queen of the unicorns

queen of the unicorns, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

At our friend Matt's 30th birthday party I made Elaine & Gina stand in front of the hilarious unicorn tapestry hanging in the kitchen.

roller derby first

roller derby first, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

My first roller derby. The Rose City Rollers of Portland versus the Rat City Rollers of Seattle. This bout was between The Breakneck Betties (red, Portland) and the Throttle Rockets (black, Seattle). The Betties would take it. It was fun (and funny) but we were done after two bouts and left the packed Expo Center to do other things. What a long day! hot springs, hiking, roller derby & a birthday party. I slept like a champ.

thanks to Kyle for getting us in for free on the VIP list (our own packed bleachers and free beer)

busy beavers

busy beavers, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

near Gillette Lake along the Pacific Crest Trail just north of the Columbia River we saw a couple trees that had been gnawed at by some beavers. My jaw hurts just lookin at it.

january hike

january hike, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Gina & I hiked to Gillette Lake, a five mile walk on the Pacific Crest Trail, near the Bridge of the Gods on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. The lake was an incredible blue green color like you see in high alpine lakes.

Looks good for summer swimmin

saturday morning soak

saturday morning soak, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

At the mineral hot springs in Carson, Washington in the Columbia River Gorge. $15 gets you a 25 minute soak in the hot hot mineral water followed by a wrap. Here I'm pouring cold water on myself as it was HOT in that tub. It felt phenomenal.

Gina & I had tried to hike Falls Creek Falls earlier in the day only to find the road closed by snow, as was the nearby Trapper Creek Wilderness hike which is supposed to be open all year. We decided to do the hot springs first then do a different hike at a lower elevation to get out of the damn snow.

Hot water on a cold day. I was very content.

photo by Gina

hot springs on a cold day

Hello everyone!

I had a really great weekend. I stayed in Friday night watching Netflix & reading my book. I also watched a really disturbing PBS special on meth, a huge problem in Oregon.

Saturday morning I was up early and over at Gina’s house. We drove up the Gorge and crossed over the Bridge of the Gods to the Washington side. We drove north 15 miles only to find increasing amounts of snow. The hike we had intended to do turned out to be unhikable. The road was closed due to snow. The guide book indicated it was open April-November. I’m normally very good about checking these sorts of things but I didn’t think about it with the trail being so close to the Columbia River. We went to another trailhead just a few miles away (one that’s supposed to be open all year). It was also full of snow. We even saw someone cross country skiing down the trail. Brrrrr! On to Plan B. We went to the town of Carson and went to the mineral hot springs. For $15 you get a 25 minute soak followed by a wrap. It’s a bare bones operation here. There is a women’s and a men’s bathhouse, each with lots of big clawfoot tubs and privacy screens. Gina and I got tubs next to each other. The water was wonderfully hot and makes your skin feel so soft. After our soak we walked into the other room where the bath attendant wraps you up and you relax for another 20 minutes or so. It was heavenly.
After quick showers we got dressed and left.

Back in the car we headed back to the river. A short drive west and we were at another trailhead (part of the Pacific Crest Trail) with no snow around. It was quite windy and cold though but it was fine when we were hiking. The trail was one of the less scenic ones I’ve been on, crossing through several clearcuts. Ugh! Our goal though was worth the ugliness along the way. Gillette Lake is an amazing teal color. It would be a great place to hike into during summer for lunch and some swimming. Gina & I walked by the edge of the lake and tried to eat but we got cold pretty quickly when we weren’t moving. We hiked back out and cranked the heat in the car. It was 5 miles round trip. Before taking the bridge back to Oregon we stopped at Bonneville Hot Springs a few miles up the road. This is a full resort and spa, quite different from Carson’s rustic accommodations. We are going there later this week to celebrate Camille’s birthday so we wanted to pick up brochures about what they offer. Mineral hot springs twice in one week! I am spoiled!

