More Blackberries

After breakfast we decided to take a walk around the large yard that Paddy calls home. It was so pretty and green and there was one of northwestern Oregon's light, misty rains sprinkling on us. But that didn't stop us from exploring the huge blackberry patch to find the fruit that Jim had missed earlier. For once I had my fill of fresh blackberries.

Of course you have to fight the birds and deer for them. But that is part of the fun.

Blackberries

My brother-in-law Jim was unable to go on our trip to the Park because he had to work, and he seemed glad to have us back, too. The next morning he fixed us a wonderful breakfast of biscuits and bacon, with lots of blackberry jelly that he and Jan had made the previous summer. Not only was there the delicious homemade blackberry jelly there was fresh picked blackberries. Jim, with the help of his dog, Paddy, had risen very early and ventured into the blackberry patch to pick fresh blackberries. It had been years since I had eaten fresh berries, just picked from a thicket. I remembered doing it as a teenager when we lived in Sandpoint, Idaho but had not had a chance to do so after we left there. I love any kind of berry - blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, elderberries, and especially huckleberries - and I will include cherries in that list, too. You might just say that I love fruit, but berries are best. I recently received a care package full of blackberry jelly from my wonderful brother and sister. In the photo are blackberry blossoms.

Back to Clatskanie

On arriving back in Clatskanie, Oregon we found Jan's dog, Paddy, more than happy to go home from the Happy Hound Dog Kennel. I think we were a bit glad to get back, also. It had been a long 3 day trip even if it had been thrilling, exciting, interesting, and exceptionally beautiful. I would recomment a trip to the Olympic National Park to any one. All the places where wonderful to visit with lots of great places to visit. We had gone over a weekend during the summer and it did not seem as crowded as I had expected. And everybody we met, either Park personal or visitors were very friendly.

Looking out to Sea

Balancing Act

The logs were laying every which away. They were huge logs and some would be balanced on top of others. This big one was proped up on a smaller one. Makes you wonder why it doesn't fall, and when will it happen. I just hope on one is under it when it happens.

Rolling Log

Here is one of the logs coming into shore. It was rolling in the water as the tide came in. It couldn't go out due to the rock behind it, and seemed to be taking it's time coming on in. We didn't get to near as you could tell it was very heavy and would be deadly if a big wave were to pick it up and throw it on to the beech. We took it's photo and wondered on.

Troll Stack

Here is a small sea stack that my guide said looked like a troll but I really couldn't see it, but it was fun to watch the water coming in through the holes. I took lots of photos but never actually got the water coming in the hole. Still it looked good with the sun behind it.

Through the Window

Here is a shot I took looking through some old roots still attached to a log. As you can see the sky was very cloudy and there was almost a mist of rain.

Ruby Beach

What I didn't know when my guide insisted we leave Hurricane Ridge was that we had one more major stop to make. It was at Ruby Beach. It was a couple of hours before we got there and it was late afternoon, and again it was high tide when we arrived at the beech. And this beech was even more fasinating than Kalaloch had been. There were sea stacks here. Sea stacks are the big rocks that stick up out of the ocean. A lot of them even have a small eco system right on top, with plants, and trees growing on them and birds nesting on them. It was cool at Ruby Beech and looked like a storm was brewing far out to sea. No blue skys now. This little inlet was just made for taking photos of, but it looked like it would be far underwater as the tide came in.

Overlook

On the way down the mountain we stopped at an overlook were you could see across the Strait of Jaun de Fuca and into Canada. I didn't get to go there but I did get to see it, even if it was from a long distance. It isn't even very clear but according to the sign there that is what is in the far, far distance.

Leaving

It was at this time that my guide decided we had to leave so we could head back down the mountain, and go south toward Oregon. I didn't want to leave this heaven.

