We've gone bananas!

Hello everyone and Happy Halloween!

It's a rainy, windy day here so the trick or treaters tonight are going to have a rough go of it! I plan on going to Elaine & Gina's to help pass out candy. I love seeing all the kids in costume. I might even put on my costume again for door-answering duty.

Friday night I went over to Elaine & Gina's house. Dave and I played a bunch of different games (skip-bo & rummykub) while Elaine and Gina drove to Escape from New York to pick up some pizzas. Brian came over and we all ate dinner together then played Shanghai Rummy. It was really fun to play again. We drank yummy sweet Thai tea with Bailey's. It's like dessert it's so good!

Saturday morning I watched an episode of Globe Trekker about the Gulf States in the Middle East. I then read for a few hours and finished a book I had been reading about the history of the Oregon Territory. In the afternoon I packed and went over to Elaine & Gina's. Around 4pm we loaded up the cars and hit the road. I went with Brian in his car and Elaine, Gina and Dave were a few minutes behind us.

The drive to Trout Lake is one of my favorites. The Gorge is so spectacular! We did drive through an insane downpour with a few moments of hydroplaning but that's driving in the Northwest in fall. The rains have returned full force! We arrived at the Inn in the evening and ordered beers and dinner. We then played cards for awhile before deciding to put on our costumes. The five of us were all bananas! It was pretty damn funny! Brian had made his costume with his mom so his was much bigger than our store bought bananas. He also had the black spots of an older banana so he was alternately the King Banana and the Bad Banana. He was 3 days away from being perfect for banana bread.

We spent the night dancing to the band, yakking out on the porch, taking pictures of the crazy costumes and having a great time! I don't know exactly how many people were there but it was over a hundred. The band played until very late but we left at around 2am to crash at Wampler's house just up the road. In the morning Elaine made yummy breakfast burritos and we eventually got all our stuff loaded up and headed back to Portland. It was a beautiful drive back through the Gorge.

I went home and unpacked and showered then went back to the Hilberts' to get my photos of the camera. We spent the afternoon watching movies (Pay it Forward and Eulogy). For dinner we had some wonderful stew that Elaine & Gina's dad had made. It's one of his specialties!

So that was my Halloween weekend! I'll be posting lots of pictures today. Please let me know how you are and what's you've been up to. I would love to photos of anyone else that dressed up for Halloween!

xoox,
carolyn