May Ends - June Begins

Monday, Memorial Day
We are off today.  It rained in the morning, so we took advantage and slept in.  Mid-day we went over to visit G&M and say goodbye before they headed back to Salem.  We will not see them again until late June, they will be traveling back to South Dakota for a family reunion and the Humboldt celebration.  Back home, we had supper and then went up to the park bunkhouse for a farewell celebration for Linda.  Her husband was to be released from the hospital on Thursday AM and then they will fly to Kansas.  We had a camp fire and everyone brought munchies to share.

Tuesday - Today, we were up and packing up the motorhome - Gary took it in to the Chevy dealer in Sandy to have the engine checked by the computer, before we go to Washington State this week.  I worked in the office, helping Brian with reservations and scheduling.  When Gary was back, he did the mowing again for the week.  We had supper outside and a campfire.

Wednesday - Rain - of course as we had to pack up everything to leave.  We took our golf cart up to the office compound, since we were going to be gone for 4 days.  Left the park about 11:30, the Captain/driver was glad to be out of the rain and on the road. We traveled today to go to Prosser, WA for the weekend, for Gary's RV Inspector Certification Training.
We drove back west on Hwy 26 to Gresham and then went up to I-84 to go east along the Gorge. There is beautiful scenery and waterfalls along there, from Troutdale to The Dalles. We crossed the Columbia River at The Dalles, Oregon.  It was interesting to us that on the Washington side, we immediately were driving through dry, bluff type of hills - more incline than we expected on that side. We then went on Hwy 14 and drove east.  We stopped along the roadside mid-afternoon for lunch - we were parked just above a vineyard/orchard farm and could also see the Columbia River and the Oregon Coast.  Another advantage of driving your home - you can stop anytime and have lunch in beautiful places.  We continued on, luckily avoiding a thunderstorm and arrived in Prosser, WA late afternoon. We pulled into our campsite and met the couple who would lead the RV inspector training for the weekend.  They left for supper, we set up and then sat through a brief thunderstorm.  When they returned, we all went to the RV Park office/store for a wine tasting.  The RV park has local winieries come to the park to host these events.  Afterward, Gary and I went to a local pizzeria for supper.

Our lunch stop - along Hwy 14, Washington side, east of The Dalles

Thursday - Gary was off to class at the meeting room in the RV park at 7:30 AM.  I slept in, then went for a long walk in the neighborhood.  We really enjoyed the openness of the RV park area and the Sunshine!!!  We were out of the dark forest for awhile. The Prosser area is very interesting, in the Yakima River valley, an oasis due to irrigation, surrounded by high, dry, brown bluffs. Another type of beauty.  There are over 30 winieries in the valley, they thrive there because with the irrigation they can control the moisture.  14 Hands, Columbia Crest, MaryHill, Airfield and Chateau St. Michelle are some of the better known winieries there.  We were busy enough with the class schedule that we did not get to any of them.
I worked on RVillage contacts and caught up on office work during the day.  Gary was home for lunch, then back to class.  I went out later in the day and got the car washed and picked up some groceries.  We went downtown for supper, ate at the Horse Heaven Saloon. Then we went over to look at some of the winieries by our campground.  There were seven in this area, all new, built around a courtyard type of setting.  More beautiful roses, the soil in this valley was perfect for them, so all many people had them in their yards and along their fence lines.

14 Hands Logo on the building

14 Hands Winery, Prosser, WA

From the vineyards courtyard

The walkway to one of the buildings

Gamache Winery building - one of seven in the courtyard

Beautiful

Roses palooza in Prosser

Friday - Gary said they wanted the spouses to attend today's meeting. Turned out, it really wasn't necessary for me to be there, other than meeting the other spouse, (there were only two inspectors and two instructors at this class). I had a nice time visiting with the husband of the other inspector and the wife of the instructor.  That night we all went back to the Horse Heaven Saloon for supper - kind of the graduation supper for the group.