Altitude

One thing that really fascinated me about Hurricane Ridge was the Altitude. The Ridge is said to be 5,242 above sea level. There are all those magnificent mountains around it that may be a bit higher and it makes you feel, as I have said, on top of the world. There are glaciers on those mountains. You are in an area that measures rain and snow in feet instead of inches. There are animals and flowers and trees that would never grow in my home state of New Mexico. But here in New Mexico, in the high desert country, I live at about 6500 feet above sea level. Makes you wonder why some areas have one kind of Eco system at a certain altitude and another type of Eco system at another altitude. Of course there is the difference in latitude and longitude, also.

Glacier

Here is more of an close up of the mountains. You can see the snow and a glacier almost right in the middle. It is the closest I could get to the glacier at this time. According to a sign at the viewing center there are more than 60 active glaciers on the mountains that are in Olympic National Park.

A view

Another nice view from the seating area behind the gift shop

Mountains

These are the mountains you can see from the visitors center on top of the Ridge. Where the trees are is where the deer disapeared after they crossed the meadow.

Deer Again

Here they are just ready to go over the wall.

More Deer

Here you can see three deer in the grass. At the corner of the wall just beyond the deer on the walkway, by the tall tree is where they jumped over the wall to go meandering down through the meadow.

Deer

Did I say we saw deer? When we first got there, Jan and Cyndi had to go find the restroom. I was so enchanted by everything I just stood in the parking lot and found myself turning in circles trying to see it all. And 'all' suddenly included 5 deer that decided to walk through the parking lot, down the sidewalk, jump over a short wall, out into the meadow, where they disappeared from view down a small ravine. The deer at Olympic National Park are black tailed deer, which is ken to the white tailed deer found in the east. These were so used to people that they hardly paid them any attention at all. I don't think we could have petted them but they did come very close. It was really nice to see them so close but I have never thought it was good for wildlife to get that used to people. Of course that didn't stop me from taking their pictures.

Visitors Center

There was a visitors center at the end of the road to the top of the mountain. It has tons of information about Hurricane Ridge. We spent time in the gift shop buying souvenirs, and gifts for others, as well as myself. They were having a sale and it was a big hit with the customers. We had lunch at the snack bar. Then spent a goodly amount of time just enjoying the view from all angles. The parking lot was packed and there were a lot of people there, especially sense it was a Sunday, but it didn't seem that crowded as so many parks can get on weekends. And everyone there was enjoying themselves as much as we were. You would find yourself uuing and awing, and exclaiming over the view, the flowers, the grass, the mountains, the glaciers, the sky, or a passing deer with a total stranger standing next to you. I found myself watching a small child about 2 years old and his parents as they enjoyed the park. I, also, found myself sitting quietly by an elderly lady and neither of us had to say a word about how we felt at what we were seeing. I heard several languages besides my native American - Spanish, German, English, Canadian, Japanese, and others I couldn't put a country to.

On Top of the World

My sister, Jan, who was my guide on this trip could not have prepared me for what I was going to see at Hurricane Ridge. I guess that is why she didn't try. We came around a turn in the road and there it was. There was this huge open meadow surrounded by high mountains that still had snow on them. (Again remember it is August.) The grass and trees were so green, emerald green. The mountains were the light to dark majestic blues you think of only when you have seen distant mountains. The white snows, and glaciers on the blues were pure whites.

Although Hurricane Ridge is know for bad weather days full of rain, fog, snow and especially wind, we were there on one of those perfect weather days. It was a bit cool and we did need our light jackets, but the sky was a brilliant shade of blue with just a few small white fluffy clouds. There was now wind, rain, fog, or snow. It made me feel as if I was standing on top of the world.

Doe and Fawn

Here is another photo of the doe and her baby. I always love to see wildlife anythere that I can. The mountains might be my favorite, but I love all wildlife -deserts, oceans, coast, plains, - in all of our 50 states, and all of the world. I think it is one of our most important products in the world, and we are losing more of it every minute. We did see some wildflowers - Indian paintbrush, wild grasses, lillies, lupines and more that I couldn't name. One of my favorite sayings is one by Henry David Thoreau "In wilderness is the preservation of the world."

