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Wednesday, May 12, 2010

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.

15 comments:

Kathy A. said...

Looks like a wonderful holiday Judy.
Love the photos especially that beautiful antique dress.
Time to relax now that the visitors are all gone. Hopefully you will get some stitching done LOL

Lynn said...

Beautiful pictures, really fascinating, thanks for sharing them. Now that's added to my list of places I need to go to one day. Looks like a nice trip, plus you found a yarn shop, makes it perfect!

Lynn said...

Despite the weather, it looks like it was a wonderful trip. Thanks for sharing it with us.
I also sing in choirs and receive great joy from doing so. My husband is an organist and choir director who has brought me back to choral singing after being absent for a number of years.

Anonymous said...

I really MUST get out to the northwest one of these days. Your waterfall pictures are beautiful!

My nephew and his wife live in Germany. They will be at my house tomorrow. They've come over to see one of the last shuttle launches.

They live in Leonburg now, but Sybille is from Leipzig.

DK

Ranae said...

I see your beautfiul photo's and it makes me wanna take a road trip. I have never been up there, most everywhere else though, lol!
Someday!!
Thanks for sharing

Linda said...

Your photos are gorgeous! So green. Looks like you had a wonderful time. Thanks for visiting my blog. I live in the Inland Empire. You said you lived in San Diego. My sons live there now. They went there for college and never came back, but who could blame them!

Judy D in WA said...

I love Welches! Your pictures are wonderful. I just watched the video of the choir. Beautiful music, everyone is so happy!!

Rian said...

Snow in May = Shocking. I'd have had to stay inside by the fire drinking something warm.

Pamela Kellogg said...

Absolutely lovely photos Judy! Well, except for the snow scene! ICK!!! Gorgeous photos!!!!

deb said...

thank you for those beautiful pictures, makes me want a green vacation out of this desert!!!!

Charlene ♥ NC said...

Oh, thanks for sharing your wonderful road trip with us. Such lovely and unexpected sights! It does feel SO good to be home and back into the routine, doesn't it?

janieg said...

The photos of your trip are sooo beautiful! I live in the Chico, CA area and we had snow in our mountains last week....temps in the mid 80s until Monday when it is supposed to rain and snow again. I liked hearing about your choir. I belong to the Children's Choir of Chico and we are having our concerts this weekend as well.

Micki said...

The trip looks wonderful and I really enjoyed the pics!
Micki

Lapplisor said...

Hi Judy
These are very impressive images.
Snow in this season before the door to have -
No one is happy about it ...;-)
But the trips are kept very nice in the picture.
I hope very much that you have it now again found good..
and you had a nice time with your guests.
Take care
♥☼♥Barbara♥☼♥

Kathy Raker said...

Great pictures! Beautiful countryside and would love to visit that area sometime. Wouldn't have appreciated the snow though, except for knowing it wouldn't be around too long. :)