Saturday - last day of class - hands on training - inspecting each other's motorhomes and looking at other motorhomes and fifth-wheels in the park.  It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day - we all enjoyed being outside.  After the graduation presentation, we had Happy Hour with the instructor and his wife and then went for a little supper to the pizzaria.  Back home, we packed up some things to prepare for our departure on Sunday.

Our camping site and view at the Vineyard Campground, Prosser

 Sunday - We went to Mass at Sacred Heart Parish in Prosser.  Then packed up and headed for Oregon. It was sunny, but windy on the way back along the river.  The Captain skillfully guided our ship homeward.  We went back on Hwy 97 in Washington and crossed the river south of Goldendale, to Biggs, OR and then west on I-84 again.  We stopped in Hood River for supplies from Walmart and then went back to Gresham, Hwy 26 to Sandy and back to our park.  Once back, we pulled out the hoses and washed the motorhome - it was quite dirty from driving in all the rain and wind.  We set up and went to bed.

Week 3 - May

Monday - we were off today from the park job, so spent the morning catching up on RVillage contacts.  In the afternoon, we walked more of the trails in the park.  We walked out on the rocks by the Salmon River and on all the Wetland trails.  Still trying to see the beaver, no luck.  We cooked supper outside on the hotplate (thanks Ginger!) and enjoyed a camp fire and the nice evening.

The Salmon River at Wildwood

Exploring the shore

 
















Tuesday - this was the day we were covering for Anne & Dick and the weather was sunny and warm.  Gary decided to paint the fuel tank that he had scrubbed earlier, so he donned a coverall and got that done.  Brian, our boss, took a picture.  I took the golf cart and went out and raked some of the parking/walkway areas.  It did not take long doing that to wear out my upper arms, so I went back to the office and helped Brian with a word processing project and assembled packets for future volunteers.  Gary took the mower out, everything had grown again with the rain and warm weather.  After work, we decided to get out of the forest for a while and went to Wraptitude for an early supper.  Back home, another campfire - we are loving it!

The Captain - another uniform in the forest

Wednesday - Our day off again.  We got some things done at home, then went hiking with Leslie and Chris.  We started at Laurel Hill, where a short trail leads to Laurel Chute - where emigrants on the Barlow Road used ropes and sheer strength to lower their wagons down the near vertical slope. They had come across the mountains along the top of the ridge to this point to continue on their journey to the Willamette Valley. (The grade of Laurel Hill was 60% in some places, more vertical than horizontal.  Wagons had to be unhitched and winched down backwards.  Some pioneers would tie a huge tree to the back of their wagon, hoping it would help provide some braking as they rumbled downhill.) We did not find the "chute", but found original posts marked by Barlow and his guides for the trail.  Next we drove to the Little Zigzag Falls Trail - a beautiful trail with waterfalls outside Government Camp.  As you park at the trail head, Little Zigzag River flows beneath the historic 1920s bridge (no longer in use) that was part of the original Mount Hood Highway.  After reaching the falls, we stopped and ate our lunches sitting on tree roots and rocks, feeling the spray from the water as we sat in the sun.
Leaving there, we stopped at the Barlow Tollgate, the last gate spot where Samuel Barlow collected fees from the travelers to continue on his toll road.  A replica of the gate was rebuilt there, the maple trees on each side were said to have been planted by the gatekeeper. Afterward the four of us went into Sandy and stopped at Diva's Chocolates and Wine Shop and the Beer Den next door.  For supper, we returned to Welches and ate at El Burro.  We had a great time getting to know each other through the afternoon and evening together.  Leslie and Chris have been fulltiming a few months longer than we have and have had different jobs, we learned a lot comparing notes.  There will be more fun times together through our stay here.