Back in Portland I got my pictures off my camera and Gina started cooking up some spaghetti. We both really wanted hot food after our cold hike. We ate then headed out to the Expo Center where we would see our first roller derby ever. Kyle is a volunteer for one of the teams so he got us on the VIP list, free entry and free beer. The whole thing was quite the spectacle. The roller girls go all out in their outfits and makeup. This was an exhibition match between the Rose City Rollers of Portland and the Rat City Rollers of Seattle. There were 4 teams for each city and the bouts were about 20 minutes long. It looked pretty rough. Those wipe outs have got to hurt! After two bouts Gina and I had been there for almost two hours and while it was fun (and funny) we were sort of on sensory overload after out long day (and we knew it wasn’t over yet). We left the Expo Center, running through the cold and windy parking lot back to my car. Back at Gina’s house Jimmy and Andrea were in town from Trout Lake and were playing games with Dave & Elaine. I joined in for a few rounds of Liar’s Dice before we all rallied to head out to a birthday party. My friend Matt (also Jimmy’s younger brother) was turning 30 and invited us over. We showed up and drank a few beers and watched the guys play some ping pong related game before deciding to go home. What a long day! I slept like a champ!

Sunday I took it easy after my crazy long Saturday. I slept in then finished my book with my coffee in my cozy bed. I showered then headed over to Elaine & Gina’s house where I went through some more of my photos. The guys got back from frisbee golf (Andrea & Elaine had left after the first round. COLD!). Elaine cooked up some Spanish rice and quesadillas for lunch which were delicious with the fresh pico de gallo from the other night. Jimmy, Andrea, Dave, Elaine & I played a round of Shanghai Rummy which was really fun. I then went home were I read my book and listened to music. In the evening I went out to sushi with Gina at Ichidai. The salmon toro is the best thing ever, it melts in your mouth like butter! It was delicious and great treat on a Sunday night (thanks Gina!!!). I went home and read and listened to more music before going to sleep.

So that was my weekend. Please let me know how you are and what you’ve been doing!

xoxo,
carolyn

three girls, three bottles of wine

three girls, three bottles of wine, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

I made dinner for my friends Camille & Jess on Saturday night. We had a bottle of Pinot Noir, a French Syrah and a Cabernet Sauvignon. Hilarious conversation ensued. Then we watched one of the Trapped in the Closet videos (I know Bridget with the midget!) then I drank water and went to sleep. A lovely night at home...

a weekend of not so much

Hello everyone!

My last weekend was pretty uneventful. Friday night I stayed in and watched a movie with Camille. She absolutely loves scary movies so she had rented The Descent. It’s about a group of women that get caught in a cave. Part of it were dumb, parts were scary.

Saturday I had to work for five hours. This is the first Saturday I’ve worked since I was in college so I wasn’t all that thrilled about it. As you know I like to do stuff on the weekend! We hosted a FAFSA Day at the college where we helped students and parents fill out the application for the next school year. We had almost 200 people come in so it was a successful event and well worth our time. I drove back to Portland and stopped at the grocery store. At home I started preparing spaghetti sauce for that night’s dinner. Jess came over and had dinner with Camille and I. We had a big salad, spaghetti and bread with fresh garlic butter. After dinner we sat around the table, drinking delicious red wine and talking for hours. Later we watched part of Trapped in the Closet which Jess had never seen. My friend Becky stars in one of the episodes so it’s always exciting to see her on my tv!

Sunday was kinda cold and gloomy out. I spent the whole day reading and watching Netflix and working on little projects around the house. Really nothing exciting.

I was grateful for working on the crappy, cloudy Saturday because I got five hours off this Wednesday which I used to go on a hike in the Gorge. It was a beautiful, sunny day out and it’s inspired me to get out hiking more in the dry weather. Gina and I are heading out into the Gorge again early tomorrow morning so I promise to have a more interesting weekend to report next week.

Hope all is well! Please let me know how you are and what you’ve been up to.

xoxo,
carolyn

a cold day on the columbia

a cold day on the columbia, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

ice building up on the piles dikes in the Columbia River. It was ridiculously windy and quite cold. I didn't last more than a few minutes.

