The Rest of the Story

I want to get the rest of our visit in before I forget what we did:) Already I'm a little foggy on what we did the day after the plumbers came. I think that was the day that Lee and I went to get pedis so our feet could look like they belonged to women who don't spend their days running after children, but perhaps like feet that spend their days on beaches or other exfoliating places. It was a very nice afternoon trip, the great irony being that Lee was saying on the way there that she wasn't sure she would be comfortable with a man giving her a pedicure and I chipped in with the ever intelligent "do men even do that sort of thing?", and sure enough I ended up with a man giving me my pedicure.  It was worth it, our toes looked lovely as could be afterwards.  While I'm not sure the hot wax/plastic baggie thing actually did anything to our feet, it was certainly entertaining at the time.


We did decide to adjust our camping plans. Upon learning that Bend was supposed to be 42 degrees overnight, we decided that a day trip would be just lovely. We started our day with a tour of the Columbia River Gorge. It has, hands down, the nicest rest stop I've ever seen:)

For the record, Mike would like the caption for the second picture to read "I just peed" and now back to our regularly scheduled blogging...

It was a beautiful drive. We saw several waterfalls before we stopped to hike to the top of the largest one, Multnomah Falls. It was gorgeous and very very tall.

Along the trail to the top, a little cave just big enough for a man, or a man and his brother who loves a nice close hug.

This was really the only time where Jeff's being a marathon runner actually came into play in our relationship. We lost them about 1/2 way up the trail (maybe a little sooner). When we finally got to the top, there were PB&Js all around and some great pictures. (not that I went anywhere near the edge to get them, that would be the handsome man i married)

If you click on this picture, you can see the bridge waaaaaayyyyyy down there. that is the bridge from the first picture.

From there we headed to a nearby town to get some good coffee and then off to drive the fruit loop (local orchards) to Mt. Hood. We visited the Timberline Lodge. It was beautiful and there was snow to play in, so that was a bonus for Ez and Hads.

 This picture is one of my favorites for doing its best to express the absolute blue of the sky that day.

 This was the view from the front of the lodge. Notice the vast amount of space before one would fall off the mountain? My kind of view. It was the details in the lodge that made it so spectacular. Sure it was neat to see how they basically used tree trunks to build the place, but the pictures of people from the 1930s gathered in the lodge socializing and seeing the "game" room with its ancient pingpong table and table shuffleboard (which apparently utilizes some sort of sawdust?) and what appeared to be a stage was too too charming. The picture of the guy with his foot wrapped burning his broken wooden skis in the great room fireplace was priceless. Then you get to the architectural details of the building itself. Like this door..

 I loved this door. I wanted this door. I wished i had a house big enough for this door. alas, i think this door would probably not work on a 1950s brick ranch in Ohio, but if any of my relatives ever decide to buy a castle, I know just where to start with their decorating suggestions.

 Note the ever present delicious coffee in the hiker's hand on the left.

Lee and I decided that we had to be brave enough to stick a toe into the little pond that was being filled by the melting pile of snow next to it. Almost 1/2 of the pond was an underwater iceburg. It was beautiful and it was CHILLY.
We headed home after some more exploring on Mt. Hood and enjoyed s'mores by the fire at home. 

Reeces Cups, Caramellos, or Hersheys were the s'mores options. Goodness were they tasty and rich! Ez was so jazzed about camping out that Jeff was #1 Dad and slept with him in a tent in the backyard while the rest of us snuggled comfortably in our own beds.

that was a very busy day, and now i am tuckered just writing about it. more tomorrow...

The Crunchy Capital of the World

Mike and I are having a wonderful week visiting the West Coast Becksforts this week. It IS very strange to be here sans kiddos, but having face-timed with said kiddos a couple times, we know they are enjoying being spoiled by the ice cream vendors we left them with.
So far this week we have gone to the local farmers market, eaten vegetarian from a food cart, eaten tasty coconut cream pie from another food cart, watched the wonder that is John Mark's ability to preach a great sermon while his swirly twirly hands never ceased, gathered eggs from the chickens, loved the way Hadley says "chicken", hit the coast...

ate fantastic halibut and chips and watched Hadley eat shrimp ketchup cocktail, enjoyed super fresh Clam chowder, shopped the antique stores and kite shops...

watched our first clips of Portlandia,went to Powells bookstore, bought some new hiking boots at REI and watched the plumbers come and re-plumb the house. The follow up crew was very handsome, but some of their supervisors were pretty "hands on"

and I'm not sure what it means when your supervisor makes this face...

let's get a better look at that...

and this face was a little worrisome too...

fortunately, the supervisors did their job well and were rewarded with Ruby Jewel ice cream. Ah-mazing ice cream. Caramel with salted Dark Chocolate was popular, my personal choice being the Peanut Butter Dream. Ez got Salted Lime, it was potent stuff that had uncle mike looking around for a shot of tequila.

Today we're waiting the requisite 24 hours for the caulk to dry on the new shower head before we all take really hot luxurious showers (that will be starting at approximately 4:01pm for those of you thinking of telephoning us). tomorrow we camp.