July 25, 2006

blueberry morning


blueberry morning, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

I spent the night at my aunt & uncle's house in the Seattle suburbs. In the morning I got my cup of coffee and went outside to pick blueberries with my uncle. They have several bushes which were just loaded in berries. My aunt made fantastic blueberry waffles for breakfast. They sent me home with a couple pints too. I'm a berry lover.

60 years of each other


60 years of each other, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

My grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with a big family dinner in Kirkland, just outside of Seattle.

My Grandma Jean met my Grandpa Al at Fleet Week in Seattle 61 years ago. She went on a tour of one of the ships to get out of the rain. My grandpa, a Navy man, had raindrops hanging from his earlobes. That's what attracted my grandma to him. Six months later my grandma took the train to Chicago, where my grandpa was from, and they were married.

They live on the Washington coast just on the border with Canada in the house built by my great-great-great-great grandfather.

hugs and kisses abound


hugs and kisses abound, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

I give my sister Sara a kiss. photo by her boyfriend Jeremy.

We had a big family dinner in Kirkland, just east of Seattle, to celebrate my grandparents' 60th anniversary.

my halibut was fantastic!

sailing man


sailing man, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Jeremy looks out longingly at all the sailboats on Lake Washington. He is a sailor and loves to be out on the water.

family dinner


family dinner, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

a bunch of my family gathered for a big dinner in Kirkland, outside of Seattle. We celebrated my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary.

I see you seeing me


I see you seeing me, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

It's been awhile since I've seen such small fawns. I saw a pair just as I was finishing my hike in Paradise on Mt Rainier.

it froze my bones


it froze my bones, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

I submerged my hand in the snowmelt coming off the mountain and it was FREEZING cold so much so that my hand was tingling after being in for just a few seconds. very refreshing on a scorching hot day

paradise meadows


paradise meadows, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

This area was aptly named Paradise.

Hiking the Skyline Trail on Mt Rainier. The wildflowers were really just getting going

they held their fuzzy heads up high

Old Man on the Mountain (aka Pasque Flower or Western Anenome).

One of my favorite flowers at Paradise on Mt Rainier

traveling clementine


traveling clementine, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Greta gave me a few clementines to take on the plane when I left Minneapolis. I ate the last one at Panorama Point on Mt Rainier.

view of the Tatoosh Range with Mt Adams in the distance (left side).

I'm at 6800 feet elevation

glacier grind


glacier grind, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

glaciers on Mt Rainier as seen from Paradise on the southern side of the mountain. The mountain supports a total of 23 glaciers. wowza!

I'm getting sunburned right now

I hiked the Skyline Trail in Paradise on Mt Rainier. The trail goes through gorgeous flower meadows and then above timberline to a insane of the Nisqually Glacier.

hiking the Skyline


hiking the Skyline, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

The wildflowers were just getting going and there was a surprising amount of snow across the trail.

another day at work


another day at work, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

a group of hikers stop to talk to some National Park Service employees. They were putting ropes & poles across snowfields to mark the trail. The Skyline Trail still had lots of snow showing what a big snow year we had. Last year when I did this hike we encountered only 2 patches of snow and it never covered the trail. Last year was a crappy snow year.

avalanche!


avalanche!, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

avalanche lilies grow en masse at Paradise on Mt Rainier

coffee and glaciers


coffee and glaciers, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

I left Trout Lake early Saturday morning and took the Forest Service roads up to Packwood then on up to Mt Rainier.

This is one of my last view of Mt Adams, from the northwest side which I don't normally see. I love the massive glacier grinding down the slope.

she still sleeps


she still sleeps, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

the sky goes pink, the water goes pink as Sleeping Beauty still sleeps.

Trout Lake, Washington

can you see why I love this place so much?

pink wash


pink wash, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

the sunset fades as Mt Adams goes to sleep. Trout Lake, Washington

an evening in the A-frame

Danny hosted a bbq at his sweet A-frame house in Trout Lake. There currently is a room available for rent. So tempting...

black-haired girl


black-haired girl, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Kelly at the swimming hole in Trout Lake.

another fine afternoon of the hot rock and the cold water

the fruits of my labor


the fruits of my labor, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

I picked a whole bunch of raspberries (and a few black raspberries) Friday morning in Wampler's garden. We made milkshakes with some of them and then froze the rest. delicious!

Trout Lake, Washington

neighborly


neighborly, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Earlier I had fed the neighbor's cows the peas that were too big for us to want to eat. The cow loved them. When I got next to the fence to pick berries he came up thinking I was going to feed him some more. Expensive cows...Scottish Highland.

I'm on the other side of this fence abd just leaned my camera over.

Mt Adams in the background.