Laurel Hill Trailhead

Barlow Road post with markings

 
















 

Early road bridge

Little Zigzag Falls trailhead

Little Zigzag Falls trail

 

Little Zigzag Falls

Lunch spot on tree roots

Barlow Tollgate

Thursday - back to work.  Another nice day, Gary finished mowing the park areas and road edges.  I raked more in the parking lot walkways and then did some work in the office.  It also has been nice to throw a load of laundry in using the park washer/dryer when we are out working.  A busy day - when done, we had our leftover Wraptitude wraps for supper and relaxed.

Friday - woke up to a rainy day, earlier than the weatherman had predicted.  We went in to the office and Mark asked if we would go and clean up the entrance booth.  We were scheduled to man the booth for some hours over the weekend.  The booth had not been open all winter, it was pretty dirty, and had mold starting to grow on the walls and ceiling.  We washed it all down, brushed it out, took inventory of everything inside and returned to the office with the booth instruction manuals for Mark to review.  Our day was done then, so we drove in to Sandy to get groceries for the weekend - we planned to have the Fredinburg families to our place on Sunday night for supper.  We were amazed to see the steady two lanes of traffic headed toward the mountains, many with campers in tow, as we headed in to town.  When we drove back to Wildwood there was not quite as much traffic, we caught the slower time before the after city work travelers were moving.  G&M called and said they were set up at their camper next door, so we went over there for supper and a fire.  Tyler, Jen and family arrived at the same time, so the two Garys helped them set up and I helped entertain little Piper while supper was getting ready.  Barbeques for supper and fresh strawberries for dessert.  We had a great visit around the fire, watching all the other campers arrive and set up.  The campground was full for the holiday weekend.

Saturday - this morning we reported to the office early - we, Leslie and Chris and Richard were to learn how to clean the fish viewing window.  John and Katherine, the assistant park rangers, took us down and showed us where the supplies were and how to lower the metal "planks" we have to stand on to brush and scrape the water side of the window.  Not an easy job with the deep water of the viewing area.  Stiff long handle brooms, a long handle with a scrubber pad on the end and a stick with a razor holder were our tools.  They all work well when you are up closer to the top of the water, but you lose leverage as you brush deeper.  Very hard on the arms!  When training was done, we went back home and Gary put on his park ranger uniform shirt and went to man the entrance booth for the start of our shift.  I got my shower done, while baking my dessert for our Sunday nights' dinner, then went to take over in the booth.  The day was sunny and warm by then, we had a lot of people coming in to the park.  The regulars were surprised to see booth attendants and everyone was even more surprised to find that we were not taking money, just meeting and greeting.  We were in the booth for a total of three hours and had 45 cars come in.  About half were returning visitors, half had never been to the park.  While I was in the booth, Gary took the cart around the park and said hello, checked garbage and envelope pay stations.    Late afternoon, we went to Mt. Hood Village and had supper with the Fredinburg families - Tyler and Jen fixed grilled chicken kabobs, yuum. Another great fire gathering, this time with smores.  Their son, Nolan, took a survey on how much each of us toasted our marshmallows - his was the least - barely warm, mine and Freddie's, the most toasted.

Volunteer park host at welcome booth - Great smile!

Sunday - Mass, breakfast and preparing food for our dinner guests.  At 11:00, we opened the booth and covered until 12:30, then Leslie and Chris took over.  G&M and Nolan came over and we went to the Zigzag Inn for a lunch pizza.  Then we took G&M and Nolan to the Little Zigzag Falls trail.  Nolan has not hiked much before, so this was an adventure for him.  Gary kept quizzing him about things we saw along the trail and Nolan kept reminding Great Uncle Gary that he wouldn''t know those things yet - because he is only in 1st grade.  But, he really enjoyed the trail, especially when we reached the falls.  When we returned to Wildwood, we, Nolan and Marilyn went over and hiked the trail behind the Oregon Trail marker by the front gate of our park.  We were told we would be able to see wagon ruts, but we did not - everything was overgrown and it was a rough trail.  We climbed over numerous fallen trees and eventually reached a fence for private property.  We turned around and headed back, this time finding a number of snails as we walked back.  Gary and Nolan played basketball for a while in the park.  Back at the motorhome, Gary started chopping peppers and onions for supper.  I took Marilyn and Nolan in our golf cart to see the fish viewing window and the big bridge by the wetlands.  Unfortunately, the lamprey had moved on, leaving only a pile of rocks where it had moved them. We will hike the park trails there another time with Nolan.  When we got back, Nolan's folks, Tyler and Jen and little sister, Piper had arrived. I helped Gary with all the supper details, putting the garlic bread packs on the fire grill racks to warm.  It started to mist, but we were okay eating outside with our nice canopy.  Peppers and Shells, prepared by Chef Gary, garlic bread and then pumpkin pie dessert.  After supper, Tyler and Nolan played basketball and our other guests went for a stroll in the park while we did dishes.  We continued with the campfire through the evening and Jen had brought smores supplies for those who still had room for more.  It did not really rain much until later during the night. 


