New Level Of Respect

Dad's been busy off playing with grandpa and Anita is home super extra pregnant. It's those last few weeks when she is ready for the baby to come. She's not complaining but is worn down. We still don't have a name and since we don't know the sex we need to come up with two. It's been to much like work. Ella has a new kick bike. She learns balance on this but no pedaling skills. It took a bit of doing but she has it now. I think its better than the pedal bike for learning.

Adventure one was on Fathers Day, which we spent fishing in the Pacific. It wasn't a peaceful day on the Pacific, at least not in my book. Everyone in the boat got sick except grandpa, the two charters and two kids. I've been out on a few boats without a problem but this was no good. We fished hard and caught our limit of sea bass (rock fish) and 3 of 4 cod. We brought it home for a BBQ and was delicious. The deck hand cooking tip is to wrap fillets in bacon, and as Tate's pa says, "you could wrap a tire in bacon and it would be delicious." Riding in a boat had been easy up to this trip and it was really hard to enjoy, I had to focus hard on the task at hand and not being sick. The trip gave me some new respect for working on open water.

Yesterday adventure was to climb Mt Hood. We took a 25 min Snow Cat ride up to the top of the ski area at 2am to cut out 2-3 hrs of hiking. To catch the cat we left the house at 10:30pm Sat night after a short nap. Weather forecast was for clouds and partial snow. We went with Allen who is a very experienced climber and Hoo-Dee-Hoo (HDH) who has been up Hood 4 times. Allen has lots of stories about climbing in the Pacific NW including being on top of Hood one hr after Mt St Helen's blew.

This was a big adventure because it is not just a hike but a Climb, and a first for grandpa and me. It's not so easy and there are risks as this mountain claims a few lives every year. Weather is the biggest factor. For our climb we started with clear stary skies, but the clouds moved in before 5 am sun rise, and as a result no pictures of scenery.

At Crater rock sulfur gas vents from the volcano of Mt Hood. We stopped there to put on our crampons. I ate a ham sandwich that for some reason tasted more like an egg sandwich... From there we went up to the hogsback at 10,400 (800 ft from the top) when he and HDH turned back after a rest. This was more than 2/3 of the climb. Allen and I went on to about 30 ft from the top. The conditions weren't there, lots of climbers going up and down the narrow shoot that was the gate to the top and my lack of technical climbing skills turned us back.

I was on edge for the upper part of the climb on ~50 deg slope, if you slip and don't self arrest it's a long way down. We had rented Crampons, boots and Ice ax to keep us on the mountain. It is amazing how well those hold you to the snow. Its also amazing the real risk up there. Falling rocks, snow conditions that don't let the crampons bite, finding your way, other climbers, etc. Allen and HDH kept us safe and it was a good call to turn around so close to the top. With snow blowing around and covering tracks and semi white out conditions (visibility at 30-50 ft) it is easy to get off route. Allen and HDH would notice we are not quite in the right spot and use the GPS to find our way. It is a crucial piece of equipment to find your way back when you can't see and don't want to walk off a mountain cliff. Mountaineering would be an order of magnitude harder when compass and map were the primary tools.

Here are photos of the traditional post hike celebration of a safe trip. This volcano was much hard than another Anita and I climbed a few years back (Mt Kilimanjaro at 19,336ft).

Grandma and Grandpa will pull out of town and back to work Tue or Wed. We sure are going to miss them its been a great visit.

Hanna has a big sister

Hanna has a big sister and we think it is causing trust issues. Ella was never quite as possessive as Hanna. Despite mom and dads efforts Hanna gets her toys taken from her by Ella. Hanna usually moves on to something else when this happens. However when it comes to a treat she has a death grip. You will destroy it before you get it out of her hands. I only got this ice cream from her because it was her 2nd cone and she was slowing down. She had 2 because she 'asked' momma for hers after she finished her kid cone in 30 seconds. I took the cone to help her get the rest of the ice cream out by eating away the cone and returning it. I'm not sure if she has forgotten that yet, just another case of someone taking what she wants.

We got the ice cream at the Tillamook dairy factory, better known for their cheese. There is also a very impressive air museum in Tillamook. The building is a huge wooden WWII blimp hanger with lots of history. The planes run and go out to shows. It is very raw in that you get close to working classic airplanes.

Grandma and Grandpa arrived in Oregon

The arrive and the weather was so un-Or like, I hope it stays this way for the rest of their visit. We hear there is little rain through the summer months.








We drove down to Crater lake to meet them. The color and view of the deepest lake in the US is spectacular. We had some fun playing in the snow. That little plastic sled is easy to throw in the van and it goes around with us for a quick 30min of entertainment when we pass by any snow. The snow in the pacific northwest never goes entirely away if you drive or hike high enough. I think one ski area on Hood is open year round. Anita booked these cool bungalows campground combo. She brought stakes and potatoes that we cooked over the fire. Ella and I took out a canoe on the stream and all took turns swinging Hanna in the swing set. Marshmallows over the fire topped it off. It's not all roses at the campground, the mosquitoes were relentless.






Without a plan for day 2 of the weekend we drove over to the big sand dunes. They are also something to see. Downside of dad's plan as opposed to a drive home via Bend was 4 extra hrs in the car for 9 total. The girls were all troopers and we survived. But if we hadn't done the drive we wouldn't have the supper cool action shot of Ella.