Rooster Rock State Park

liar's dice with nuts

liar's dice with nuts, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Dave & Wampler and I play some Liar's Dice using walnuts (in the shell) as our chips. Three chips then you live on your good looks til you have to pay up then you're out.

Dave keeps experimenting with new and hilarious hairdos.

game night on the mountain

game night on the mountain, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Dave, Wampler & Jason (sitting out of frame immediately to my right) played Monopoly (Simpsons edition borrowed from the neighbor). It had been years since I played. I took all their money and won. Hahahaha! It was fun

I am here indeed

I am here indeed, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Walking around Trout Lake. This map shows the area around Trout Lake and Mt Adams. The western side is the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, the eastern side (yellow area) is the Yakama Indian Reservation.

I didn't realize until after the fact that my shadow was over the "you are here" marker on the map. In fact I took the photo again without my shadow in it at all but preferred this one in the end.

I am here.

hot tub view

hot tub view, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

the most ridiculous view from a hot tub I have EVER seen in my life. The hot tub is in the lower right hand corner and has an incredible view of the town of Trout Lake below, the vast forest and Mt Adams rising to the north. Unfortunately the hot tub (which is warmed by a woodstove) has a leak and thus requires frequent stoking and many trips up the hill and back to have enough wood to get it going.

I hope to use it some day. Dave told the view at night with the mountain in the moonlight is not to be missed.

snowbound

snowbound, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

walking on a friend of friend's property in Trout Lake I came across this old car buried in the snow.

system breakdown

system breakdown, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

the last shot I took in the gorge as I wondered if it was just the cold that was affecting my camera or if it really was jacked. (It really is broken and was not revived by normal temperatures).

crazy iciness around Horsetail Falls in the Columbia River Gorge

winter entertainment

winter entertainment, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

if it's gonna be this cold I'm going to have to go see the frozen waterfalls! Horsetail Falls in the Columbia River Gorge.

cold and lumpy

cold and lumpy, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

strange ice from the mist freezing off of Horsetail Falls. Columbia River Gorge

the part where my camera stops working

the part where my camera stops working, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

my camera does a downward spiral and several things stop functioning at once: the zoom control has lost all resistance and flops back and forth, the buttons to advance through photos don't work, sometimes it won't correct the exposure or even let me take a photograph. So I turn it on & turn it off and shake my fist. Damn you Canon!

the bottom splash pool at Multnomah Falls on my way to Mt Adams

water makes moss and ice

water makes moss and ice, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

crazy icicles everywhere in the Columbia River Gorge. On a rock wall near Multnomah Falls

if it's gonna be winter

if it's gonna be winter, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

I'm gonna get something out of it. It was 25 degrees (F) when I left Portland to spend the weekend in Trout Lake on Mt Adams. If it's gonna be this cold I might as well be on the side of a mountain with some snow. I stopped along my way up the Gorge to take photos of the frozen falls.

This wall of icicles was along the parking area at Multnomah Falls.

wahkeena in winter

wahkeena in winter, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

in the Coumbia River Gorge, the lower, tumbling portion of Wahkeena Falls

my icy end

my icy end, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

I couldn't walk any further on the trail at Latourell Falls without crampons. Crazy ice machine! The falls keep flowing but the mist freezes everything nearby.

Columbia River Gorge

the big rock candy mountain

the big rock candy mountain, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

alpenglow on Mt Hood on a Friday afternoon. Immediately after taking this photo I would drive to Portland where from the west side of Mt Tabor Park I would see the McNaught Comet over downtown Portland & the West Hills. A fantastic start to my long weekend!

the cold before the snow

Hello everyone! I had the weekend that just wouldn’t quit. Today (Thursday) is my first day at work since last Friday. Our long holiday weekend (Monday off for MLK) was extended even further by a surprise snowstorm which left 3-4 inches in Portland. I know, “3-4 inches!?!?” the Midwesterners scoff but this city is not set up for snow. A couple inches shuts it down. It’s finally warming up and the roads are full of slush & mushy snow.

