A Slow Return to "Normal" of Sorts (Image Heavy)

Imagine our surprise a week ago when we were in Welches, Oregon, and woke up to this sight from our condo window! That was enough to send my Minnesota sister and hubby off to the Oregon Coast in search of sun and us back home to Seattle.

We were quite thankful that the previous day, despite weather that was just rainy and cold, we had driven along the Columbia Gorge which has wonderful scenery enhanced by many beautiful waterfalls.

Before we set off, Dick and I took a short walk on the golf course trail where I found this twig that really shows the effect of the damp weather.

One of the first places we stopped was this building which was built long ago as a "comfort station" for travelers. This is definitely not your typical rest stop!

The views are magnificent in all directions.


The mighty Columbia looked cold but busy.

Inside the building, which has interesting stained glass windows, was a gift shop, coffee shop, and some very interesting pictures and displays. How do you like this typical traveling outfit? It makes our jeans look a bit shabby!

We stopped at several waterfalls and walked a bit through the drizzle.


Multnomah Falls is probably the best known of the waterfalls and has a lodge with a restaurant. Since it was lunchtime, we decided to stop and were glad that we did as the food was delicious.

A sign at the foot of the falls told of an incident some years ago where members of a wedding party were injured by a rock the size of a school bus that fell into the upper pool! That is hard to imagine!

A train track runs alongside the road, and this sign recalls the days of frequent train travel. It sure would have been a beautiful trip.

After stopping at most of the falls, we continued on to Hood River where our SIL Michael's cousin was married a couple summers ago. And yes, I found a yarn shop called Knot Another Hat and had just enough time to purchase a couple balls of yarn before it closed, and we headed back to our condo for the evening, unsuspecting the wintery surprise to come.

Besides the snowy weather, another reason we were eager to get home is that we were expecting our German friends Udo and Sabine for a short visit. Udo stayed with us for 3 weeks in 1997 while studying at the UW and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Institute. Now he's an attending physician in the ICU in a hospital in Leipzig and the father of twins!

With their departure, our several weeks of visiting drew to a close. Life is back to semi-normal as we rehearse with our choir for next week's performance of Haydn's Creation. You can read more about that by following the links on my sidebar.