Thursday, August 25, Part 2 of this day's fun!

We continued east in the SUV. Our plan was to go south at Hood River, Oregon, and have our picnic in Parkdale, Oregon, beside the Ries-Thompson House. Given the blue skies, I knew we'd be able to see Mt. Hood.

Little did I know that just when we turned off the interstate that we'd notice lots of colorful activity right there on the Columbia River. Quickly we decided to head to the park beside the river for a closer look. I stopped at the shack at the entrance to the parking lot, asked the young man what we needed to do to park for about 20 minutes, and he told us to back up and park in an empty space on the entry road--no charge. Sweet!

We walked towards the river, looking here, looking there, the wind blowing our hair inside out.


Color and motion everywhere. These waves are made by the wind, not a big ship going by.


I don't know what these sail-wing-things are called, so I'll guess colorful, flexible fun.


Here's a dog having fun with a fluorescent tennis ball.


Walking out into the river.


Sort of make you think of that old saw, two ships that pass in the night, doesn't it?


Looks like fun, even to scared ol' me.


From this photo you can certainly understand why I said that our hair was blowing inside out, can't you?


Folks having fun on the Columbia River.

Thursday, August 25, Part 1 of this day's fun!

On the phone--during one of our numerous phone calls discussing important things like "Are you gettin' ready for us, Lah-neigh-yet?" and "What are we gonna do all those dayzzzz?"--Milton told me the one thing he wanted to be sure to do, visit Multnomah Falls like they had done with Mama and me back in May, 2007, on their first visit. "I want to video it 'cause Mama loved it so."

Here's how we got it done.

Lamont picked us up and drove us to the Zipcar which does not live within walking distance of my apartment. Bus distance, yes, but that sweet son of mine offered to give us a ride over there, and we jumped at the chance! The Ford Escape waited patiently on the corner of SE Division and SE Caesar Chavez/39th Avenue in a service station parking lot. We put the cooler in the back and drove over to Fred Meyer for supplemental supplies: our bottles of water and pop, some cookies, some chips, and a loaf of buttermilk bread. Then we headed east toward our first stop.


I love this natural wonder even if it's difficult to get all of it in one photo. I read online that the upper falls of 542 feet and the lower falls of 69 feet have a gradual nine foot drop in elevation between the two of them which adds up to a total height of 620 feet. Not sure I totally understand that bit about the gradual nine foot drop in elevation, and since I won't be walking up to the bridge any time soon and looking into the pool at the bottom of the upper falls, I may never understand it. And I hadn't read those facts prior to Milton's going up on the bridge, so I didn't know to ask him to check it out for me.


I had no trouble understanding the sign on the left.


A. E. Doyle, one of my favorite Portland architects, designed the 1925 Multnomah Falls Lodge, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places. A bit about the lodge that I found on the Internet: The Multnomah Falls Lodge is located at Multnomah Falls, Oregon, at Columbia River Mile (RM) 136. It was built in 1925 as an overnight rest area on the Historic Columbia River Highway. Originally the lodge had dormitories and four rooms for the overnight stays.

Then I found this up-to-date information on the building's Web site: Thank you for your interest in an overnite stay at the Lodge. Unfortunately, the building was origionally construsted as a day lodge only, and does not offer overnight accommodations.

Available for public viewing, the Lodge houses a U.S. Forest Service interpretive center, an exceptional gift shop, , snack bar, espresso cart and public restrooms on the plaza level. The second floor accessed by Stair or elevator is home to the restaurant lobby and dining rooms, spectacular patio dining in suitable weather, cozy lounge and bar area.

Ah, the joy of the Internet, where anyone can post anything. I'm pretty sure we ought to trust the building's own Web site as factual.


I managed to get it all in one photo! Amazing accomplishment, and I didn't have to stand on my head. My camera has one of those viewer thingeys that rotates so that you can hold your camera in out-of-the-ordinary places, so I wrapped the strap tightly around my wrist and held the camera outside the railing, with the viewer thingey tilted so that I could see what the camera saw. Neat!


Milton on the bridge, wide shot.


Milton on the bridge, close shot.


