a weekend of winter

Hello everyone!

I had a really wonderful weekend up in Trout Lake. I left after work and arrived in the early evening. The drive up the gorge was fantastic with the moonlight lighting up the river and the cliffs. I was even more amazed when I arrived in snowy Trout Lake. Mt Adams was glowing in the moonlight! Such gorgeousness! I got to Wampler’s house and was so happy with all the snow, about two feet and larger snowbanks and drifts. I unloaded my stuff and talked with Wampler as he prepared homemade pizza. Jason, Sara and Danny were all there and the woodburning stove was keeping the house toasty warm. Dave Clarke arrived from Portland with a wide variety of consumables: bacon, green peppers, whiskey, bisquick, clementines and ranch salad dressing. We ate pizza then Dave insisted that I go outside to take long exposure photos of the mountain in the moonlight. He even offered to drive me. Dave & Jason & I piled into the car and drove to the back side of the school. I set up my tripod in a big snowbank and took several photos using different exposure times. 15 seconds is the longest I can do on my camera. I’d never taken long exposure photos before so I was excited to be trying something new. The pictures turned out pretty good with the huge snowy mountain glowing in the moonlight and the big dipper hanging directly above the mountain. Wow!

We then went back to Wamp’s house. Damon and Amanda came over and Dave played us some new songs. Wampler joined in on accordion for a few and they sounded really great. Later we all watched An Inconvenient Truth. I had already seen it but wanted to watch it again. Everyone was really agitated after watching it. Again, if you haven’t seen this movie you really should. It helps dispel a lot of the myths and confusion about global warming. This is not a cyclical thing, this is not a left wing agenda…this is really happening. Al Gore did an excellent job with this film.

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day. Dave & Wampler made a big breakfast of eggs and bacon waffles (omigod! so good!). We hung out and drank coffee before leaving the house. First Dave and Wampler and I drove up to Trout Lake, the lake itself. We had to park and walk part of the way as the road was very snowy and icy and there was a tree down blocking the way. Mt Adams looked fantastic reflected in the water. From there we drove out one of the Forest Service roads to meet Jason, Sara & Bobby. The guys were working on Jason’s truck and the only spot in town where there was no snow was at an elk camp. Where the hunters had parked the trucks was dry so they worked on the truck there. Sara had a little fire going and we hung out and drank beers and talked. Bobby’s little Jack Russell terrier, Charlie, found two elk legs that had been left behind by the hunters. It was hilarious to watch her run around with these huge legs in her tiny mouth. Eventually Bobby buried them in a huge snowbank. The guys got the truck fixed and then we drove on down a different Forest Service road. Jason was determined to get some turns in so he took his snowboard up a huge hill so he could come down. Meanwhile Dave & Wamp and I went back to catch the alpenglow on Mt Adams. The light went from soft gold to an orangy-pink glow. I sat in a huge snowbank and took tons of photos. When the light had faded completely we drove back to Wampler’s.

We decided to make enchiladas for dinner. Danny, Sara and Jason all came over to eat with us too. After dinner we watched Spaceballs which Wampler had somehow never seen. I remember thinking the movie was funny but now it just seemed dumb and not particularly funny. meh.

Sunday morning Dave made his famous biscuits and gravy for breakfast. I love them! Wampler set me up to do some work on my website. It felt good to work on it. It should be up and running within a week or so. You’ll definitely all get a big announcement when it’s up and running. I’ve worked really hard getting my inventory together and I’m very excited about the site. I headed back to Portland in the early afternoon and spent the rest of the day making cards, watching netflix and reading my book.

So that was my weekend! I’m off to Trout Lake again this weekend. yeah!
Please let me know how you are and what you’ve been doing!

xoxo,