Up the Mountain

It was a beautiful, winding drive up the mountain to the Ridge that even included a tunnel. (Jan's head in the mirror.) There were wonderful vistas off in the distance each time we went around another bend in the road, that we would stop and look at. There were trees everywhere, sometimes obscuring the views. We even saw a mama deer and her fawn. The fawn is in this shot with a moutain behind it.

Hurricane Ridge

We have finally made it to the day when we will see Hurricane Ridge. Hurricane Ridge is about 20 miles from Port Angeles. You wouldn't have thought of a high mountain being that close to a port with huge ships coming into it. There is a visitors center that had an old cabin like was used back in the days when Lewis & Clark first came to this area. The only totum pole on my whole trip was there as seen in this photo, and it was an old one, as well as an old dug-out canue. There are some nice photos of Port Angeles and Hurricane Ridge at this web site http://www.portangeles.org/phototour.html

Rowdy Hotel Guests

Photo of old ship's bell on the warf in a small park.


After deciding to spend the night in Port Angeles we had a bit of trouble finding a hotel. We finally did and it was a nice hotel, or would have been if it hadn't been for the other guests being so rowdy, noisy, and just down right rude. My thanks to the hotel staff that did their best to keep an obnoxious bunch of boys under control when the chaperons of the boys decided to let them take over the hotel. I think they were a group of some sort of ball players - baseball, basketball, football- who knows. I'm not good at ballgame sports. My son was into cars, horses, and snowmobiles. The boys took over the swimming pool (which was fine, boys do need to run off excess energy) but they then decided to try to run all the adults out of the hot tub. That was just down right rude. And their chaperons didn't seem to care. Thankfully someone complained to the manager who made them get out, but as soon as it would be empty, in they would go again, not allowing any adults time in the hot tub. These same hooligans played ball in the parking lot, throwing balls against other peoples cars, and the next morning at the breakfast bar they tried to take everything offered by the hotel, not allowing other guests to have their share. Again,my thanks to the hotel staff for doing the best they could under these circumstances. We did have a nice room with comfortable beds and got a good nights sleep.

Raccoons

We did see some of the wildlife in the area while walking along the warf in Port Angeles. Of course there are raccoons in all areas of the U.S. - or so it seems, but they are kind of cute, even if an unwanted pest most of the time. This mama coon was teaching her 2 babies how to beg behind a cafe. Not a good idea but we couldn't resist taking their photos. We, also, saw several Canadan geese flying over the water.

Port Angeles

A few miles above Lake Crescent we came to the city of Port Angeles. Port Angeles is one of the northern most citys in Washington. From there you can catch a ferry, cross Strait of Juan de Fuca, and dock in Victoria, Canada. Regretably we did not have the time to take the ferry to Canada. I will save that trip for another time. (Remember it is another country, and now you need a passport to go there. Even for just a day visit.) In this photo you can see one of the ferrys. They were huge. We wern't able to get real close but did get some shots as some came in on there return from Canada. We visited some gift shops, had a bite to eat, and decided we would spend the night in Port Angeles as it was to late in the day to see Hurricane Ridge in Olympic Park, which was to be the high point of the whole trip.

Lake Crescent

After leaving the Hoh Forest and River we went north, again, for a very pleasent drive along Lake Crescent. It seems to be a long, sort-of narrow lake as you make the drive along it on the highway. It shimmers and looks like it has jewels in it in light to deep blues and greens. The lake is a glacier lake carved out by a glacier many many long years ago. I simply could not get over the colors in the lake. It was so clear and beautiful. But we were lucky that we had a nice blue sky making for a bright day to bring out the colors. I had never seen glacier waters before and now I understood why everyone raved about them. There were mountains all around the edge of the lake making for wonderful photos.

Here is a cute sign we saw near a gift shop close to the Hoh Forest and River. Farther down the road was a park-like setting that begged to have me take it's photo.

