Big company party group at our pavilion and another church gathering at the group pavilion across the street. Steady flow of campers Thursday afternoon, filling up both our campgrounds by Friday afternoon. The weather calls for rain, not cheerful for the campers but an answer to hundreds of prayers from those of us who watch the progress of the ever-moving-closer-to-us wild fires.
Our car is packed and Portland bound to visit family and do some whole foods grocery store shopping. We will work Monday, leave in the afternoon, spend Tuesday enjoying Portland and family, drive “home” Wednesday morning with an afternoon prep of the pavilion for a 50th Wedding Anniversary gathering on Thursday. I’ll not miss my “me” time on Thursday of volunteering at the Community Center Senior Lunch. Smoke from local fires is due to hover over Portland for the weekend and optimistically will be gone by Monday when we arrive.
The back-to-school panic has begun with parents and grandparents merrily gathering up their little munchkins, two legged and four legged, to release them into the forests and creeks for one last splash of relaxation before all must return to the reality that is life. Summer is quickly slipping away for another year.
There is a steady stream of two wheelers, a few with training wheels still attached, rolling along our campground trails, mounted by campers ranging in age of 4 to 80 something. They pass by our host site, wave happily, then disappear for several hours. As night falls, John sits outside and listens to the sounds of excited children’s voices spilling their wondrous adventures to their elders, their expressive declarations hang in the air of the campground until long after dusk.
Tar Baby KatieBug just leaped into the motorhome caked with pine tree sap and matted pine needles stuck, dude claws down to paws. Comical Porcupine paws. Not terribly happy with me as I explained the process necessary to remove it but doing so with olive oil helped calm the squirm and did the trick. She is, once again, a happy camper.
Off to Portland this morning for a visit with my cousin Lyn, her son Kenny, his wife Deborah and their canine four legged family member Dot, a Boston Terror…I mean Terrier ;} KatieBug enjoys the company of Gus (calm kitty extraordinaire) her first nose to nose association with a feline and patiently puts up with Dots guarded allowance of her investigative sniffing inside the house. So far there have been few disagreements but quick lap time (John’s) is immediately enforced when Dots inner devil child suddenly emerges.
The years living with Millie have left KatieBug with a calm demeanor that is a joy when traveling or in a campground with other dogs. Barking is not allowed unless someone knocks on our door and “quiet” is promptly adhered to upon request. Saying “no” to the undesirable action long enough really does work, for dogs. Children are a whole other bag of worms as confirmed by our campgrounds multitude of “Shhhhhhh’s” after 10pm quiet time.
Portland is full of quirky eateries and we plan to try another handful while visiting. Deborah and Kenny work, so we happily entertained Lyn after requesting a few suggestions for places of interest.
Multnomah Falls, a short drive from Portland, is an easy walk. Included are a few stairs ascending to uncover a remarkable view of both upper and lower falls. The 1914 bridge hangs above the lower plunge.
Continue up and arrival at the bridge is met with the most refreshing mist that cools your whole being in preparation of the next step of the journey. Pause long enough in front of the upper falls and continuing becomes a challenge with your inner Zen.
Lyn, John, KatieBug and I began one of the eleven switchbacks leading to the first view of the Columbia River.
Part way up we paused for a Kodak moment, Lady Madonna-Lyn in her cove. Stepping into the cove to cool off, Lyn posed, laughing at being portrayed as the Madonna, then we pushed on up the steep incline to enjoy the view from the switchback.
Half way up the next switchback I gave up and took Geisha steps down the steep decent to the bridge while John, Lyn and KatieBug continued on to the sixth switchback.
Waiting at the bridge cooling down was a tranquil respite and an excellent multicultural people watching opportunity. When we joined back up, lunch was our next priority.
McMenamin’s Black Rabbit restaurant, located inside a facility that was formerly a poor farm, was the choice for lunch.
The pictures leave much to be desired as, for some unknown reason, the camera threw a hissy fit and blurred all the indoor shots.
The food was only enjoyable due to the present company as the burgers were less than appetizing. The concept and art works, however, were exceptionally interesting. The review I wrote on TripAdvisor brought almost instant concern from Sean McMenamin and when the gift card arrives we shall give them the opportunity to redeem themselves.
Evening arrived, back to our hotel room to stretch out with a few minutes of TV before sleep brought an ending to our day.
Breakfast at Jam, another quirky fun people watching café. When I asked Lyn to smile in an attempt to record the occasion, a young lady at the next table flashed me a monstrous grin and everyone broke out in laughter.
She then offered to take a picture of us all and her “smile” word was “be happy”. Truly fitting. The food was great, the people watching was greater, the company was the greatest.
Said our goodbye’s promising to meet up soon and left for Millpond. Uneventful arrival back home, except for the Bitch I almost decked outside Target, and peaceful nights sleep.
Another damp misty morning perfect for elbow grease chores. Saw the local Golden Eagle swoop down and snatch one of the four waterlogged corpses laid out free-lunch style. An hour later a Raven dipped down for a meal and this time I had the camera standing by. Aggressively, another Raven shot out of the trees in an attempt to steal the free lunch.
Amazing that the mice continue to walk the plank.
Our campground is at maximum capacity, as is usual for a holiday. Impatient kids on bikes zoom around the grounds looking for adventure making walking through the area slightly hazardous.
My idea of harvesting wild berries resulted in keeping a watchful eye on berry laden tendrils crawling throughout the campground. Unlike the crawdads, traps were not necessary so how could it not succeed? Drives to town were prolonged as I strategically scouted the roadside, noting where each bunch of potentially juicy blackberries grew. Oregon is known for their wild blackberries and, along with wild fresh mint growing outside our window, I knew my gathering skills would turn wild things into the makings of awesome Mojitos.
What a disappointment when I reached to pick the plumb berries alongside our lawn and was attacked by thorns that not only pricked, but welted up to the size of quarters by the time I walked across the lawn to our door. SssstingStop to the rescue, followed by Benadryl producing a daylong dragged out feeling and a lingering itchy prickly puffy arm. Another one of my brilliant ideas not ever to be repeated.
BINGO tonight at the Community Center, our first and last. The drive home in pitch black was distressing even with fresh remembrance of our five win night.