wintery weekend

Hello everyone! I am not at work today as the college is closed due to nasty weather. It's improving in Portland but the cold east winds from the Gorge make the conditions worse where I work.

Friday night I watched a really interesting Nova documentary about the magnetic fields of the Earth and the periodic flipping of the poles...crazy stuff. I made a bunch of photo cards too. Later that night Camille and I walked a few blocks to a nearby bar where Dave was playing music. It was a fun night with some beers and some dancing and singing along with Dave's songs. It was especially nice to be able to just walk a few blocks home at the end of the night.

Saturday morning I was awakened much too early by my upstairs neighbors playing loud music. I do not like them at all. I read for a while but then decided to venture outside. It's been abnormally cold (30's for highs) in the Portland area for the last week or two. Saturday was very cold windy but with blue skies so I decided to drive out to the Gorge and check out the waterfalls. All the falls are still flowing but the wind blows the mist off the falls where it quickly freezes to form immense layers of ice. I first stopped at Vista House which is on a high cliff in the gorge. The wind was so fierce that I actually feared for my life and quickly got back in my car and drove down into the gorge with calmer winds.

The first falls I stopped at was Latourell Falls. It's a drop of 249 feet in a single plume. A short walk down to the bottom left me totally in awe. The entire area at the base of the falls was a world of ice. I myself was being iced over as I took pictures and stared in amazement. It was astoundingly beautiful. The mist and the wind was creating some of the strangest formations. From there I drove on down the Historic Highway and stopped at the viewpoint at Bridal Veil. Looking across the Columbia I could see huge waterfalls frozen on the cliffs in Washington. The wind was brutal though. Next stop was Wahkeena Falls. It's more of a tumbling cascade over the rocks rather than a sharp drop so it wasn't nearly as icy. There was a branch laying across rocks in the stream that was encased in at least 5 inches of ice. All the rocks had little ice hats. From there I drove a few minutes to Multnomah Falls. This is the largest falls around (total of 620 feet) and the cold weather had made it spectacular! I was amazed by the intricacies in the ice. I took many photos and shook my head in disbelief and wonder at it all.

My last stop was Horsetail Falls just a few minutes up the road. It's a drop of 176 feet in a single plume so the wind was doing crazy things. The whole area to the left of the falls was a skating rink with many inches of ice. I skated around and looked at the icy branches and the huge icicles coming off the cliff face. I drove back to Portland after that with the heat cranked in my car and totally amazed by what I had just seen.

I met up with Elaine and we decided to go to Billy Reeds for some drinks and a snack. We got oyster shooters but they were so HUGE that we cut them in half before we could eat them. Bigger is not always better. We had super spicy bloody marys and talked and talked. On the way home we stopped at the grocery store to make stuff for dinner. Elaine grilled up some wonderful steaks on the grill which we ate with baked potatoes and Caesar salad. Not too long after dinner Dave and Elaine and I left for Imbibe to see our friend Lincoln's blue grass band (Cross Eyed Rosie) play. Lincoln plays mandolin and there's also a fiddler, a guitar, a stand up bass and a vocalist. They sounded really great. I'll definitely need to go see them again. We were all pretty tired so we didn't stay out late.

Sunday morning I showered then went to my local cafe to have a croissant sandwich, a mocha and read the Sunday paper. It was lovely to sit by the warm, sunny window while the cold wind howled outside. From there I drove to downtown. I walked around and took some photos before going to the museum for my volunteer shift. We were all keeping a close eye on the weather and sure enough it began snowing around 1 PM. Portland is not equipped for snow. They don't salt the streets, there's very few plows and people generally are inexperience in winter driving. The museum was closing early due to the weather and my shift captain sent me home early to ensure I could get home safely. It was a very long and slow drive home. The storm had arrived several hours earlier than the news had predicted so everyone was still out and about. Traffic was thick and very slow with the streets very icy. I decided to go to Elaine and Gina's (where I'm still at) and took the route there that would avoid all hills. I was very relieved to get there safely. I've had enough car drama to last me awhile. We spent the evening watching movies and doing jigsaw puzzles. The snow stopped but later it began freezing rain. Most things outside are encased in ice but the roads are improving. Given my work's location though it's possible I might not work tomorrow. Hard to say at this point.

I will be staying in Portland for my first Christmas ever. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and know that I am thinking of you!

xoxoxo,
carolyn