Friday after work I stopped at a park near the college and watched Mt Hood turn pink in the evening alpenglow. From there I drove straight to Mt Tabor Park where I saw the McNaught Comet glowing in the orange sky of sunset above downtown Portland. It was a pretty fantastic start to my weekend. I stayed at home that night and watched some Netflix and read my book. I packed my bags so I was ready to go early the next morning.

Saturday morning I hit the road by 9:15 and headed up the Gorge. I took the Historic Columbia River Highway so I could stop to take photos of the frozen waterfalls. It’s been freaky cold around here. My daffodils that started blooming have come to a halt by the lows in the teens. My first stop was Latourell Falls. The dramatic plunge of the falls creates a huge amount of mist that blows around in the canyon and freezes, layer upon layer, on everything in sight. I couldn’t even walk to the end of the trail near the falls as it was so slippery I knew I’d go right off the trail. Crampons would have been extremely useful. I took photos of the branches encased in ice, the strange icicles and the cliff walls white and frozen. I went on to Wahkeena Falls and got some nice photos of the icy rocks rising out of the tumbling stream. From there I went to Multnomah Falls where I was really starting to feel the cold. I took pictures of the wall of icicles on the cliffs then went to the falls itself. While I was taking photos of the splash pool with the blue ice swirling around I noticed something terrible…my camera wasn’t functioning correctly. The zoom button had gone soft with no resistance. It was either zoomed all the way in or all the way out with no in between options. Suddenly everything seemed to stop working, the buttons to page through the photos, the exposure correction, even the shutter release button wouldn’t work sometimes. I had to keep turning the camera on & off to get it to take a photo. I left Multnomah Falls and stopped at one last place, Horsetail Falls. The ice is always incredible here from the huge amounts of spray off the water. With much difficulty I took some photos then climbed into my car, blasted the heat and prayed the camera was unhappy about the cold temperatures and would return to normalcy.

I drove on to Trout Lake where the snow on the ground was compacted and crunchy and the sun was shining. Mt Adams was looking huge against the perfect blue sky. I unloaded my stuff into Wampler’s living room and made some lunch for Dave and I while Wampler ate some rocks (his words). He’s on a detox diet and was juicing veggies and taking lots of supplements. After eating Dave & I layered up (thank goodness for snowpants) and headed over to Abe & Jenny’s house. Our friends Jimmy & Andrea (who used to run the Trout Lake Country Inn) are living on a trailer on their property. Abe and Jenny’s house was just built and is still under construction but it’s already an amazing house. The huge woodburning stove was fantastically warm and cozy. Dave and I decided to investigate the sledding hill on the upper portion of the property owned by a guy named Al. I’ve never met Al and he hasn’t lived in Trout Lake for a couple years but I’ve heard about his property and specifically his amazing hot tub. I was eager to finally check it out for myself.

Dave and I drove to the bottom driveway then began the walk up the snowy hill in the forest. I took photos and Daisy sniffed all that she could. We decided that the sled run looked to be certain death. There were several fallen trees across the path and the icy snow would have been extremely painful if you went flying off the sled. We continued on to the top of the hill where I would proceed to freak out. At the back of the house was a hot tub then a steep drop off and the most incredible view. You could see the town of Trout Lake, the vast forest and Mt Adams rising dramatically to the north. The hot tub is heated by a woodburning stove so it’s rather labor intensive. I was told it had a leak too which makes it pretty impossible to use as you would have to constantly be stoking the fire and bring up loads of wood up and down the hill. Dave and I hung out there for a while and marveled at the view before heading back down to Abe & Jenny’s house.
We reported back that the sledding was only for those with a death wish. We watched some football games then went downstairs and the guys played some music. Then we watched some more football (on Tivo so no commercials!) then the guys played some more music. Jenny whipped up some delicious snacks and we hung out and played liar’s dice and hovered around the fire. When we went to leave Dave and I marveled at the sea of stars above us. The winter stars in Trout Lake are a sight to behold.