 

Peppers and Shells Chef

Dinner guests

Oregon is Beautiful - Mid May

Monday - it's my birthday today and we have the day off!  (That has happened rarely in my 39++ years) We decided to venture out and see more new areas.  We drove north on Hwy 35 to Hood River, a town on the Columbia River and I-84.  From Hwy 26, north on Hwy 35 to Hood River, is known as part of the Hood River Valley Fruit Loop.  From June - September, local farms have their fruit stands, with strawberries, cherries, peaches, pears and other goodies available for purchase.  Today was too early for that, but we spotted many of the stands we will come back to when the fruit is ready.  Hood River is a river town with many houses built up on the hills, looking down on the river and many homes can also see Mt. Hood or Mt. Adams.  We stopped at Panorama Point just south of the city - fabulous pictures, you can see for miles.  (All these pictures are from Panorama Point - clicking on any of the pictures will make them bigger)

Mt. Hood and Hood River Valley

Birthday girl

Mt. Adams to the north

The rhododendrons are vivid

We drove on in to town and came upon the Full Sail Brewery, known for their Full Sail and Session beers.  We arrived just before the 1:00 tour, so decided to learn more.  We had a great guide and she let us smell the hops and different malts used in the process.  They are primarily a bottling distributor, so they do not sell a large amount on tap.  We finished the tour and then stopped by their restaurant, tasting a few and having some great sandwiches.  We then drove through the historic downtown area and stopped by The Naked Winery - interesting name.  They have some good wines as well and a lot of theme related clothing and gift ideas.  We drove down to the river front and saw the places where they have windsurfing competitions and trainings.  We stopped at the Visitor's Center there and picked up more information on the region.  Heading home, we drove by the Lavender Farm, they have a festival in June.  The lavender was not ready, but we could see some color.  Of course, the views of Mt. Hood on our return journey were fabulous, first we were seeing the back side of the mountain and then came around to the front, closer to home.  We drove down to Trillium Lake, the road was open today, and found the day use area where we can put our boat in.  Snow was still on parts of the road and the campground road was still closed - we could see the snow drift over the road there yet.  There were a lot of people out enjoying the beautiful day.  It was late afternoon, so the cool breeze made it necessary for me to put my jacket on.  There is a flat trail around the lake too, we will have to walk that some time.  Back home, we started a fire and grilled hotdogs for supper. (We have not grilled dogs for at least 8 years - wow!)  A wonderful way to spend my birthday!

At the brewery

The lavender fields

The back of Mt. Hood as we headed home

From the hiking path at Trillium Lake

Zoom shot of Mt. Hood's lower ridges - you can see where avalanches are possible. You can also see the chair lift and warming hut.

 Tuesday - Today was so nice and everything was dried from the rainy weekend, so we wanted to finish the park mowing - even though it was our day off.  The ranger has been teasing Gary about the "mohawk cut" he left on the ball field, so he wanted to get that evened up.  I went around with the cart and checked for branches, raked some rough areas, and then walked the road perimeters, picking up big branches before he mowed them as well.  It got to 85 today and was a little humid.  A good workout and walking for me.  Before supper, we went over and loaded up our car full of Linda's things that needed to be hauled to the Goodwill store.  Then grilled burgers for supper and enjoyed our campfire.