This is an odd shaped part of a tree trunk we found while on our hike. We couldn't decide if it looked like a huge bat, or a weird bird. And it was really big. About 8 feet tall and just as wide. There are lots of animals in the Hoh forest and Olympic National Park. We did see some birds, squirrels, and deer. But I didn't get to see any of the Roosevelt elk that live in the Hoh and Park. There are also bear, mountain lions, bobcat, martins, fishers (like a martin) chipmunks, squirrels, snow moles, (that live under many feet of snow in winter) salamanders, trout, salmon, and of course the banana slugs. (I didn't get a photo of the slugs. They were to gross.)

This is my niece, Cyndi, and I taking a break on a wooden bench. We had been on a hike but were about to decide we had gone for enough. Cyndi and Jan had been in a car accident just 3 days before I got to Oregon. Both of them were having a lot of back, shoulder, hip, and neck pain from when they had been rear ended. It was a bit upsetting to them that they were unable to do as much walking and hiking as they would have liked to do. I, also, wasn't able to do as much as I wanted to. I always have back pain do to having scoliosis and sciatica. But I try not to let it get me down and do as much as I can. Regardless of our hurts and aches we were determined to enjoy our trip. And we did.

More Hoh

Here is a photo of the tool shed covered in moss, ferns, and lechen. Most of the trees in the Hoh Rain Forest are hemlock, spruce, Douglas Fir, maples, alders, and cedar. It has almost a tropical feel to it. A lot of the trees are old growth trees making them ancient; even older than I am. Some are thought to be over 500 years old. But if you plant one it will grow faster than any where in U. S. due to the rainfall, which can be over 100 inches a year. (And here in New Mexico we are thankful for 3 or 4 inches a year.) A couple of the trees we saw were over 100 feet tall. There are all kinds of other plants - huckleberry, blackberry, trillium oxalis,

Hoh Rain Forest

We were up and on the go again. Still heading north but with a long side trip into the Hoh Rain Forest. The rain forests in Washington are the only rain forests in the continental United States. And I was disappointed as it wasn't raining. But still it was very enjoyable and beautiful to see. Everything, and I mean everything was covered with moss, and ferns. Everything was green, so very, very green, an almost jewel-like green. It was so different to the forests we have here in New Mexico. I was almost afraid to step off the trails because the undergrowth was so thick and I was sure I would get lost. The trees were so tall and the plants and scrubs so thick it was hard to see the sky and sun, so that you could tell the four directions. Even the pay phone booth and a tool shed were covered in moss and ferns. We followed the Hoh River on a lot of this journey and it was a clear, sparkling river, not running real fast as it was August but neither was it wasting any time.

Icky Party

By now we were tired and in Forks, Washington and ready to find our hotel. My guide, (Jan) had made reservations at the Forks Motel. It was a nice room, and there was a swiming pool. Since we had been wimpy about swiming in cold ocean water, we were determined to swim in the pool. It was fun and relaxing. After the swim we went back to our room and Jan promply demanded first rights to the shower. That was fine by me even if I was a bit cool and clammy. Surprisingly Jan was out in a flash, or so it seemed. And then she insisted that Cyndi had to have hers next as 'she wasn't feeling well'. OK. Again I agreed. I was thinking of myself anyway. If I was the last one in, I could take as long as I wanted. As I waited for Cyndi I flipped through the channels on the TV and wondered what we would have for supper, and what had become of those birthday cakes. But I was so relaxed and enjoying my trip I wasn't going to let anything bother me. Ha! Ha!

As I came out of a long, soaking, relaxing shower and was totally at ease with my self and the world I heard Jan and Cyndi yell, "ICKY PARTY!!!!!!!!". (Remember it is my birthday.)

OH! NO! I hadn't heard that cry in many years. We had icky parties when we were kids. And now I knew I was in for a evening of fun, jokes, and silly gifts.

While I had showered Jan and Cyndi had set out the picnic left overs for supper - ham, salads, fruit, chips, ect as well as the 3 little birthday cakes. But first we had to put on party hats, and blow silly whisles, and do dumb party games for dumb party favors. Then I had to open my gifts. A small black beany horse, some material that had horses on it, and a Grow a Pony. (You put this itty bitty pony about 1 inch in size in a big pan of water and it grows. Took about 4 days but it was about 600 times bigger. It actually worked. Then when you take out of water it takes about a week and it srinks back to original size.) Most were stuff form the dollar store except the materianl which was from a garage sale.