The best buds, ever!


One last look, for Mama.


Then we headed for the SUV.

Wednesday, August, 24, as Milton, Kay and I continue to enjoy being together in Portland

Like I said, Milton didn't get a good night's sleep Tuesday, neither did Kay. I myself slept like a rock.


We decided not to go out anywhere for brunch, so I suggested we ride the 12 bus to Whole Foods. Just as we were about to walk through the door, I saw this super pink sight. Click went the camera.


Inside we each found ourselves a couple of breakfast pastries--Kay got a blueberry muffin and a pecan sticky bun; Milton got a blueberry sticky bun and a cinnamon bun; I got an apple sticky bun and a plain croissant. Kay got coffee, Milton got coffee and apple juice, I got orange juice. We sat down at one of the booths at the windows that face out onto Sandy so that we could watch folks and the traffic passing by. And I have to report that the pastries were top-notch!

Once we finished, we rode the bus to Fred Meyer where we stocked up on some essentials--I only shop once in a while at Whole Foods and then only for fresh chicken, boneless, skinless chicken breasts, maybe some ground beef, sometimes a loaf of bread; things cost a good deal there, plus I hardly ever recognize any of the brands. They didn't have the pain killer Kay wanted, either.
Not to imply that Kay was looking for liquid pain killer, she had been wanting to make some sangria a la a recipe from a friend down in Mississippi. She had the ingredients written down, so we shopped for those as well as turkey and ham from the deli counter, flour tortillas, chips and salsa, some beer, and cubed fresh fruit. Since I had not brought one of my rolling black bags with us, we carefully packed our paper bags and the one cloth bag I always carry in my backpack as best we could for our bus ride home, which would come with only one transfer. Seems like Kay and I put some items in our backpacks, too.


As we waited for the first bus, we saw these two on a bicycle crossing the intersection with the traffic signal.


Well, not just a bicycle. A composite, as you can see from these photos.

What a hoot! I've seen plenty of what are known as "tall bikes" here in Portland, but this is the first one that seems half regular bike, half tall bike!


Check out this GMC I photographed on the walk from the bus to the apartment! Cool.


I took this photo from the chair where I sit at my computer table/desk--you can see a bit of the unfinished wood on the left of the photo. Kay and Milton's feet are resting on what we'd taken to calling the world's largest footstool! Actually, it's the AeroBed inflatable queen size that Kailey's parents had loaned to me for Kay and Milton's visit. How sweet was that! Plus they wholeheartedly approved of its comfort the entire time they were here. And behind Milton you can see both of my Expedit bookcases from Ikea which Lamont went with me to find and buy, then he put together one of them by himself but waited for Leland to come over after work so that they could set it up against the wall. They put the other one together out in the hall and carefully walked it into the room. Today I'm still trying out places for things to go, which is actually a whole lotta fun. Oh, the actual footstools stacked beside Milton's right arm and the little light-colored cabinet are not in their usual places. They had to be moved so that there would be plenty of room for the AeroBed. I set it up so that Milton and Kay could use the dining room table for their big rolling suitcases--I believe it makes for a better time on a visit if you can easily get to your own stuff.

Tired but feeling accomplished, we settled in for a restful afternoon of reading and checking e-mails for them, blogging for me, enjoying sangria for Kay and me while Milton enjoyed a beer. We ate tortilla roll-ups for supper along with fresh fruit from the Farmers Market and the store, then went to bed with the goal of a good night's rest. Our Thursday plans included a trip to the Columbia River Gorge, Multnomah Falls, and Timberline Lodge up on Mt. Hood. I would be driving my first ever SUV and my first time up Mt. Hood! We decided to take the rest of our sandwich makings and fruit with us, plus some pop and water, so that we could have a picnic on Thursday!

Early to bed makes for a woman right in the head as she plans for a fun day as part of her friends' stay!

The view from ... ?

Guess, anyone? Looks like I've been to an exotic locale and didn't let you know I was going, doesn't it?