Wednesday - Time to visit a dentist in Oregon - have to share my funds across the nation, I guess.  I went in to get an evaluation on whether I need another crown, I have to keep pursuing this while I have insurance.  They saw a need, so are submitting the claim for approval.  We will know more next month.  Then I took Linda's things in to town to the Goodwill store, picked up groceries and filled the car up with gas.  Back home again, we had lunch and then got ready to go boating!  93 degrees - a perfect day.  We went to Trillium Lake and parked in the day use area we had explored before.  Five other boats, canoes and kayaks were out already and an inflatable raft was just launching.  We blew up the kayak, put on our lifejackets and went out on the water.  Beautiful!  We could see Mt. Hood today from there.  This is a bigger lake than Mirror Lake and we found out it is man-made.  There were many people swimming - yes, swimming!  The water was cool, but not freezing.  Other groups were grilling and picnicking around the lake.  There is a two mile, flat, trail around the lake as well, we saw some hikers walking that.
We rowed and floated around the lake, taking pictures and enjoying the scenery.  We paddled up to the top of the lake, intending to float all the way back down.  Then, my astute Captain, realized we were losing air in the floor of our ship - we headed back to shore!  Upon landing, we found the intake valve for the floor of the kayak was leaking air.  We are hoping vaseline on the seal may solve the situation for the next time.  We dried off the ship and loaded up, heading home safely for the day.  I made spaghetti for supper and we went for an evening walk around the park.

Kayaking on Trillium Lake

Thursday - back to work.  We had a staff safety meeting at 9:00, then went with our boss to the other two nearby areas that we have to maintain this summer.  Sandy Ridge is just four miles away - this is becoming a very well known mountain bike park, they are holding competitions there often.  There are mostly trails to ride on, but hikers are allowed as well.  We have two bathrooms there to maintain and responsible for emptying the garbage cans.  Then we went a little further to Barlow Trail Wayside, a small hiking area with one bathroom to maintain.  We hiked the trails a little and will need to come back for more, a very pretty area.  Back at the park, Gary got on the mower again and mowed the other areas that had grown back, I worked on RVillage accounts at home.  While sitting outside before supper, I looked up and had three visitors on the path just down from our campsite.  Three deer strolling by - they stopped and looked as I talked to them and got pictures.  Then they left when a bike rider on one of the other trails spooked them.

Supper visitor

Friday - we worked in the park today - using the weed trimmer and pull behind blower.  This blower hooks on to the back of the golf cart and off we go.  Slick!  I was working at cleaning the dried clippings off of the paved trails - had to use the rake and broom to loosen it so we could blow it off the path.  After lunch, Gary went with Brian back to Sandy Ridge to let the workers in for the park improvements.  I went for a aerobic walk around the park.  We are supposed to get rain again late Saturday and then Sunday, so have to get out when I can.  Fixed supper and then went to do our water testing assignment.  The park checks the chlorine level in the water spigots at the park every day.  We have three stations we have to test the water at and then write down the readings for the ranger to review.  My mad scientist likes wearing the lab coat - not mandatory!  We went to the river viewing station when we were done, to look at the eel our co-workers had heard about from park visitors.  There he/she was, moving rocks frantically - we think to make a nest for laying eggs.  It was grabbing small rocks by suction with its mouth and moving them.  Cool!  (We since found out that it is a lamprey - Lampreys (sometimes also called lamprey eels are an order of jawless fish, the adult of which is characterized by a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth.)  For our Friday evening, we met Anne & Dick at the office to play cards.  They showed us how to play Hand and Foot - there is quite a lot to keep track of in that game.  Of course, the girls won and we had a great time visiting too.  We will teach them our Progressive Rummy game the next time.

