Thursday, June 26, 2014

Trimming the Rhodies

The rhododendrons bloom a bright red in June.  My neighbor has often commented on how nice they look at the peak of their season.  As often as not, I miss the bloom because of festival travel.  This year was a miss. Sandi and I talked about trimming the rhododendrons after they finished blooming this month.  Last Saturday afforded both beautiful weather and a free afternoon.  With a few tools I took to dead-heading and trimming the rhodies.



 
 
Ahhhh.  Much better.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Cape Horn, Washington

Mom and Dad came down to visit last weekend.  I wanted to take them on a good hike but was I've grown weary of fighting the weekend crowds a all our favorite hiking spots (i.e. - the Columbia River Gorge).  I looked online for inspiration and discovered that there is another state to the north of Oregon called Washington.  Apparently, Washington has the Columbia River Gorge too.  That's where we found Cape Horn. 


 
Cape Horn Trail is a 7-mile loop after July 15th.  Before that, it is an out-and-back trail.  No parking hassle, quiet trail, beautiful scenery, perfect!
 
If you had a magnifying glass, you might be able to see
 Multnomah Falls across the way about 3/4 down the river.
 
Not the clearest day but still...

 
... pretty spectacular views.


the fam taking a lunch break

 
 
 
I think we hiked about 5-miles.  The trail started out fairly steep and then leveled off.  We even hiked through pasture land on the way to a look out.  We might have to explore more hiking trails in this land they call Washington.

Happy 7th Amber!

Happy Birthday Amber The day finally arrived - we've been talking about it since October last year. And what a celebration you crafted!...