For an icky party nothing can be expensive.

At long last the day had ended and I got to go to bed. With a tummy full of cake.

(That is Jan, my sister, and myself in the photo. Remember we had been traveling all day, and had showered but not done anything with our hair, ect.)

Me

Me at Kalaloch Beach

Riptide

You can find several of these signs on all the beachs warning about the logs coming in out of the water.

More of Day 3

After the picnic on day 3 we traveled on north to Kalaloch Beach (my guide informed me it was pronounced Clay-lock) - from the mossy trees to the open coast. I am finding out that the trip up the Washington coast has some very unique country and is very interesting.

It was the first time I had seen the ocean in about 4 years. I was thrilled. We took the short hike down to the waters edge, sat on an old log, pulled off our shoes and rolled up our jeans. I couldn't wait to wade into the ocean. But was I surprised! Now I understood why Jan said we wouldn't need our swim suits at the beech. That water was way too cold to get more than our toes into it. There were people who had on swim suits or shorts and were getting wet. Jan said they were probably local people who did it frequently and were used to how cold the water was.

But regardless of the chill (and remember it was August) we waded, made tracks in the wet sand, and looked for sea shells. The tide was coming in and we didn't find anything but broken shells. I took lots of photos of the waves coming into the shore and of the sun just starting to think about sinking toward the west, as well as a few brave kids playing in the surf and building sand castles.

Interestingly there were big, tall trees that came almost down to the shore, leaving only a few feet of sand that varied from 3 or 4 feet up to about 50 feet for the beech area. I was intrigued by this as most of my visits to the beach had been in Florida and southern California where there were usually houses down to the shore or beach's. I had always seen photos of the trees and cliffs by the shore and always wanted to see it. Now I was.

There were lots of logs laying everywhere. Great big logs that had once been great big trees. My guide said that sometimes trees fall off of cliffs and get into to the ocean. Other times the logs are lost from logging operations near the shore, or from barges that carry logs on them or they might have been sunk in the ocean for hundreds of years. With the changing of tides and storms they are unburied and wash ashore.

Every year a few people are killed when they are playing on the beech and don't notice that there is a log coming in to shore. They are very heavy but the waves and water can throw them tremendous distances making dangerous missiles out of them.

Chores

My many many chores have distrated me from writing about my trip to Oregon. I will try to continue with the tale. But a reminder - sometimes chores do get in the way of things we want to do. Chores like feeding, cleaning out pens, refilling water buckets, cleaning house, playing with horses, dogs, and cats, and putting a jigsaw puzzle together.

Foal in Jacket

Here is the foal in the jacket.

Baby Horse

I'm not writing about my trip today. On Saturday my neighbors had a surprise waiting for them when they went to feed their horses. They knew the mare was expecting but didn't think the baby would come this soon. She has some strange markings on her face but is really cute. It was cool and there was a storm coming so we put a jacket on her to help keep her warm as none of the feedstores in our area had regular foal blankets. She and her parents are probably more Mustang than anything else

Picnic

Jan fixing our picnic lunch and Cyndi helping.

Trees

Day 3

My trip really began on Day 3. And to top it off it was my birthday. Yes, August 3 is my birthday. But you have to guess what year I was born in. I'm not tellin'. Jan was playing tour guide and had planned a special trip up the Washington coast to the Olympic Peninsula with stopping spots at various points in Olympic National Park.
We were up early and packed a small suitcase for each of us as we planned to be gone over night. Maybe two or three nights. Plus we had an ice chest, picnic basket, and snacks. It would be a long day with lots of driving. First stop was at the Happy Hound to drop off Paddy. Then it was on to a grocery store where Jan and Cyndi picked out 3 very small birthday cakes. Yummy! We decided three small ones would fit better in the ice crest than one large one. Plus everyone got to pick out their own flavor
Leaving Clatskanie and Longview behind we headed north across Washington on Highway 5. Just beyond Centralia we turned west on state road 12 until we caught Highway 101 at Aberdeen.
Lunch was to be a picnic where ever it looked good to stop when we reached Olympic National Park. We found a nice little camp area as soon as we entered the Park and right off the highway. We are all three starved. Cyndi led the way to a picnic table under some huge old trees and we had ham sandwiches, chips, potato salad, and cold drinks. It was warm being the third of August so we were hitting the water and sodas hard. But it didn't seem that warm to me as at home, in New Mexico, it would have been down right hot.
After living in the desert for years it was wonderful to see the green of moss on such big, beautiful trees. There were ferns, and what looked like a wild shamrock under some of the trees. Some huge logs made hiding places for fairies and elves but I didn't see any.

