Saturday in the Columbia River Gorge

So this whole week it has been gorgeous weather here in Oregon, high 50's and sunny. So of course being the eternal optimist that I am I figured "No way will this last into the weekend.", well this is a time I was happy to be wrong. We woke up this morning to another gorgeous day and since my new goal is to explore more I decided we were going to take a trip that I had been thinking about since we moved and just never got around to doing.

About 25-30 miles from us is the Historic Columbia River Gorge Scenic Byway, otherwise known as Route 30. If you lived here in the early 1900's through about 1945 it was the only route along the Oregon side of the Columbia River, today most people use I-84 which runs right along the river and misses out on all of the wonderful views that the old route provides. Now granted commuting along Route 30 is much slower than the I-84, 3 lanes each way and a 65 mph speed limit vs. a windy 1 lane in each direction road that hits grades in excess of 10% and rarely allows for speeds above 30 mph, but I was in no hurry.

Our first stop along the way was the Vista House lookout point which overlooks the Columbia River.

Once we were done admiring the view and checking out some of the photos inside the Vista House showing it's progress from the start of construction in 1914 til today, we headed back out to our first waterfall stop.

About 5 miles up the road is Latourel Falls, which is only a short walk from the road to get to the base of the falls. Latourel Falls crashes over the side of the Gorge and falls an impressive 249'. Things like waterfalls and the ocean always make me realize the sheer force that something we use everyday to wash with and to drink can actually have. The view was amazing and aside from the spray being a little chilly it was a perfect day to visit, not too many people made for some nice photo ops.

After Latourel Falls we packed up and headed another 5 or 6 miles up the road to our main stop for the day, Multnomah Falls. Multnomah Falls is the second highest year round falls in the US, 2nd only to Yosemite Falls, and drops in two steps, the first one being about 550' and the second being about 70'. It really is a breathtaking site.

Parking is basically right at the base of the falls and you have the option of a couple of different hikes to get a more up close and personal view of the falls. The first hike is 1/4 of a mile and takes you to a bridge which crosses over the divide between the upper and lower falls. We made it to this point with little issue even with a todler in tow and the view was well worth what little amount of work it was to get there.

The second hike would have taken us another mile to the top of the falls, this hike is almost 600ft of elevation gain in that mile and is on a path that is about 3' wide and consists of 11 switchbacks. We decided to save that part for either a time where Kai was being babysat or at least was a bit older and more sure footed. I tried carrying her up but after about 1/4 mile I was pretty cooked and overly nervous about slipping and taking her over the side so we turned back.

So that was our trip, after Multnomah Falls we bought Kai a cookie the size of her head from the Coffee Cart that was in the parking lot and headed for home on the much faster I-84 that we had ignored on the way in. All in all a marvelous way to spend 5 hours on a Saturday morning.

Black Tooth Grin

So I just finished reading Zac Crain's book "Black Tooth Grin" which is an unauthorized biography of Dimebag Darrell's life. While not the best written book it was a decent read and really made me think again about how senseless the murder of Dime really was.

It has been a little over 5 years and in all that time there has been nothing that has surfaced about Dime being anything other than what he always claimed to be which was just a fun loving, heavy drinking guitar player. A guy with a pink beard and a drinking problem, was more or less a saint. This guy toured the world for 20 years and managed to keep his shit together and yet the people that run our states and country can't be bothered to keep their shit straight.

A guy who never hurt anyone is dead, and we have jails that are filled to the brim and overflowing with the filth of society and yet we keep them alive.

Somewhere in history the phrase "only the good die young" was coined, I don't know if Billy Joel should get the credit, or if it should go to some hillbilly somewhere in the back country that nobody has ever heard of, but whoever said it first certainly had it right.

Valentines Day

Another Valentines Day is here and all in all it went well. No big plans but I think Terra was happy in general. She got her typical Flowers/Candy/Card/Stuffed Animal fare and I cooked breakfast and then cleaned up the kitchen so she didn't need to. These things made her smile, which in turn made me smile so they were good for both of us.

There was something that became increasingly clear this year though as I went through the aisles of Fred Meyer to buy my wares and that was that there was not a single female in the entire section. It was as if I was on a halfway sunken ship that all of the women and children had already abandoned. There were easily 25 guys staring at the wall of cards blankly, and countless others meandering the aisles hoping that something might jump off the shelf and into their cart.

This really is the only holiday that it seems is truly one sided. Guys don't expect, and generally don't recieve anything special on February 14th, but ask any woman in your life, wether she is 15 or 50 and you can bet some form of gift was recieved...or that she will soon be divorced...one of those two is always true.

So happy valentines day everyone. Ladies enjoy your gifts, guys here's to hoping you didn't screw up the formula too badly.

Exploring Your Suroundings

So it has been 4 months now since I moved to Portland, OR. The first 28 years of my life were spent in CA, and the past 22 of those were in the Antelope Valley. If you asked me how well I knew the place I would have said I knew it like the back of my hand, and yet I really don't think I knew much of it at all. I mean sure I could tell you where the mall is, or how to get to a specific intersection in most of the city but I'm sure there are tons of places I never even knew existed. I never really went exploring.

I don't really know what it is in my psyche that makes me such a sedintary homebody type of person but it has always been that way. Maybe it was nature, maybe nurture, but whatever it was it has crept deep into who I am and I need to break out of it. I need to go out and get lost on purpose. I need to take trips for the sake of taking them.

My backyard now consists of everything from huge mountains, forests for miles, streams and rivers, a whole new stretch of coastline, and a downtown that is vibrant and diverse. I want to make sure that I get to know all there is to know about this wonderful place that I live. I want to make sure that my daughter experiences everything and becomes well rounded and active.

Last weekend marked our first trip to the Oregon Coast, and we had a blast, so here is to more adventures and to hoping that for the first time in my life I can break out and really truly explore my suroundings.

Bandwagon Blogger

So I decided I needed a blog....To be honest I'm really not even sure why I need or want a blog. I don't have an exceptional amount of things to say, and even fewer than that are things that I need to say and people will actually want to read. Maybe it was the fact that everyone else was doing one, a sort of "follow the lemmings off the cliff" kind of mentality. Whatever the reason here it is, my blog. Enjoy.