Trout Lake, Washington

two mountains and 60 years of marriage!

Hello everyone!

I had a wonderful weekend up in the mountains and followed up by a trip to Seattle to see family. Thursday afternoon I headed up towards Trout Lake on Mt Adams. I made a brief stop at the Bonneville Dam fish hatchery where I checked out the ponds of giant rainbow trout and the sturgeon which are truly enormous (ten feet long!). I arrived at Wampler’s house in Trout Lake and set up my tent in his backyard. I headed down to the Inn where I talked with friends and some visitors while enjoying a nice cold beer (Rogue Dead Guy) on the porch. The mountain was perfect and huge though I’m always amazed by how fast the snow melts off. It was just as hot in Trout Lake as in Portland (over 100 degrees!).

Jason and Wampler showed up and we walked to the swimming hole just moments away from the Inn. Having just spent time swimming in the warm waters of Minnesota I was very surprised by how cold the water was. On such a scorching hot day it felt perfect. We hung out on the rock, cooking in the sun until we were too warm and would jump into the cold water which not too long ago was snow on Mt Adams. We stayed for a few hours and then walked back up to the Inn for $1 taco night. We hung out at the Inn for a long time, talking with friends on the porch and laughing.

Friday morning I woke up in my tent and knew it was going to be a crazy hot day. Wampler’s thermometer in the sun said it was 90 degrees at 9 AM. I made some coffee and Wamp & I sat in the shade in his backyard. I went out into his garden and picked peas, zucchini, green beans and tons and tons of raspberries. We made raspberry milkshakes for lunch then froze the rest of the berries. They were sublime. In the afternoon we headed down to the swimming hole again where we hung out with friends and drank cold beers in the hot sun. That cold swimming hole is the most fantastic thing on a hot day. We stayed for several hours until we motivated to prepare for the bbq that Jason was going to be hosting. We ended up moving the bbq to Danny’s house as Jason, who works for the Forest Service, had been called out to a fire. We cooked up tons of food on the grill on the upper deck of Danny’s sweet A-frame house. Around sunset the sky started turning crazy shades of orange and pink. I borrowed Wamp’s truck and hightailed it to Trout Lake, the lake itself, with it’s beautiful views of Mt Adams and Sleeping Beauty. The sky was awash in intense pink light and I was the only person there. I grinned and marveled at how beautiful Trout Lake is.

Back at Danny’s I was congratulated for making the effort to capture the stunning sunset. More and more friends came by and we all hung out on the deck talking and drinking beers and cold water. I wanted to get an early start the next morning so Wamp and I left pretty early. I sat in the back yard for a bit a looked up at the zillions of stars before crawling into my tent for the night.

I woke up around 7 and quickly showered, made coffee and packed up all my stuff. By 8 AM I was on the road. I had decided to take the Forest Service roads up and around Mt Adams and then up to Packwood. From there it’s just a short drive to Mt Rainier. I entered the national park and made my way up to Paradise. I parked and began my hike. There was cloud cover which I was quite grateful for. It was so warm even at that high elevation. I think I would have gotten heat stroke during my climb up if the sun had been glaring down on me. Gina & I had hiked the same trail last July but this year’s heavy snow was still apparent. There were plenty of wildflowers but meadows were not as jammed as they were the previous year. In another few weeks I think the lupine will really be going. The earlier flowers like avalanche lilies and old man on the mountain were going strong and there was also plenty of beautiful bright pink Indian paintbrush. As I ascended the Skyline Trail I was surprised by the amount of snow still on the trail itself. At one point I passed some national park service employees who were putting poles and ropes across a snowfield to mark where the trail should be. I occasionally scooped up some snow and rubbed it on my neck to cool down. I knew this was rubbing off my sunscreen but I thought I’d deal with sunburn later rather than heatstroke now. As I hiked higher and higher my view of the Nisqually Glacier grinding down the mountain became more and more spectacular. Above timberline there was lots more snow. I stopped at a view point and watched the huge waterfalls coursing over the cliffs and tiny groups of climbers like ants going up the massive mountain. This is still one of the most incredible hikes I have ever done. I suspect it’s one I’ll try and squeeze in every year. An annual trip to Paradise sounds like a wonderful tradition.

