Yesterday, after I dropped DeeAnne off, I took Abbey to a park to get her out of the RV for a while. Their was a band that started playing after we had been there a little while, so I was going to get my laptop and sit down for a while. It sounds pretty sad I know, but I had some blogging to catch up on. Anyways, while I was on my way back to the RV to get my laptop some kids lit off a bunch of fireworks which scared the crap out of Abbey. Needless to say, we didn't stay at that park. So I found a Barnes & Noble and finished up my blogging work. Then we drove to Mt. Hood and found a nice campground with a creek running through it just in time before it got dark.
Today, after sleeping in and stopping at the ranger station, we headed up the flanks of Mt. Hood. I somehow managed to squeeze the RV in at the trailhead and we started off on what turned out to be a really nice hike on the Timberline trail around Mt. Hood. When we reached a trail junction there were a couple of old timers in their 70's who could easily tell that I had never been there before. If I can still hike when I'm their age I'll be ecstatic. When I told them I grew up in Delaware one of the guys proceeded to tell me that the only memory he has of Delaware was landing at Rehoboth Beach when he was in the Coast Guard and being overwhelmed with all the bikini-clad young women on the beach. At least he saw Delaware at its best.
The hike was in the trees for a good part of the time, but there still were some amazing views of Mt. Hood. The lady at the ranger station said that I should do this hike because there aren't many days where the sun shines and the snow isn't too deep to hike. I guess I was pretty lucky because the day was gorgeous and so were all of the wildflowers. I was in heaven. Unfortunately, Abbey wasn't. I think she was still on edge because of the fireworks she heard the previous day. We were both pretty exhausted when we got back and we found a nice spot to boondock next to a stream on the way back to town. I had picked up some wild salmon the night before at the grocery store so I grilled it topped with some of my pesto. And to round things out, I just happened to have some wine that needed finishing off. Not a bad way to end the day.
Mt. Hood
Wildflowers
Another view
Abbey in Avalanche Lilies