Down Town

One of the main streets in Clatskanie.

Clatskanie, OR

On the second day of my trip my sister and I spent the day visiting the little town of Clatskanie, Oregon. It is a very small town or maybe village would be a better would for it, and on the cute side. It looks like a typical northwestern community. Lots of older two story homes with tons of trees, scrubs, and flowering annuals everywhere. It is just barely large enough to have it's own school system. Cyndi and her brother Joe graduated from Clatskanie High School. There is a couple of grocery stores, fast food places and some more sophisticated restaurants. But it was the thrift shops and antique stores that held our interest that day, although the only thing I bought was an old book on horses. We did go to a reality office and looked at some homes for sale but nothing really caught my interest. Jan wants me to move there but at this time I don't think it is a wise idea. And I am not sure I could handle as much rain as they have there.

Cherry Tree

The cherry tree si on the left. The deer come here to eat grass.

Jan's Home

It really doesn't sit at an angle like this photo makes it look like. But her land is mostly up hill and down hill.

Clatskanie

After crossing the bridge and entering Oregon we went to Clatskanie, Oregon, the small town where Jan and family live. They have a beautiful, old re-molded farm house. It is thought to be well over a hundred years old. At one time it had been at a different place and was moved onto their propery. I think she said it had been a schoolhouse at one time. But a few years before they bought it the previous owners re-molded and modernized everything.
From the back door you enter a short hallway that leads to the kitchen with off shots to the downstairs bathroom and the pantry. To the left of the kitchen is a large diningroom that is mostly used for an office and junk room with a washroom off to the side of it.
From the kitchen you can enter either the livingroom or TV/den room. The front door is in the livingroom but isn't used hardly at all. The livingroom also has the staircase to the upstairs. Upstairs there is two bedroom, a very large master suite for Jan and Jim and a smaller room used by Cyndi. Off one side of the master suite is a large bathroom. Off the other side is a sunroom/sewing/craft room.
Now that isn't all. Going back to the pantry. There is a trap door raised by a pulley that shows you stairs leading down into a huge basement. At one time my nephews had a bedroom down there but as both have left home it is just another storage area full of mostly my moms stuff that we couldn't bare to part with.
Around three sides of the house is a porch with a railing. The roof extends out over the porch and makes for a wonderful area to get outside when it is raining as it does so much here. Jan had big pots of petunias in full bloom, hanging from the roof over the railing adding brilliant torches of color. In flower beds around the porch were several roses, also in full bloom. One rose was the last surviving 'child' from a rose that our granddad had brought from Texas when he moved his family to New Mexico in 1936. Jan had worked hard at taking a cutting off of the one Mom had at her home in Silver City, NM, took it to Oregon and convinced it to sprout, grow and bloom. I hope it lives until I can get a cutting off of it. The house in Silver City has been sold.
Jan and Jim's property is fairly large - about six acres. And they haven't done much with it. That is the way they want it. It looks like you have walked out into a forest miles and miles away from civilization. It is almost impossible to see any of the neighbors houses for the trees and brush. There is about an acre fenced for Paddy to play in. There is a large shop/garage for Jim and his tools and an older camp trailer, and in another area is what used to be a small barn and is now a storage shed for a couple of older Broncos.
A small spring pops out of the ground in the trees up on the hill to the east of the house. It creates a small creek that almost divides the property. It isn't a very wide or deep creek but in the past has created a fairly deep bank down to up and then back up the other side that makes it difficult to get to the far side of the property. If it was mine the first thing I would do is put a bridge across it.
All over the property are trees. Trees and trees and more trees. An apple tree that looks to be older than the house sits near the drive. There is a huge cherry tree out in a small meadow. There are maples, and pine and a huge Douglas fir, and an old Hemlock and tons of other trees. They have a small garden with lots of iris, some lilacs and several Rhododendrons that are very popular in the Northwest.
To the south side of there property is a huge rambling thicket of blackberries. They had been blooming and were just starting to put on fruit while I was there. Boy, did they taste good. Each year Jim makes blackberry jelly to give to all their friends and relatives.
I'm not the only one that thinks the blackberries taste good. So do lots of birds and deer.
There are a couple of does that live on Jan's property nearly all the time. They are gentle enough you can see them a lot in the mornings or evenings. There are several small meadow-like areas where they come to graze on the grass. They had fawns and I was able to see them while I was there and get a few photos.
GRASS and TREES
Oh if I could only have a little grass and a few bigger trees in my yard.