Captain weed trimmer

Mad scientist

Lamprey

Saturday - Anne and Dick wanted to switch days today - they have company coming to the area for a week on Sunday and wanted to have Tuesday off to spend time with them.  So our days this week were Thursday-Sunday, now we will work Tuesday and then back on for our four days on Thursday for the Memorial Day weekend.  We slept in and then I had to step up - to do my first barbering job for Gary.  It did not turn out too bad, thank goodness.  I had several coachings from our dear friend Jan, who cut his hair the last two times in Arizona.  Early afternoon we went back to hike the Barlow Trail Wayside park.  We hiked on the main trail and the Falls Trail.  Gosh it was pretty.  A good hike for us too.  Then we drove west, following the Barlow Trail road, which took us up over the Devil's Backbone ridge, just like the travelers did in their wagons.  Some fantastic views and the flowers and plants were so lush.  The road ended up in Sandy, so we picked up the groceries we needed while we were there.  We took the main highway back home and put the groceries away.  Since it was still so nice out, we drove over to Brightwood, a very small burg not far from us (we are between Brightwood and Welches on Hwy 26) and had a beverage at the tavern. visiting with some of the locals there and checked out the convenience store.  We sat outside when we were back, took late day pictures and grilled a sweet onion and a pork loin roast.  We had a nice fire and a walk at dusk.

Stream crossing on Falls Trail

Five + types of greenery - I love the large clover & ivy

On the Barlow Trail wayside hike

Late day beauty at our park

The late day sun lights everything up

Sunday - went to Mass at 8:00 at St. John's again.  It was supposed to rain all day - it started early morning.  After breakfast, we headed up to the office to put in our work hours.  We did laundry while we cleaned and went out and checked the park.  We had a nice visit with Leslie & Chris, who were also working today.  At home, we did another window shade restringing - the string on the window at my side of the bed broke on Friday.  The accordion type shade lets go and falls crookedly without the two sides of tension.  It is one of the small windows and we are getting pretty good at doing it, so it did not take long.  The rain let up for a little while, so we did another drive around check of the park and picked up more firewood.  By then it started raining again, so we stayed home until we closed the gate for the night.

Visting the Mt. Hood Area

Tuesday - the rain ended, but a cooler day.  We worked in our office in the morning and then set out to see the area.  We drove to Trillium Lake to see if we could boat there in warmer weather.  The park gate was closed, so we hiked in a little way on the road and found snow covering parts of it and a tree that had fallen across it.  They will have some work to do when they open the park.  It was two miles down to the lake, so we did not hike very far before going back to the car.  On the way back, we stopped in Government Camp, the closest town to Mt. Hood and found the Mt. Hood Brewery there.  They had a nice fire going inside and we stayed and had a great pizza for lunch.  Back home, we went to the shop and got one of the free standing tent canopies.  We set that up on our pad, just back from the fire ring, so that we can have a fire even when it is raining lightly (which could be often here).  That night we had a camp fire and invited our two other host couples to join us.  Anne and Dick came and Leslie and Chris also joined us.  Leslie and Chris had arrived on the weekend.  They are full-timers as well, a little younger than us.  The canopy also holds the heat in better, so we stay warmer.

 

Closed road to Trillium Lake

Our campsite with canopy

Wednesday - A sunny day!  I went to Welches and had my hair trimmed and Gary worked in our office.  After I was home, we got ready and drove to the Mirror Lake Trailhead, just this side of Government Camp.  This is a small lake famous for the pictures you can take there of Mt. Hood, mirrored in the lake.  You can only hike in, it's about 2.2 miles round trip, with an additional trail past it.  It was warm by then, but still cool in the shade as we hiked.  The trail climbs 700 feet steadily up from the road, but was not difficult.  We had to cross the mountain springs several times on our way up, on log bridges.  At the lake, we found it was still half covered with ice.  The circle trail around the lake took us over snow drifts still trying to melt.  Very beautiful place.  When we reached the side to take "the Picture", the clouds were almost totally covering Mt. Hood.  Drat!  We took what we could and finished hiking around.  Many people were out, several were fishing.  They do have some primitive tent camp sites there, we could see where others had had their fires.  Too chilly for me to camp that way!  And sleep on the ground?  No way.  A great hike, we will come back again and try to get the picture.  Back home, we changed and went to the nearby Rendevous Grill for supper.  We had wonderful pasta and a pork loin sandwich.  Enough pasta to also take home, another supper for the week.  We sat outside at the campfire again before heading to bed.  I slept very well after all the fresh air and exercise. (The Captain always sleeps well)

