As beautiful as this looks, can you believe it, it snowed this morning!
And that after 2 beautiful days of 64 F just two days ago! I was so happy, I brought out my shorts and reclined outside in my lounge chair for a couple of hours. It was heaven!

And now this. They’re even predicting snow and rain for the rest of the week all the way to next Wednesday! I swear, I’ll never come back here in the winter! Oregon, you’ve done me in!

That being said, spring IS happening, LOOK!









                                                                    

I’m ashamed to say I’m stil not doing much, although I did pick up the socks I’m trying to knit, already for a year or so, and at least figured out where I was and where to go from there.

I’m reading Dan Brown’s "The Lost Symbol" on my Nook. That is, I was almost done and than my lending period ran out! I hate it when that happens because now I have to wait until it is available again. I’m the only one on the waiting list in Houston so that’s not too bad because in Newberg I’m 26^th in line(!) but still it’s annoying. The problem is that I download several books on my Nook that all have a lending term of 14 days and than I’m unable to finish them all! Oh well.. I must say it’s more difficult than I thought to use my reader for library books. Not only for this reason but also because I’m not able to get the books I really want to read that easily. There are huge waiting lists for the ones I can get and many that I have on my ‘to read’ list are not even available as e-books.
So, while waiting for Dan Brown's I'm reading "Sold" by Patricia McCormick. It tells the story of a 12 year old nepalese girl sold into slavery and taken to India to be forced into a life of prostitution. It is heartwrenching but beautifully written in verse-style. I am stunned by what is occurring to thousands of unsuspecting 13-year old girls in this part of the world. Not a story to lift your spirits but certainly someting that needs more public attention

As you can see I’m also trying to work out some sort of itinery for when we leave from here, which is actually rapidly approaching! If all goes according to plan, and we all know about plans…., we’re leaving on the 26^th. We’re thinking of heading straight East along the Columbia River, doing some sightseeing around Pendleton and Baker city, than head north into Washington and somehow go north-west from there to Seattle.

I can see that by going this way we’re going to have to cross the Cascade Range one way or the other and I see passes of 3- and 4000 feet on the map. I bet there’s still snow up there and I’m not so happy about that. In order to avoid it we might have to follow the 5 all the way up which is not the most attractive way to go.