Connie's Corner Cafe & a hike at Stub.

I started the morning in the lobby reading and enjoying the fire, as well as this portrait.  Then I headed off to Ruby's Spa.

After my appointment, we went out to eat at Connie's Corner Cafe, which is 50s-style diner in downtown Forest Grove.

Matt, looking handsome.

Me, showing off my Ruby's Spa haircut.  It felt great to loose several inches of hair.

After eating, we headed to Stubb Stewart State Park.  We've been here before, for Spring Break one year and also for a weekend getaway pre-the era of cat ownership.  It's a great park and we were looking forward to a hike.

A few trees along the trail had boards bound to them to keep them from falling down.  Here Matt holds one up, to make extra sure it doesn't fall.

Killing a layer.

We hiked to Unfit for Settlement Viewpoint.  Matt reacts to our super high elevation.

Our camera timer photo.

The bench is very far from the view, for unknown reasons.

A trail marker telling us where the trail is.  Which, I kind of figured out.

Oregon in the autumn.  Pretty much sums up this picture.

A start/finish of something unknown.

Our ending timer photo.

Once more into the breach!

Burt and Laurie invited us over to play games.  They live about a mile away, so we had another pleasant walk in the snow.

Bundled up and ready!

Icicles on the Motel.

A hearty cross country skier and his dog.

This smart car was avoiding ice trapping his windshield wipers.  Smart!

An unmarred driveway.

Steps being engulfed.

Evidence of sledding.

We played Settlers of Catan (and ate delicious grilled cheese and tomato soup).  Then I walked home and Matt stayed to play more games.  He ended up staying the night and most of the next day due to ice.

A walk in Ladd's Addition

We ate our traditional Burgerville meal before seeing our favorite Shakespeare company's latest production. It was still too early for the show, so we took a walk in Ladd's Addition.

Here is a rose garden.  Ladd's Addition is not set up on a grid, but instead has a diagonal street pattern.  There are multiple rose gardens in the neighborhood.
 

The diagonal pattern can be confusing.  My student teaching assignment was at a school in the neighborhood and I used to get turned around when we took the students for walks.  I generally have a good sense of direction, but apparently only for grid-type neighborhoods.  Of course, when SE Harrison St. crosses with SE Harrison St, it's no wonder I get lost.
 

Some of the homes are rather grand.
 

And some are whimsical.
 

Back in the industrial area/neighborhood that NWCTC calls home, I snapped a picture of this urban garden.
 

They were also growing up, too.
 

Hike finished.

Our hike complete, we were happy to see the bus that would take us back to our car.

The parking lot was by then full and we were happy to see the car, though Matt was too tired to express his happiness for the photographic record.

We stopped at the first restaurant we found and ate very large lunches. And dessert.

It was a great hike.

Lake Haiyaha to Bear Lake (2.3 miles) via Dream & Nymph Lakes.

The hike to Bear Lake was a bit of a slog. I kept reminding myself to have correct posture, as I was prone to slumping, and Matt spent a lot of time discussing what "wind" he was on.

Matt points to Dream Lake and Nymph Lake.

Matt at Dream Lake

Portrait at Nymph Lake. This was my favorite lake.
It had lily pads and lots and lots of dragon flies.

We almost didn't go to Bear Lake because we were tired. But it was 256 feet from where we were standing so we made the effort. Matt refused to "be a bear" for his photo.

But I was a great bear.

Mills Lake to Lake Haiyaha (2.6 miles)

As we hiked from Mills Lake to Lake Haiyaha, we encountered a lot of people going in the opposite direction. More than one said, "You are doing this backward." But I don't think we were. From Lake Haiyaha to Bear Lake is a large difference in elevation, and I was happier coming down rather than walking up. Plus, there were many less people.

While hiking and discussing racism inherent in casting movies, I looked up to see a woman ahead on the trail grinning at me. It turned out to be Matt's Aunt Mary Elizabeth, who had made plans to meet up with a hiking group, but missed her connection and was hiking by herself. In a huge park with over 200 miles of trails, it was funny to run into her. Alas, our self portrait casts her in a shadow. Matt also ran into her at the airport when he was returning the rental car.

We made it to Lake Haiyaha. There was a goodly amount of bouldering to get to our perch. I settled in for a rest, but Matt wanted to make it to a big rock further out. Once he got there, he pointed out a rock that he wanted to take a picture of. He wasn't satisfied with my picture (wrong angle, he said) and so came back, grabbed the camera and headed off to take a better picture. You can see all of this in a short slide show:

The picture he took of the rock. Oh! I'm in it.

Alberta Falls to Mills Lake (2 miles) +750 total elevation gain.

We continued on our journey to Mills Lake. We were particularly excited to see the Lake because we heard it was the view on the Colorado Quarter. (Note that I cannot find anything that officially says that on the Internet, but we will go with it.)

The lake was very clear. We ate a snack and then took some fun pictures.

Does it look the same to you?

Our state quarter commemorative photo.

Glacer Gorge Trailhead to Alebra Falls (.6 mi) +160 in elevation.

Confronted with too many pictures and too little time, I must turn to a technique oft employed in the fabulous blog Pike Schemes: the Picasa Collage.

We headed out for Mills Lake, via Alberta Falls. After my wheezy hiking experience at Lily Lake, I was nervous as to how I would do. But we hiked slowly and I had acclimated somewhat to the elevation so it was fine. I headed up the expedition to set the pace, and we took a goodly number of water breaks.

At Alberta Falls.

Walking home from the Historic Columbia Cemetery

Our route to the cemetery was fraught with peril due to a lack of sidewalks, high speed traffic and blackberry brambles on both sides of the road. We took a longer, alternate route home. And we encountered a chicken!

And not only a chicken, but two cats too. One of them immediately ran off, the other stayed to check us out.

The chicken was the first to investigate.

But the cat couldn't let a bird outdo him.

She wandered over to say hi. I fretted for her safety, as she looked rather pregnant. Matt, schooled in the world of feral cats since we adopted Antares, pointed out that her ear was clipped, indicating she had been fixed.

We figured both cats, and the chicken, were being fed by the people at the junkyard.

We also saw this air conditioned truck.

And some heavy equipment and logs.