I will tell you that I took the photo, uploaded it from the D5100 to Flickr, opened it in Picnik where I altered it with two effects, vibrance and HDR-ish, then I cropped it as a square before putting it here on the blog. Then I looked at it for a while and decided to try to clone out the upright that is on the window pane. That's the photo you see at the top of the blog. I tried to clone it out, and for the most part, I'm pleased with the results. Well, sort of pleased. It's not easy to find colors and directions that you can use to cover up what you don't want visible.

Here's the original photo, straight from the camera.


OK. I'll spill the beans. My living room has four windows which look out onto the sidewalk that goes from the building's front door out to the sidewalk along the street. I pulled the blinds up on the east-most window and liked the look enough to grab my camera and take a few photos. I distinctly thought, "These should be fun at Picnik!"

So, I'm not crazy just because I thought this would be fun to play with at Picnik. You can see why when you look at the altered photo above, can't you? Hope so. Such outcomes are one of the reasons I adore taking digital photos and having a great camera to do so and then having a great computer, my beloved iMac which I have named ALL, a place to get busy with my photos.

No, I'm not crazy. I'm keeping myself sane.

No. 5, a final bouquet of blossoms

From Swan Island Dahlias, Canby, Oregon. I visited early on Labor Day morning.


A test garden dahlia--they don't have names yet, just numbers. I forgot to photograph the number.

Pipsqueak. Hot Tamale.

Patricia Ann's Sunset. Lucky Ducky.

I'm a Hottie. Koppertone.

Bed Head. Little Missy.

Cloudburst. Crazy Legs.

Mardy Gras. Raspberry Punch.

A worker from Swan Island Dahlias cuts blossoms to be sold to patrons of the Dahlia Show. He's got his knife in his mouth and a bouquet in his hands. I had watched him for a while, walking along and cutting first one stem, then another, until he had this big bunch.

We ended August 23 with a walk back and forth between the Screen Door over on East Burnside, where we dined

I love this photo! Look at Kay's hands and Milton's posture. They're such troopers, waiting patiently for their first bites, allowing me time to get a great photo of our Carolina pulled pork sandwiches, which is house-smoked pork shoulder, on a toasted bun. The sides are creamy coleslaw and fries. Kay and I substituted sweet potato fries while Milton decided to have the regular ones. I didn't care for the coleslaw, but the rest of it was very good.

I've got the entree photo before the appetizers because I wanted to get right to making the point of the splendid cooperation of my good friends, and their support of my photographic goals!


Fried okra with remoulade. I like mine just as it comes out of the kitchen--crunchy okra.


Fried green tomatoes, can't remember if that's the same remoulade in the little bowl, might be. It's not my thing, remoulade.


Seen on the walk home. It says ZAPTRUCK beneath the door. Mama at first thought we were going to driving something like this when I began to talk about trying a Zipcar. Needless the say, she thought I'd lost my mind. I don't know--I think this looks doggone good for city living.

Milton did not remember to take his acid reflux med before we ate, so he had a rough, rough night. Drat it.

We break again from the fun with Milton and Kay for a return to Swan Island Dahlias in Canby, Oregon, No. 4

Here we have a jumble of photos for your enjoyment.
Vassio Meggos, what a lovely flower.

Sprinklers--dodging them became a sort of game for us as we walked the aisles between the rows and rows of dahlias. The person you see to the right of the leftmost sprinkler stream is not a patron. Patrons do not walk between the actual rows, only workers.


Sheer Heaven, photographed after the sprinklers had passed by.


Rawhide, also photographed after getting a drink from the sprinklers.


Vanishing point, furnished by rows of Little Missy dahlias, a paved road, and the power pole and its lines.


More perspective, courtesy of the path headed towards the spot where just about everyone who visits begins touring the acres of dahlias. The cut flower stand and the food vendors are located in that area.

By the time we left, people popped up between the rows of dahlias. While it thrills me that folks come to enjoy the beauty, I knew from previous trips to Swan Island that I would also be thrilled to arrive before the crowds.


One more beautiful sight caught my eye as I drove away in the Zipcar. I had to turn around and go back for this photo of it parked nose-in beside the rows of Little Missy dahlias! A 1955 Chevrolet. My first car was a green one--I loved that big ol' car!