Sunday morning we woke up and lounged about Wampler’s house. I made myself some breakfast and Wampler ate more rocks. We read our books and Wampler and I did some work on the website. I dunno when it’s gonna be ready. You’ll know when I do. Later in the afternoon Wampler and I went for a walk to enjoy the sunny day. We saw several downed trees (some on houses) from the severe windstorm we had several weeks ago. Back at the house we spent the evening playing games. Jason came over and the four of us played Monopoly (the Simpson’s edition borrowed from the neighbors) then we played some liar’s dice before going to bed.

Monday morning I read my book and had some breakfast before packing up and heading back to Portland. I stopped along the Columbia River on my way to get some pictures of the strange ice forming along the river’s edge. It was insanely windy and quite cold so I didn’t last long before running back to my warm car. I’ve spent the last several days reading lots of books and watching lots of movies. The snow days have been quite relaxing.

So that was my weekend. Please let me know how you are and what you’ve been up to.
Hope all is well!

xoxox,
carolyn

maker of chinese fortune telling machines and small paper boxes

maker of chinese fortune telling machines and small paper boxes, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Elaine made Camille a new "chinese fortune telling machine" after she lost hers when her wallet got stolen. It's one of those folded paper games that elementary school girls love.

Elaine then made me a perfect tiny box, we could make dice out of them and play silent Liar's Dice. good times at Thatchers, one of our neighborhood bars.

ladies of the booth

ladies of the booth, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Elaine and Camille at Thatchers. haaa!

photo by Jamie

hookahs and cilantro

hookahs and cilantro, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Elaine and I wait for a table at a restaurant in our neighborhood. Ye Hala is attached to an international food market which we walked through while waiting for our table. The produce section cracked me up wiht the wide array of hookahs available for purchase. Our dinner was well worth the wait. Lebanese food is good.

night skiing begins

night skiing begins, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

I'm leaving Ski Bowl on Mt Hood and heading back to Portland. I would be home to green Portland within one hour.

Here you can see the lights were just being turned on for night skiing. Ski Bowl has the largest night skiing area in the country. That's what their sign says anyway

a mountain full of fresh snow

a mountain full of fresh snow, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Gina going up the tow rope at Ski Bowl on Mt Hood. It had just snowed and it wasn't windy so conditions were great.

up the tow rope

up the tow rope, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Gina catches a ride to the top of the bunny hill on the tow rope. first time snowboarding ever. we need more practice.

Ski Bowl on Mt Hood

down the bunny hill

down the bunny hill, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Gina rides down the hill. It's really fun when you're standing up and not falling. it feels really good.

today though I am kinda sore from all that falling and then having to pull myself up onto the board. it's a workout!

first timers

first timers, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Gina & I went snowboarding for the first time ever. We took a lesson ant Ski Bowl on Mt Hood then went down the bunny hill, sometimes standing, sometimes falling than back up the tow rope. The tow rope is a lot better than walking up the hill with your board. We're going again!

ass in the snow (get used to it)

ass in the snow (get used to it), originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Gina and I at our first snowboarding lesson at Ski Bowl on Mt Hood. It was fun but hard, harder than I hoped it would be. I fell a lot but never too hard and I definitely was better at the end than when I started but I have a great respect for snowboarders now, they make it looks so effortless. I wanna glide down the mountain. I like the idea of going to the mountain all year, not just for summer hiking and camping.

All the fresh snow was beautiful.

lessons from a sixteen year old

lessons from a sixteen year old, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Jonathan, our snowboarding instructor at Ski Bowl, was all of 16 years old (almost 17 he said, hahah!). Gina (blue coat) and I took our first snowboarding lessons. I proceeded to fall down a lot. I'm going again.

snowboarding lessons!

snowboarding lessons!, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Gina and I went to Ski Bowl and took snowboarding lessons, our first ever. It was harder than I wanted it to be (aren't so many things???) and I'm sore today but it was fun and I've agreed to go again.

