sun sun sun and a road closed due to snow

Hello everyone!

I had a really great weekend! Friday night I went to Elaine, Gina & Dave’s house. Wampler was in town from Trout Lake to play some music with Dave. Gina went to Philadephia’s to pick up cheese steak sandwiches for dinner for us. We hung out on the porch and enjoyed the warm weather. Around 9 we went down to Clifford’s, one of our neighborhood bars, where Dave was playing music. Wampler played accordion and Steve was on mandolin and Eric on banjo. The music was great and I had lots of fun hanging out with friends and taking pictures.

Saturday I did some cleaning and errands then headed for my backyard. It was warm and sunny out so I laid in the backyard listening to music, reading my book and just soaking up the sun. Camille came outside too and did her homework. I could tell I was getting a bit pink so I retreated indoors. I went to Target and the grocery store then headed over to Erin and Terry’s house. They were celebrating the one year anniversary of them buying their house with a bbq. There was tons of food and lots of pregnant ladies! We drank beers (those of us not pregnant) and grazed at the snack table before the burgers and dogs were grilled up. Erin & Terry had just bought a huge pool from Costco so they set it up and began filling it. We’re experiencing a strange heat wave here in Portland with highs expected around 92 degrees today! I’m looking forward to future summer heatwaves when I can jump in Erin and Terry’s pool!

Sunday I called my Mom for Mother’s Day of course. We chatted until Jess arrived as we had plans to go hiking on Mt St Helens. We drove about 30 minutes north and were heading towards Lava Canyon when we saw a road closed sign. We went back to the Mt St Helen’s Visitor Center to find out that indeed the road to Lava Canyon was still closed due to snow. Normally the trail is open by mid-April but this year there’s been so much snow and so late into the season that it’s still closed. We consulted our hiking book and found another hike in the area at a lower elevation. It was a interesting drive to the trailhead down some crazy Forest Service roads…one lane, full of rocks from recent slides, cliffs that drop and drop and drop, part of the road that seem to have decided they didn’t want to be a road anymore. We arrived and descended into the forest.

The hike follows along Siouxson Creek (rhymes with Tucson). The water was gorgeous and clear with amazing green and blue colors. I was tempted on several occasions to jump in but it was QUITE COLD! The trail was relatively level and we crossed paths with more mountain bikers than other hikers. We passed several waterfalls, beautiful pools and grottos and forests thick with moss. We stopped to eat lunch near some falls before continuing on to Chinook Falls. At 50 feet high it was the biggest waterfall we saw. We turned around and headed back the way we came. It was a beautiful hike and we went about 7.8 miles total. We reached the car and traded our hiking boots for flip flops before getting back in the car for the drive home.

About an hour later we were back in Portland. I headed over to Elaine & Gina’s house where I had dinner with them and their parents. Elaine’s tacos are to die for…shredded beef cooked in beer and Serrano peppers served with fresh guacamole and pico de gallo! Mmmmm! It was a great meal and just what I needed. I took my pictures off my camera then headed home. I listened to music and read my book before going to sleep.

So that was my weekend! I’ll be late in posting next week as I’ll be in LA visiting Becky and won’t be back until Monday night. Please let me know how you are and what you’re up to! I hope all is well!

Xoxoxo,
carolyn