Entering Oregon

Lewis & Clark Bridge

Going south from Washington state to Oregon state.

Oregon

I have been very lax about putting information on by blog about the trip I took to Oregon and Washington last August. So I am going to tell about it in the next few postings and add a few of the 1000 or so photos I took.
On August 1, 2007 I flew to Portland, Or. It was the first time I had flown in 35 years. It was quite an experience. Needless to say I was scared stiff when we took off from the Albuquerque, NM airport. I didn't want to look out but had to. It seemed all I could see were the Sandia Mountains, and they looked like we were going to hit them. As you may remember I can see the Sandia Mountains to the east from my home. I watch them every day when the sun comes up over them, the clouds float over them, the snow covers them, or the rain obscures them, until the sun setting in the west causes them to turn pink, and to live up to their name of Sandia which means Watermelon. Then I watch the moon come up over them. They are a wonderful mountain range that I have seen all my life but I did not want to crash into them.
We didn't.
It was off to Sacramento, CA where I was able to stay on the plane, and in a few minutes we were off again, (this time not so scary). I was thrilled to watch the mountains under us, the clouds we went up and down through, and finally to get a glemse of Mt. Rainer and Mt. St. Helen's, as we suddenly were flying right up the Columbia River. I was amazed at that as my sister and nephew had never mentioned doing that when they went into Portland. (I found out later they never had.) I could see several boats, and barges, and a bridge I took to be the Lewis & Clark bridge (also known as the Longview Bridge) that spans the Columbia River between Longview, WA and Clatskanie, Or (where my sister, Jan, and brother-in-law, Jim live.) I thought I could see the paper mill that Jim works at which I knew was near the river and the bridge.
Minutes later we had landed at the Portland, Oregon airport and I was met by Jan and my niece, Cyndi. It was the first time we had seen each other in three years. After finding my luggage and the car in the parking area we had a quick lunch somewhere. I forgot where now. Fast food is fast food. Then it was off to the Happy Hound in Longview to pick up Jan's dog, Paddy (a Lab and hound cross) that had spent the day at Doggy Day Care at the Happy Hound which he is always happy to go to. It was the first time I had met Paddy, as he was only about a year and a half old. He is a wonderful, sweet dog and acted like we had always been friends.
Finally we went across the Lewis & Clark Bridge that I had seen from the plane, going from Washington to Oregon. There is even a sign in the middle of the bridge saying you are in Oregon. I had been across the bridge lots when my husband, Lee, and son, Dustin, drove to Oregon about 5 years before. It was sort a like going to a place I had been away from way to long.

Glad

I am glad to say I have not heard of anyone being injured by a bullet shot up into the air this year. Hopefully no pets or livestock were hurt either. I have heard that there were a lot of crazy drunks out on the road that caused several accidents and deaths. Seems like drinking is a legal way to kill someone.