Mt Hood

random guy running up a mountain

random guy running up a mountain, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

driving up Hwy 26 we passed this guy running up the mountain. hmmmm, not recommended.

Mt Hood, Oregon

an exciting new game for the people of portland

an exciting new game for the people of portland, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

haha! We found this old board game in the stacks & stacks of board games at the cabin. We didn't play it because it was kinda lame looking...basically monopoly and a bunch of advertisements for Portland businesses.

cabin life

cabin life, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Gina and I drove up to Mt Hood Friday evening to stay at her friend's cabin just east of the town of Rhododendron. It was 34 degrees outside and 40 degrees inside when we arrived. Gina started a fire immediately in the big woodstove and we hovered around it playing games and listening to music.

snowboarding is hard!

Hello everyone!Friday evening Gina & I headed up Mt Hood to stay at her friend Sarah’s cabin just east of the town of Rhododendron. It was snowing there but the roads were still wet rather than icy. We got inside and after turning on the power and the water Gina immediately started a fire. It was 34 degrees outside and 40 degrees inside. We finished unpacking the car and spent the evening hovering around the woodstove and playing yahtzee and phase 10 and listening to music.

Saturday morning we woke up and made coffee & cooked up some eggs. We packed up and headed further up the mountain. Not too much further up the road we had to pull over to chain up as the roads were starting to get snowy and chains are required. We arrived at Ski Bowl where there was tons of fresh snow and patches of sun and blue sky. We signed up for a noon snowboarding lesson then went to rent our gear. There were about 10 people in our group which was taught by a 16 year old! It was his second year teaching at Ski Bowl. We learned how to walk up & down hill with one foot in the binding, how to turn left & right (heelside/toeside) then we went to the bunny hill. Even riding up the tow rope was more challenging than I envisioned. Of course it’s much easier to go up the hill on the tow rope rather than taking off your board and trudging to the top. I went down the hill, falling, getting back up, falling, getting back up, repeat, repeat. It was pretty tiring. I can see how it would be a lot more fun if you were actually going down the hill while standing up rather than falling. One time I only fell once on the hill. That was the best I could manage. It was fun but harder than I wanted it to be.

Scott drove up to meet Gina and we upgraded our tow rope passes to lower lift tickets so they could go down the big hill. We went in the bar and each had a beer before I drove back home and they stayed up for one more night. As I came down the mountain the roads cleared and I had to take the chains off (a dirty job if ever there was one!). It was nice to be back in green Portland after just an hour of driving away from the big snowy mountain. I went home and quickly showered then Camille and I went to Thatchers, one of our neighborhood bars, to meet Elaine for a beer. Camille had plans to meet her friend Jamie at the wine bar across the street so Elaine and I decided to walk across the street to get some dinner.

Ye Hala is a Lebanese restaurant just four blocks from my house. I’d eaten their food but this was the first time I ate in the restaurant rather than just takeout. There was a long wait for tables but we stuck it out, entertaining ourselves by walking through the international food market next door and ordering a glass of wine while we waited. When we were seated we ordered immediately and our food came fast. We had the meza platter (hummus, baba ganouche & tahini with fantastic flat bread) along with a kabob platter. We had a wonderful bottle of Pinot Noir to go with our incredible meal. It was amazingly good, the kind of food that one could easily get addicted to. We left the restaurant with full bellies and smiles and walked back to Thatchers where Jamie & Camille where hanging out again. We ordered beers and Elaine made paper boxes and those little fortune telling games that little girls love. Elaine decided to leave early and I bailed too, not wanting to stay at the smoky bar all night. I went the four blocks home and read my book and slept well.

I woke up Sunday with sore hips and thighs from snowboarding. It wasn’t from falling but rather from pulling myself back up on the board after falling. I showered then went to Elaine’s house to get my photos off the camera. I spent the afternoon editing my photos and doing laundry. Elaine and John came back from a round of frisbee golf and we hung out for a bit. Gina arrived from the mountain, having been rained out from another day of snowboarding. I went home and watched netflix and read my book.

