Day 50 - (09/06) Portland, OR ... day 12

Labor Day.


We had a delicious breakfast of waffles and sausage at Tim and Elizabeth's.


Then, with full tummies, we went geocaching in the afternoon.  We found 3 of 5 caches and got lots of practice with the GPS.  Carol's GPS works much better with a Portland map update.


We had dinner at Burgerville.


The adults watched the Dirty Harry movie (Clint Eastwood) and had sundaes from Swirl.


Map Tracks
None for today.

Day 49 - (09/05) Portland, OR ... day 11

Sunday ... Tim preached and Carol accompanied the service on piano.


Dick worked with Kenny on his home construction project.  We cut and installed window trim and cut spacers for internal wall studs.


We (Tim, Elizabeth, Kenny, Barbara, Dick, Carol, Jacob, Anna and Lucy) had dinner together.  Barbecued steak, corn on the cob and all the fixins.  Umm ... Lucy really didn't eat with us, but she was with us.




Map Tracks
None for today.

Day 48 - (09/04) Portland, OR ... day 10

Saturday ... a fun day.


It started with a casual wake-up.  Then we set out for sailing in Tim's new dingy on the Willamette River at West Linn.  The loading, unloading, assembly, sailing, disassembly and reloading activities made for a really fun outing.

Unloading at Willamette Lake

The next step is to put it all together.

We're finally ready to cast off.
(Two adults and two children are obviously the passenger limit.)

It looks like we remembered to bring everything except ... the wind.

Alas, we caught a breeze and got to sail a bit.

Elizabeth and Carol went for a spin, too.
(Note:  Elizabeth didn't let Carol know she'd never done it by herself ... oops!)

They finally find their way back to shore.
(And are greeted with a barrage of pine cones launched by Jacob, Tim and Dick)

After sailing we tried out Carol's new geocach equipment (a Garmin - Oregon 450 GPS).  Elizabeth demonstrated the process and we all searched to find "A Knot In Your Knickers".  We couldn't find the cache.


Tired and hungry, we returned to Portland and had wonderful dinner at Thanh Thao Restaurant.  The restaurant is a Winslea family favorite on Hawthorne St., near home.  It specializes in Vietnamese dishes.


Map Tracks
None for today.

Day 47 - (09/03) Portland, OR ... day 9

Wake up this morning was different than all others on this trip.  It came with giggling from two little "urchins" in the back of the trailer.  Fortunately, the sun was shining at the time.

We started the day with pancakes prepared on a camp stove.

OK, how many pancakes do you want?

We were treated to a casual morning because we didn't have to leave until noon.  Kim and Tracey (Ranger Assistants in the park) came by and chatted a while about the park and their duties.  They played with Anna and Jacob and gave them a park sticker to wear.

Kim and Tracey with Anna and Jacob

Carol took the kids for a short hike; Dick cleaned the outside of the trailer and got hooked up for a noon departure.

We stopped for lunch at McDonald's and got back home at about 3pm.  Backing into T&E's narrow driveway was as challenging as the first time.  We made it on the first try ... again.

Map Tracks

Begin:  Ainsworth State Park, Oregon

East on US-30 to I-84 entrance

West on I-84 to I-205.

South on I-205 to S.E. Division St.

West on S.E. Division St. to S.E. 52nd Ave.

North on S.E. 52nd Ave. to S.E. Lincoln St.

End: 34 miles @ Tim and Elizabeth Winslea's home - Portland, OR

Day 46 - (09/02) Portland, OR ... day 8

It's a sunny day in Portland and we're off on a short camping trip with Jacob and Anna.  We're headed for Ainsworth State Park with no reservation.

Jacob, Anna, Carol & Dick ready to go camping.

Mt. Hood straight ahead as we travel I-84 East.

We got a great camp site.

Horsetail Falls was just west of the campground on Historic US-30.

Anna and Jacob at the foot of Horsetail Falls.

Multnomah Falls was a bit further west from Horsetail Falls.

Heading into the entrance to Multnomah Falls

The upper and lower falls offer quite a sight.

Anna and Jacob heading back from the bridge above.

Jacob and Anna have a historic moment at the falls.

Bridge of the Gods connects Oregon and Washington over the Columbia River
(It's just east of the Bonneville Dam)

Bonneville Dam

Spillways at Bonneville Dam

We toured Bonneville Dam and were treated to a view of the fish ladder.
They count the fish travelling through the ladder daily, by species.

Then we stopped by the nearby Bonneville Fish Hatchery.
This huge sturgeon caught everyone's attention.

The grounds of the fish hatchery were beautifully landscaped.

Fish hatchery grounds.

Carol caught this leaping trout in mid-air.

This was a delightful day.  The drive on I-84 took us along the Columbia River Gorge.  It was windy and the trailer felt it.  We were fortunate to get such a nice camp site this close to the Labor Day weekend ... it was exceptional in that it provided full hook-ups (water, electric and sewer) at all 45 sites.

Carol and the kids explored the campground while Dick finished with the trailer set up.

We cooked dinner (sausage and hot dogs) over a campfire and kept the fire going for smores before bedtime.

Map Tracks

Start:  Tim & Elizabeth Winslea's home - Portland, OR

I-84 East to Ainsworth State Park (exit 35)

West on US-30 a short distance to Ainsworth State Park

End: 32 miles @ Site B-4,  Ainsworth State Park, Oregon

Day 45 - (09/01) Portland, OR ... day 7

Today was overcast and we had a light rain until late afternoon.  The weather finally cleared up, giving us hope for a nice day tomorrow.

We spent most of the day with inside jobs and preparing for tomorrow's camping trip with Anna and Jacob.

Map Tracks

None for today.

Day 44 - (08/31) Portland, OR ... Day 6

Today was cool and overcast.  We had misting rain on and off throughout the day.


Dick went to Kenny and Barbara's house renovation project for a look-see.  It's quite an undertaking!  Kenny bought the top part from Concordia University, had it moved over a mile, jacked it up and built the lower floor section beneath.  He's building a duplex.

Wish we could have seen the move of the top section.

Jacob and Dick went to an Airstream dealer in Oregon City to ask about a door hinge repair.  We got good guidance from their tech.  They've been in business for about 4 months, have a large inventory and are selling a lot of units.  We were able to peek into many, shiny new ones ... and we like ours just fine, thank you.  Jacob did think the Bambi model fit him best.


Jacob, Anna, Carol and Dick lunched at Burgerville.  Guess what their specialty is?


We're planning a camping trip with Jacob and Anna on Thursday.  This was a good day to think through the meals and needed shopping.


Barbara prepared a nice dinner for us at Tim & Elizabeth's and we ended the day watching a few episodes of Family Affair from the mid-60s.


Note:  We're trying out a new editor and some different presentations for the blog.  Let me know if you see anything strange.


Map Tracks
None for today