Mounties

Not really.

Alex on Misty, Donna on Chex (full name Premium Chex), and Chris on J.B.

The young master fords the creek.

Wrapping Up

On Thursday we went ziplining on a course around the lodge and the lodge’s golf course. I hadn’t realized how tame of an activity this really is, and so forbore to take my camera in case of damage or loss. So we have no pictures at all from that.

Friday we came home.

As promised, rafting photos for you.

We approach the rapids. (Alex on the front of the raft.)

We enter the rapids! (Alex’s legs sticking up at the front.)

After it was all over.

More to come. I need to get my disc drive working again.

A Down Day

We’re all still aching from all this outdoorsman activity, so today we went into Portland. First we stopped at a yarn store called Twisted, which I’d heard of, but have never shopped at (not even online). Bought some yarn there, of course. And then we went to the Portland Fluevog store, which is absolutely gorgeous compared with the 2-car garage that is the Seattle store. I tried on a bunch of stuff and bought the Baroque Lorrain in black from the sale rack. Been looking at that one for a long time.

After this, we met Chris’ friend Wilky at the Deschutes Brewpub, just a few blocks away, and had a leisurely, entertaining meal (so leisurely that our waiter was beginning to give us dirty looks for hogging a table). We tipped him generously and left. On the way back we stopped at an outlet mall to get Chris some socks, because I’d forgotten to pack them for him, and then came back to the hotel. Since tomorrow is our last full day here, I’m doing a little prep work, though not actually packing yet.

Alex in the Fluevog store.

Chris in the Fluevog store.

Chris at Deschutes. This was before he had any beer!

In for a penny, in for a pound…

Since we didn’t have a CD reader for the horseback riding photos, we figured, might as well buy a not-instantly-usable CD of our whitewater rafting trip today!

We did go whitewater rafting with Zoller’s Outdoor Odysseys (zooraft.com), and had a fantastic time! I personally am so much more at home on the water than I was in the hot dry area where we rode the horses. A raft is a little harder to steer but at least it doesn’t try to bite the rear of the raft in front of it, or kick when it’s angered! Plus the river was beautiful. Alex fell out of the raft almost immediately, but our heroic guide Shane grabbed him and hauled him into the raft right away. Alex bore this with cheer and managed to not fall out of the raft for the rest of the trip (nor did Chris or I).

When we got to a set of rapids called “Rattlesnake,” Shane said people could sit on the front of the raft and ride the rapids, so…guess who did it? Chris and I were flat-out amazed.

Alex also took the opportunity to stop the raft and leap into the water from a ca. 20-foot high rock. Again we were amazed!

But we ended the tour with good cheer and just a few minor aches. To cheer us, we went to the Full Sail brewpub in Hood River and had lunch before taking their brewery tour. Here are the only (phone) photos I have for you at this moment.

Alex (in “Staff” shirt and neon shorts) during the brew tour. Blurry because I was walking and snapping the pic, and the phone camera is no good at that.

8,000 cases of Full Sail beer ready to be shipped out. We were on a balcony in the room above this.

I apologize to Gran-Gran for not having the kind of photos she likes to see. Perhaps tomorrow, as we’re going to Portland and will have the real camera with us.

You think you’re on top of things…

This morning’s expedition was a (horseback) trail riding adventure in nearby White Salmon, WA. We packed up a backpack with the essentials (water, sunscreen, wallets and cameras) and headed out.

The company did not want us to carry the backpack, but there were individual pouches by each saddle that would accommodate water, and they offered a CD with “35-50 photos” taken by our guide, for purchase. Well, we decided to buy the CD and stow everything in the car except the water bottles and the car keys. Voila, off we went.

Alex was fervent in his delight in this activity. He spent the whole ride chatting with the young guide, talking about how he wanted to do this more often, and so on. She took pics of all three of us enjoying the ride, and we pretty much had a great time until the last 20 minutes when we all realized how butt-sore and cranky we were getting.

But we made it safely back to the stables, fed our horses each a carrot, and picked up our CD, thinking to share some of these pictures with you today.

Of course you realize the problem. We don’t have a CD drive with us. And since we didn’t take our own camera on the ride, we don’t have any Pick-generated photos for you. When we get home, I’ll upload some, but there is nothing to show you now.

Afterwards? A soak in the hotel’s hot tub, lunch, and now 6 hours of down time while the muscles regroup…