So that was my weekend. The weather is being very bizarre today. It’s switched from rain to snow back to rain back to snow at least 20 times. Hopefully the roads don’t freeze until after the evening commute. It’s still a lot milder than the winters of Wisconsin that I grew up with but this has definitely been the coldest winter I’ve had since moving to Portland, though my daffodils are still trying to bloom. ha!

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

xoxo,
carolyn

melty games

melty games, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

late night entertainment...after leaving the Inn we went back to Wampler's house where we started a fire in the backyard. John then started taking big sheets of ice off the water in the dunk tank and balancing them on top of the fire. The sheets would stream water and drip and wobble from side to side until eventually crashing to the ground and shattering. repeat with many more sheets of ice. After I went to sleep they graduated to even larger chunks of ice and snow. We're easily amused. I love it.

Trout Lake, Washington

the new year will bring them many new things

the new year will bring them many new things, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Andrea and Jimmy, my friends that ran the Trout Lake Country Inn. 2007 will be very different for them from 2006. I hope they find happiness in whatever new ventures they try. Thankfully they're staying in Trout Lake. Jimmy used to live in Portland but I can't imagine them now anywhere but that little mountain town on the side of Mt Adams.

Trout Lake, Washington

the great hall for 2007

the great hall for 2007, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

dancers on the dancefloor in the Great Hall in the Trout Lake Country Inn

the immaculate conception and the baby bump

the immaculate conception and the baby bump, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Amberly got this sweater as a Christmas gift and it cracked me up. Her baby is due in June. Apparently the Immaculate Conception is a bad girls catholic school (or something like that) in Tacoma.

bahahahahaa

close to the countdown

close to the countdown, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Elaine, Camille & me by the fire in the front room of the Trout Lake Country Inn.

less than 10 minutes to New Years

new year's eve dancin

new year's eve dancin, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Wampler and Kelly showed off their dancing skills. Excellent dancers. The last night at the Trout Lake Country Inn.

Trout Lake, Washington

a faux hawk and a campfire

a faux hawk and a campfire, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Dave and Kelly sitting around the fire in Wampler's backyard after our wonderfully hot sauna.

Trout Lake, Washington

dave as ice cube

dave as ice cube, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Dave is a crazy man. After cooking in the hot, hot, hot steamy sauna he jumped out into the freezing cold dunk tank in the snowy backyard. Note the shards of ice on the surface of the water. He had to bust through the ice to jump in first. Naked man in some COLD water! look out

flush from the sauna

flush from the sauna, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

We sauna-ed at Wampler's house on New Year's Eve afternoon. It was blazing hot in there and only dumping cups of cold water could save me. I eventually had to get out, take a cold shower then get dressed and go outside. I sat around the fire outside while everyone else finished up the sauna. Hot steamy goodness in the cold, snowy mountains!

Trout Lake, Washington

liar's dice

liar's dice, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

at Wampler's house and Dave and Elaine are teaching me how to play Liar's Dice. It was lots of fun.

gimme a beet!

gimme a beet!, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Gina got a new tattoo...she loves beets! She just had it done earlier in the day. It looks beautiful and has really great colors.

my eyeballs are full

my eyeballs are full, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

walking along the edge of San Francisco Bay after walking on the Golden Gate Bridge. another beautiful day in San Francisco...the last day of my 8 day trip

big bridges make big shadows

big bridges make big shadows, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

The huge shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge on San Francisco Bay. In the distance is Sausalito on the left and Angel Island on the right.

nan and the golden gate

nan and the golden gate, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

a fantastic day to walk on the Golden Gate Bridge...warm, sunny and barely any wind at all! amazing!

a sense of scale

a sense of scale, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

The huge cables on the Golden Gate Bridge. Looking west into San Francisco Bay with Alcatraz in the distance.