Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We hope you all had a wonderful time with your families, friends and loved ones. Yes, we're a few days behind, but NOT because we were shopping. In fact the only stores we go to are the ones with groceries! Apparently the madness was at an all time high here in Portland with crazy people cutting in line and starting fights in front of the big box stores while they waited to be let in to buy their gifts....I don't think this is what the ancients had in mind when celebrating the birth of Christ.
In order to fully enjoy the weekend, Scott busted his tail to complete all his work by Wednesday. So, after a very rainy Thanksgiving spent with a few families that didn't leave for the holiday, we were ready to get out. Friday was a sunny day and we decided to drive into Washington to see if we could find a nice spot where we could get a good look at Mt. St. Helens without actually going to the visitors (tourists!) center. We set out for Cougar, which is northeast of Battle Ground. What a great day for a drive.
It's funny that you can drive about 20 miles or less outside of Portland and be in the country. We had a beautiful drive we had. Winding through the roads climbing in elevation, we eventually reached a spot where we got a great look at this volcano. Oh, did I mention that, yes, this is the same mountain/volcano that erupted in 1980? It is amazing to see the growth that has occurred after only 30 years, especially since some areas received coverings of several FEET of ash. You can definitely see where the top was blown off. It looks like it has a chop top! But the breadth of the mountain is IMPRESSIVE and beautiful, covered in snow. Unfortunately, the side we were looking at was becoming engulfed with a batch of clouds, and we didn't have our camera (which didn't have any batteries).
On our way back we stopped at a "spoon" called Cougar Bar & Grill. It was the only place to eat in Cougar. So we chanced it. Not sure how we could go about describing it, other than a small town diner/bar. Too bad the waitress couldn't even manage a smile.
We were hoping to attend a tree lighting event in downtown Portland too, but it just didn't work out. So instead, we decided to go to Gresham for their festivities tonight. Gresham in located in SE Portland and is only about 15 mins away. It has a quaint, and somewhat expansive downtown area. We walked around and waited for the action to begin. Good ole St. Nick strolled down the middle of the street and waved everyone to follow him. As the crowd assembled, and they counted down, the "shrub," as Scott called it, was lit. We were both not only surprised, but a little disappointed, as there was a HUGE pine tree that we thought they might light up. Oh well. Besides, where else are you gonna see fireworks set off at the end of November? Those kinda made up for the shrub.
So beings our latest holiday tradition!
2 comments:
I am commenting just to let you know that someone reads your blogs and is interested in what you are doing. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. No snow here in SC, the weather has been pretty warm. We will see how things are in Ohio in a few days. Love Sue and Bill
Didn't hese months from July to December just fly by???
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