I stopped at Panorama Point to eat my lunch. The elevation at this point is 6800 feet. I ate a bagel and had a clementine. There were very aggressive chipmunks running around; they clearly had been fed by too many hikers. There was also a big hoary marmot (what a name!) running around on the rocks. Behind me loomed massive Mt Rainier while in front of me was the Tatoosh Range still dotted with snowfields and Mt Adams in the distance. I got back on the trail and discovered that Lower Skyline Trail was closed due large amounts of snow and steep ice on the trail. Strangely enough the Upper Skyline Trail was open though there was definitely snow still lingering. After going up for a bit the trail begins to descend quickly. I watched several hikers glissade down a huge snowfield. It looked fun but they all said it hurt as the snow was very rough in places. As the trail descended back below the treeline the wildflowers appeared again. I snapped zillions of pictures and generally freaked out over the gorgeousness. I must say it was a little strange to do such a hike by myself but given that I was on my way from Trout Lake to a family dinner in Seattle I was alone. I was able to hike at my own pace and stop to take photos without holding anyone up.

At the bottom of the trail as I was walking past the Paradise Lodge I saw two small fawns on the edge of the woods. They drank from a small creek and walked around the trees looking at me with curiosity. I snapped a few pictures and was grateful for my good fortune. I walked down past the visitors center and to my car in the crazy parking lot. The lodge at Paradise is undergoing major renovation so the construction has greatly affected parking in what is already the most congested part of Mt Rainier. I changde my close and cleaned up as best I could in a park bathroom. I got in my car and started going down the mountain. I stopped at a bridge high above the Nisqually River, chocolate brown from it’s glaciermelt. I exited the park and began working my way over to Seattle on little highways. I stopped in a little town to hang out in a park and just get out of the car for a bit. It was so hot though that I didn’t last long before going back to my air-conditioned car.

I arrived in Kirkland shortly before our 7:30 dinner reservations at Anthony’s Homeport. I sat on a bench and watched the boats on Lake Washington before walking down the street to the restaurant. I was the first to arrive so I was seated at the giant table by myself and ordered a beer. Soon after almost everyone arrived at once. We had gathered to celebrate my grandparents’ 60th anniversary. All my cousins were there (all three of them!) and my aunts and uncles as well as my brother and sister. Everyone was taking photos and videos and laughing and talking. My sixteen year old cousin David ate a whole basket of bread displaying the insatiable appetite of a teenage boy. Uncle Wayne ordered oyster shooters which Sara, Jeremy and I all happily did will others were totally disgusted by the raw oysters. Yummmm! I had a fantastic piece of Alaskan Halibut with a northwest berry sauce. I also tried Sara’s crab cakes, Jeremy’s fried oysters and my grandpa’s mahi mahi. It was all delicious! After dinner we all headed back to Buzz & Barb’s house. Barb had made a wonderful slideshow movie with scanned in photos, both recent and old, which we watched in the living room projected onto a big screen. Grandma & Grandpa opened their presents and then we had cake and some amazing homemade blueberry ice cream. It was around midnight when people began leaving. I was staying the night, not willing to drive the 3 hours back to Portland so late and after a day of so much driving already.

In the morning I picked blueberries with my Uncle Buzz while drinking my morning coffee. They have several blueberry bushes and they were all absolutely loaded with berries. We brought in the berries and my Aunt Barb whipped up some fantastic blueberry waffles. We watched some old videos of my visit to Washington when I was 12 (18 years ago!). I finally motivated myself to hit the road and hugged everyone goodbye. It was an uneventful drive home with out any traffic nightmares. It was scorching hot in Portland (100 something degrees). I went to Elaine and Gina’s house to get my pictures off the camera & begin posting them to flickr. Elaine and Dave got home from Trout Lake as they had gone up there just about the time I was leaving Trout Lake for Mt Rainier. We hung out on the porch and talked for a while before I went home to finally unpack. I was happy to sleep in my own bed, something I’ve been missing out on lately with all my travels. This coming weekend I’ve decided to give away my camping reservations on Hood Canal (the southern end of Puget Sound). Instead I’ll be sailing with Sara & Jeremy up in the San Juan Islands. Such tough decisions I have to make! It should be sunny and wonderful. I’m excited to explore some islands I’ve never seen and maybe maybe maybe I’ll get to see some killer whales. My eyeballs might just pop out of their sockets and heart burst from happiness. I love summer!

Please let me know how you are and what you’ve been doing. I hope all is well!

Xoxo,
carolyn

feel flows


feel flows, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Jason submerges himself in the first of the small spillways. The Trout Lake boys have worked really hard, moving around the very heavy rocks to make this swimming hole so fantastic

worlds collide


worlds collide, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

my wisconsin beer in a minnesota cozy at a washington swimming hole. life is so good

serenity on the rock


serenity on the rock, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Wampler goes zen on The Rock. We get really hot on The Rock then jump in the cold, cold swimming hole then crawl back up onto the rock and get really hot again, jump into the cold water, repeat 12 times.

