Roadtrip-Pacific Northwest

[McClef]

Long journeys that are scenic have their compensations.

[Alan H]

Yup, Black Butte....classic example of a cinder cone.

Are both the kids still alive?

I'll be at the Enumclaw Games on Sat and Sunday, if you're there. Lunch gathering happens at the hammer cage at 11:30.

[The F-H.C.A.G.]

We've reached Portland, after an overnight stay in Roseburg, an overnight stay with Jamie's aunt and uncle in Hillsboro, and a visit with my grandmother in Forest Grove.

Perfect Mt Shasta day! And now I know you're flying up 5.

Did you stop in Weed?

We considered a stop in Weed just for the giggles, but we wanted to make good time. So, we just made fun of the name and drove on by.

I think that you will find that is Black Butte. From

snip..


I am looking forward to more pictures, and to meeting you on August 1.

Thanks, ronstew, now I don't have to look it up!

Thank you for the update and very nice photos.

Wow this is a long journey... You must have very patient children !

Did you take your dog along with you ?

I hope you are enjoying the trip. The weather looks fine.


Kind Regards to you and Jamie,

Robert
Ze French konnektion

Thanks, Robert. Yes we have little angels for children. Actually, we're bribing them $5.00 a day, all or nothing (meaning if they are good for ALL 10 days of our trip, they get $50.00 each, but if they're bad even once, they get nothing!). The dog is not nearly as good as the children, though, so we left her with Jamie's parents.

The weather is wonderful, but it is warming up, even as we speak-expected to be in the 90s (farenheit) over the weekend and next week in Seattle.

Yup, Black Butte....classic example of a cinder cone.

Are both the kids still alive?

I'll be at the Enumclaw Games on Sat and Sunday, if you're there. Lunch gathering happens at the hammer cage at 11:30.

Both kids are not only still alive, they're still earning their money!

I really wish we could be there for the games Alan. But, no matter how much we love you, beer is calling and resistance is futile. Beer is good. "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy". So, unless you're providing 80 different microbrews at the games, I'm afraid we're still going to BrewFest tomorrow!

We will be arriving in Seattle on Monday afternoon-maybe you could just stick around until the Tuesday night gathering? They don't need you back at work or anything do they?


Alright, enough socializing.

I have a few more photos to post if they're done uploading.

Be well,

Star

[The F-H.C.A.G.]

Pictures....hmmm

Ok, let's start with this:




What can we say about that? Grant's pass....was totally unsuccessful. Grant's pass...this too shall pass. Grant's pass...and here we thought there was only Grant's failure.

Hi, Grant...it's 5:00 pm (in Portland)

We stayed at a nice little hotel in Roseburg-no pictures, not very exciting, but we did get this picture for Sorcererdale:



A few hours on the road the next day brought us to Roseburg where we stayed with Jamie's aunt and uncle, somewhat out in the countrry.

On one side there were horses:



And on the other...Llamas!



Jamie's aunt took us to the Jackson Bottom Wetlands, for a wee bit of birding:





We found this one in one of the shelters overlooking the lake. An exotic Robin.



We did nab 2 new birds (Tree Swallow and Marsh Wren) for our year list, but we were kind of expecting dozens-it was surprising how many we already had and frustrating how many new calls I heard but could not identify.

Ah well, we birders are a strange race.

We also got a Red Breasted Nuthatch and a Black Capped Chickadee the next morning on our walk, so I'm happy with the past 24 hours.

Jamie kept wasting time looking at plants...



This morning we made a quick trip to Forest Grove and visited with my grandmother (91 years young).

Don't they make such a cute couple?



Tomorrow is BrewFest, so we'll be on the lookout for fellow kilties. We'll be in Loud Macleod, so maybe our fellow kilties should be on the lookout for us!

By the time we're done with that, we'll be too hot, tired and slightly the better for beer to post, so I'll probably be checking back in on Sunday.

Be well,

Star

[Standard]

Pictures....hmmm
This morning we made a quick trip to Forest Grove and visited with my grandmother (91 years young).

Don't they make such a cute couple?



Star

This has got to be one of grandma's Christmas presents in a nice frame.

Thanks for sharing your photos with us. As usual it appears that you are all having a grand time.

[The F-H.C.A.G.]

This has got to be one of grandma's Christmas presents in a nice frame.

Thanks for sharing your photos with us. As usual it appears that you are all having a grand time.

It will definitely be sent to her as a present-maybe for her 92nd birthday this year!

Now, I must keep up appearances and post more pictures of the grand time.

We got yesterday's photos loaded-not very many of them turned out great(interpretation: there are plenty of pictures of me looking shiny or tired or weird, but not a lot where I look young and sexy! ), but there are plenty to show.

Here's a teaser of the Space Needle, but the rest will have to wait just a little longer, because I've been invited for a walk along the beautiful pebble beach of Semiahmoo Bay (an international flyway for birds, and you all know how crazy we are about birds). I've also been told that at low tide one can walk across the border on this beach!



Be well,

Star

[Streetcar]

Well it was a fine craic all around last night. Unfortunately, my terrible thirst (brought on by the unseasonable heat, don't you know) caused my hand to stray to my pint glass more than the camera. Consequently I only have a few snaps to share.


Morrison and Panache


The F.H.C.A.G. had to hold down Kilted John when a neighboring table started talking about how Volvos were inferior automobiles...



F.H.C.A.G. and She Scott try to keep cool. (Kerry is in the foreground)

A couple shots of a proud papa...






The F.H.C.A.G. was showing off her nails...


But it turns out she had a pretty serious case of Happy Feet as well:




A picture of Jamie, um, taking pictures...


A last shot of the travelers as we left that evening.



I don't know about anyone else, but I had a fantastic time. I'm always happy to meet fellow Xmarkers for the first time, and feel like I've known them for years.

Panache, F.H.C.A.G., Sinbad and Xena, it was a joy to meet you all, and you need to come back to Seattle again!

(Sinbad, don't forget - cats are EVIL!!)

[vmac3205]

Darn, wish I could be at the Brewfest. Crumb!!

[McMurdo]

Great photos so far, you never really, completely understand Grant's failure until you see it live.

[The F-H.C.A.G.]

We had a lovely time at the BrewFest today-lots of good beers. Oddly enough, I'm having a hard time remembering them all at this point!



We were responsible folks and took public transit to the waterfront.





Nice views from the train.






We dressed to impress (or at least to be noticed and not to lose each other)






I wanted to be sure that I coordinated well, so worked especially hard on the nails this morning.






The Brew Fest officials wanted to be sure we had a good family photo. They did insist that our glasses be full for the shot.





We saw a few kilts at the event. One or two Utilikilts.





And we met a lovely gentleman and his wife. He's know on X-Marks as werewolves. He's wearing a great two tone kilt by Celtic Warrior Kilts and a Wyvern sporran with his coat of arms on it.





We had just enough to drink to feel happy. Here's a list of all the brewers.





And here's all the origins of the folks attending(I loved that there was someone there from Siberia).



More to come...

Be well,