Another Shot at Oregon

After working Louisiana for nearly 3 months, Delta Airlines and the Hilton chain probably thought I'd fallen off the face of the earth and I too, had become somewhat complacent, enjoying spending time with my wife,  relatives and my stuff.  Oh well, the break's over.

During my two weeks of retreat from assignments, I constantly was on edge waiting for the phone to ring, announcing an assignment in a cornfield in Nebraska or in a pine thicket in L.A. (Lower Alabama) but instead got the call to Portland.

It has been several years since I've visited the state so I was naturally excited to book a flight and buzz up here a week ago.  This long Presidents' Day weekend gave me a chance to get out.

My first adventure was east of here near Troutdale.  There are several waterfalls in the area and I did a little hiking for well needed exercise and a chance to take a few pictures.  My first stop was Wahkeena Falls, a long cascading stream flowing down the mountainside.  I only walked a ½ mile or so up to the midpoint before turning back.

Multnomah Falls was really my target.  A couple of my friends had visited there a year or so ago and sent me pictures of them there so I wanted to go as well.  One of the friends had been goading me to walk (climb) to the top and warned me to wear good shoes When I arrived, I checked out the maps around it and discovered that the trek was approximately 1.3 miles up the mountain to where the water fell into a duel set of pools. Along the way, I wandered off the main trail to explore the raging river that would eventually be the falls. 

I accepted the challenge and started up, stopping occasionally to take a picture but in reality, it was to collect my energy and get a breath.  The asphalt coverd trail zig-zagged through a series of switchbacks that rose at probably a 20% grade, leaving my knees and hips aching.  The trip down was a piece of cake but somehow I managed to form and eventually pop a blister between a couple of toes.


With my sense of accomplishment at hand, I found a few more interesting sites.

Monday, even though it was raining, I took a ride west over to the Oregon Coast.  My target there was Cannon Beach and the huge Haystack Rock that I'd heard so much about and seen pictures of.  During the two hour trip from Portland, I saw a little snow at higher elevations and hoped it wouldn't get thick enough to need chains which I didn't have.  No big deal there, my concerns were soon assuaged.

Even though it was misting rain and in the low 40°s, quite a few people were on the beach and in true Oregonian fashion, no one had an umbrella.  There's something about the area that almost demands you don't carry one.

Anyway, it was a pleasant experience walking quite a distance along in the sand.

Mama's 90th surprise birthday party

She was ninety on January 12 but we delayed having a surprise party for her on the following Sunday.  We figure that there were 85-100 well wishers gathered in Farmerville, Louisiana to give her a first surprise party.  Mama told me it was the most fun she'd had in ages.

She had both her living sisters and brother there as well as a host of nieces, nephews and friends.  Both, my brother and I had our kids and grandkids there too.  A total of 8 grand children and 7 great grandchildren.

Hey, the Canbile Ramblers even provided entertainment.  It just can't get any better than that!  Check out that wash tub.

The Funeral

I was caught in traffic at lunch Thursday, as what I can only assume was a fireman's funeral crawling slowly through Ville Platte, grinding traffic to a complete halt.  There must have been a dozen modern fire engines with sirens blaring that preceded this one.  I was overwhelmed at the solemnity of the firemen riding on the old Mack engine that served as the funeral caisson.

The one on the front running board, standing at attention, particularly impressed me with his haunting stare that seemed to penetrate straight through the camera and looked directly into my head.

I am not sure of the significance, if any at all, but he was the only one without a cap.

Hannah Abigail Albritton

Welcome to the world, sweetie.

Scary, isn't it?  Yeah, I know, me too.

Hannah was born at the Woman's Hospital, in Baton Rouge and weighed 7 lbs, 13 oz.  Everyone is doing well and soon will be headed home with Mom, Dad and big brother Henry to celebrate Christmas.

She, is absolutely gorgeous.

Rollin' On The River

After watching Henry's last basketball game of the season, Jared and I took his father-in-law's boat out on the river.  Actually, it was the intercostal waterway beginning at the Port of  Baton Rouge at Port Allen but who's counting?

Earlier that morning, I'd ridden into town on the Harley, ignoring the lower 40° temperatures, figuring it would eventually warm.  That was a bad guess....it didn't.  Anyway, we launched the boat and were on the water around 11:00 A.M. supposedly testing a new tachometer which never registered, maybe because it was defective or maybe because it was wired wrong, nevertheless, it didn't work on the old 70 hp Evinrude.  Even though we figured that out in the first 5 minutes, the notion of a river ride was there and before long, we were headed south on the Gulf Inter-Coastal Waterway that eventually makes it's way toward Morgan City and ultimately into the Gulf of Mexico.  Completed in 1949, it is part of a sophisticated network of waterways that connects the Mississippi River with waterways across the southern United States.

Even though the temperatures were cool on the water, the bright sun helped quite a bit as we enjoyed seeing life along the river, disturbing Louisiana Blue Herons, dodging the occasional log in the water and negotiating around ever present barge traffic.

One special treat was spotting a young Bald Eagle a few miles south of Bayou Choctaw.  I can still kick myself for forgetting my good camera and having to rely on the cell phone instead.

While we could have gone on and on, boat motors are not known for their gasoline efficiency so we turned around just south of the Bayou Jacob Road in Iberville Parish and made our way home.

A nice venture and experience for sure that was a little different, especially for me.