Back from the Oregon trip

When learning that Marge and I were going on another trip, the obvious question from our friends was, where are you going? When we answered that our trip was to Oregon and parts of Washington they said, oh, do you have relatives there? None seemed very excited about our destination, neither was I until we began to learn a little about the state, which by the way is beautiful. Without question the state experiences a great deal of rain, but on the plus side contributes to its lush green beauty. Fir and pine trees were everywhere making it the Christmas tree capital of the world and insuring that we’ll not run out of lumber. In between delightful sunshiny weather it did rain nearly every day, but luckily for us it was always when we were on the bus. I was happy to hear that the trip included a visit to Mount St. Helens. I was anxious to see the recovery Nature had provided after the destruction 32 years ago. We all watched it on television, but in no way can you imagine the power of that blast and what it did to miles and miles of the surrounding landscape. Huge trees snapped off like matchsticks and entire valleys covered with mud and rubble. Miles away we saw an a-frame buried nearly up to its roof as a result. Plants and trees are once again flourishing and forests have been replanted by the Weyerhaeuser lumber company. St. Helens was spectacular, but was not the only visited mountain since a stop at Mt. Hood was also on the calendar. Here we visited Timberline Lodge at the foot of the mountain. It was quite strange to seen people climbing the mountain, trudging thru the snow and even watched people snowboarding and this in late June. This was not the last of snow sighting. We had a chance to see some rather substantial drifts at Crater Lake National Park where the get forty feet of snow a year. It even hailed a bit before we got back on the bus. Never thought, by any stretch of the imagination, would we do some of the things we did on this trip. Dune buggy ride in the Oregon Dunes (forty miles of sand dunes)….spectacular, a jet boat ride on the Rogue River, and even a dinner cruise down the Willamette River (fabulous beef tenderloin by the way). This trip turned out to be much, much more than expected, and to my misfortune left me almost nothing to bitch about, I would be remiss if I did not tell you about my one bad experience. On one of our days we traveled along the Oregon coast and made a lunch stop at a famous creamery where we could sample special sweet cheeses, ice cream and all the other goodies provided by this type of enterprise. Busy, busy place, but we decided to make an attempt at lunch, hopefully a quick one since we have a boarding time to meet for our bus departure. Well we decided to order one of my favorite, Mac and Cheese accompanied by a small salad. Thought this would be a quick one. Wrong, wrong, wrong. We waited and waited. Thirty minutes go went by and still no meal. Panic starting to set in as the time to get on the bus draws closer and closer. Marge goes over and convinces them of our plight and they manage to pack the meal up to go so we could take it on the bus. Let me tell you that I was treated to the absolute worst Mac and Cheese on the planet earth. Macaroni had just been boiled and what appeared to be a slightly cheese flavored warm milk poured over it. This was topped with a sprinkling (small) of disgusting shredded cheddar. Salad also sucked, wilted iceberg along with bitter old cucumber slices. Those of you who know me are well aware of this guy’s mood for the rest of that days ride. There is always a plus to the negatives. I at least now know that I can never get a worst meal for the rest of my life because I already experienced the ultimate disaster.