Trout Lake, Washington

cow pasture with a view


cow pasture with a view, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

This is the view 30 feet from the swimming hole in Trout Lake. You can see why I'm such a fan.

sturgeon shadows


sturgeon shadows, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

two massive sturgeon at the Bonneville Fish Hatchery. I believe the big guy on the right is Herman the Sturgeon. He is ten feet long. whoa

c and g


c and g, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Sunday morning.

me and greta.

best friends.

I love her so.

My last day in Minneapolis

tilt for maximum cuteness

I hang out with Valentine while she has a snack of Wisconsin cheese and Oregon bread (mmm hazelnut).

family lounge


family lounge, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Sunday morning lounge.

Valentine, Greta & Adam

the bocce game swells


the bocce game swells, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

more and more people got in on the bocce game.

bbq at Adam & Greta's house in Minneapolis

pool party


pool party, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Ross holds his six month old daughter Eliza in the water while Juniper plays in her much-loved innertube.

Her mom bought her the innertube the day before and she wore it around the house all day long.

Eliza's diaper would soon be breached and it would come off. Naked girls would fill the pool!

sass


sass, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Nina and Juniper are much too cute. It was very strange to realize everyone in Minneapolis I know with babies all have little girls while everyone I know in Portland with babies all have little boys. weird

gimme the baby


gimme the baby, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

I happily took Eliza from her parents and bounced her around the party. She doesn't like sitting still.

photo by Dan

party dresses


party dresses, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Valentine and Greta in dresses to beat the heat. V sits on the bocce ball set.

bbq at Adam & Greta's house

in the bubbie


in the bubbie, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

baby Valentine translator...
bubbie=bath (from tubbie)
lala=telephone
kiki=blanket
dada="what's that?" not Daddy which is always "Daddy!"
nonny=carolyn

July 19, 2006

down the rabbit hole


down the rabbit hole, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Valentine looks at me from the top of the slide. A hot hot morning at Powderhorn Park near Greta & Adam's house in Minneapolis

three from the sha


three from the sha, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

classic wisco stuff. Me, Greta and Adam & some Leinie's in a plastic cup at a festival in Hudson, Wisconsin. We are all from Waukesha, Wisconsin

up north there hey


up north there hey, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

From Minneapolis, Minnesota to Hudson, Wisconsin is about a 45 minute drive. Twelve of us piled into a van & a minivan on Friday to cross over into Wisco (my friends there referred to it as Sconnie).

go packers


go packers, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

12 of us drove to Hudson, Wisconsin for a Friday night fish fry. Because our group was so large we were seated in the NFL Room, adorned of course with Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Viking paraphernelia. Bahahahaaaa!

Bob Smith's Sports Club

water gazing greta


water gazing greta, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Eliza grabs on tight to my finger.

she's six months old and this trip to Minneapolis was my first time meeting her. I've been friends with her mom, Betsy, since middle school.

the sweetest grip


the sweetest grip, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Eliza grabs on tight to my finger.

she's six months old and this trip to Minneapolis was my first time meeting her. I've been friends with her mom, Betsy, since middle school.

foot grab first


foot grab first, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

this day was the first time Eliza grabbed her foot and stuck it in her mouth. Every day is full of something new with a baby around. Her parents have been friends of mine for years and years.

concrete waterfall


concrete waterfall, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Betsy couldn't believe that I had never seen St Anthony Falls so she took me. I said, "Oh you mean the spillway. Well, I've seen that." It used to be a wild waterfall but not so anymore. She replied, "It's certainly not like an Oregon waterfall."

mill town


mill town, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Minneapolis was a town built on flour mills which where powered by falls along the Mississippi River.

my kinda decay


my kinda decay, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Betsy took me to the Mill City Museum along the Mississippi River. It's built in the ruins of an old flour mill. It was built in the 1870's and then fell into to disuse. A fire burned through in the 1960's and it just opened as a museum recently. The courtyard area is a great space

lunch in the park


lunch in the park, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

I gave Eliza her lunchtime bottle in a park along the Mississippi River. She sucked that breast milk right down. She's a growing girl.

photo by her mama Betsy

elizabeths


elizabeths, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

My friend Betsy with her six month old daughter Eliza.

Baby Eliza insisted on lunch so we stopped at a park along the Mississippi River. I got to feed her a bottle of her mama's breastmilk (the world's most perfect food) then we hung out in the park.

ear sniffer


ear sniffer, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

it's impossible not to giggle when a dog sniffs your ear. the sound is hilarious and her wet dog nose gave me the shivers which was pretty nice since we were experiencing a heatwave

blurry smiles


blurry smiles, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

while in Minneapolis I got together for dinner and drinks with Erin. We were roommates for a year when we both lived in Madison, Wisconsin. We met at our weird college job...at the plasma center.