A redwood tree stump on the trail

One of the log bridges

Crossing the snow on the trail

Ice yet on Mirror Lake

Mirror Lake (and Mt. Hood behind the clouds)

The lower ridges of Mt. Hood from Mirror Lake

Fisherman at Mirror Lake

Switchback trail from Mirror Lake

Forest stream on trail

Trillium flowers blooming

Thursday - I got up and walked the park right away, knowing the rain was coming.  It started about 11:00.  We were off today so we drove in to Sandy and went to the Sandy Historical Museum.  Very interesting - a lot of information about the logging industry and history of the area and town.  It was fun to learn about the early logging days.  We stopped for a coffee and did grocery and other errands. It rained all day.  That night we grilled chicken for supper - because there is not much wind here in the forest, we leave our awning down all the time, so we do have a dry place to grill. We sat by the fire for a while, but the rain kept trying to put it out.

Friday - Rain, rain, rain.  Oregon is famous for it.  We checked in to the office and then drove around to check the park.  Not too many people were out today, it rained pretty hard several times.  Gary and Marilyn (G&M) came up to camp next door late afternoon.  They came over for supper, we grilled burgers, but then stayed inside to visit because it was damp and chilly with the rain.  We played Mexican Train dominos - the Captain won this time.

Saturday - Opened the gate, did a check through the park and went up to the office. Early afternoon we went over to help Linda - she and her husband were camp hosting before we arrived and her husband had a stroke just a week before we got here.  He is doing well, but they will be moving back to Kansas near family for his recovery and therapy months.  She is cleaning out their camper, they sold it and so everything has to go - they will be taking only their personal things - not needing camping equipment any more.  We set up a canopy near her trailer, helped her move some things out so she could get to the items she needed to ship home.  She gave us several things that we can use, but we did not take much because we only have so much room to put things.  When we were finished with that, we went with G&M to the Zigzag Inn for a late lunch - we had a delicious pizza there.  Later that evening we went to the Rendevous for our Mothers' Day supper.  The boys were treating us, especially since we would not be with our children this year to celebrate.

Sunday, Mother's Day - early Mass - 8:00 at St. John in the Woods, in Welches.  We found this mission church nearby during the week - very handy and appears to be an active parish.  The pews seats are made of half logs, the back of the seats from half branches.  Not the most comfortable, but very unique.  We went with G&M to the DragonFly cafe for breakfast, this cafe is in the RV park they are staying at, next to our Wildwood Park.  Homemade bread and rolls, very good.  It had stopped raining!  We went home and did a run through the park and then went and worked at the park office for awhile.  We vacuumed and swept and then I went out and cleaned out the garden spot in the shop area.  They told we host couples that we can plant there - Anne is going to get tomato and pepper plants and we hope to find a basil plant.  We talked to our kids and grandsons.   Just before we called, I found a snail nearby.  We showed him to the boys and took some great pictures.  Pretty fascinating, I had never seen one with his whole body out of the shell. Late afternoon we drove over to Mt. Hood Village to G&M's campsite.  It was sunny out so we sat out by their fire and visited, before they grilled supper for us.  We helped them clean up afterward and break camp - they drove back home to Salem that night.  We said our goodbyes - they will come back to camp on Memorial Day weekend.  Home again - we did our duty of locking the gate.

Local snail

Our highway driving views in this area - Mt. Hood & the forest