at Multnomah, which put all other Portland waterfalls to shame. It was rainy/misty/cold (by my standards) and still beautiful and awesome.
We also tried to make it to Mount Hood but there was a snow zone, so we had to turn around. If I understand correctly, snow zone doesn't necessarily mean there is snow, but you have to carry traction devices or face a huge fine. There was certainly no snow when we were forced to turn around, but I know there is still skiing going on higher up. In APRIL! We did get to see the volcano (our first!), just not as closely as we had hoped.
Anyway, that was day one.
Wednesday: Mom and I were on our own until three (Stag had to stay at home with a sick kid) and we explored Portland a bit. We went to Powell's Bookstore which claims to be the largest new-and-used bookstore in the world. It was really, really big. It was multistory and had a great selection. I bought myself a Supernatural book, mostly b/c I left my list of favorite authors at home and couldn't find anything I didn't own by the ones I could remember. Also, because my local Borders doesn't carry older SPN titles. :)
Then we had lunch at Old Town Pizza which is supposed to be haunted. Didn't see any ghosts, but the pizza was decent and the atmosphere was cool. Since I wake up much earlier than normal when on vacation we still had time to visit the World Forestry Center where we practiced hitting a target when parachuting (without leaving the ground), whitewater rafting, and learned that Mom and I have no future as loggers.
Then it was time to get Stag, but we hit a RL snag and she had to stay at home. So Mom and I went to the coast by ourselves. We've both seen the Pacific before, but mostly we go to the Gulf Coast in Florida. It's much different. The ocean's grey-blue instead of green, the sand isn't white, and the waves are twice the size. It was beautiful and really, really cold. We saw Haystack Rock but didn't stay too long. We took a different route back home (hotel) and reached 1600 feet in the mountains.
Thursday: Thursday we always knew Stag was going to have to work, but we met her for lunch before going to Oregon City and the end of the Oregon trail. Unfortunately, the museum is closed due to budget issues, but there's an info center there and the lady working there was very informative and helpful and there were a few items from the museum in the center.
We went back to the falls after that, and did some (very mild, but very steep) hiking to see them better. We hiked down to see Bridal Veil Falls and up to the bridge at Multnomah. You can hike all the way to the top, but that's really, really steep and really, really high.
Because I'm like that on vacation, I wanted to make an attempt at seeing Mount Hood from the other direction after that, but Mom was done for the day so we went back to the hotel (and the hot tub) for the day.
Friday: Friday was the big one for us. Stag met us early (after little sleep) and we headed up to Washington to a little volcano you may have heard of called Mount St. Helens. We knew going in we couldn't go all the way to Johnston Ridge Observatory which looks into the crater from five miles away, both because it isn't open until May and because the road is closed due to snow about 15 miles from there. However there are several info/tourist places to stop along the way and we went as high/close as we could go (3000 feet and about 5-10 aerial miles). At that point there was some snow on the roadside even though the road itself was clear.
The view was amazing and I learned a lot. I want to go back and make it all the way up. I'd love to get in better shape and do some hiking too. I've seen the ocean, I've seen the mountains, and I live right by the longest river system in North America, but volcanoes were totally new to me. I really enjoyed it.
Then we went to visit Stag's mom whom my mom and I adored. She's a lovely lady and very fun.
And that was my trip. Flew home into a storm system and got tossed around quite a bit, but landed safely. Meeting
stagnation13 was wonderful and I wish I could meet a lot more of you.Now I'm off to work through my backlog of bookmarked entries. ♥ you!
no subject
Date: 2010-04-26 07:36 am (UTC)*BG*
Oh, and yes. Stag has a mother, she's not a Cabbage Patch Kid like some think.
REGARDLESS! I hug you for not saying I was as big a dork in person as I am online!
Hee!
*hugs*
no subject
Date: 2010-04-26 11:42 pm (UTC)Sorry! I didn't mean to make you sound lame. I just wanted to explain why we weren't together so people didn't think you'd just abandoned me.
We adored your mom, she was awesome.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-27 07:34 am (UTC)I could NEVER do such a thing! I was such a freaking MESS every time plans would change here at the house and I ended up staying home...GRRRR. I was going to have a freaking nervous breakdown.
My moms is the awesomeness. She really like you and your mom. Did you get the lecture on how you need more friends? I did.