Mount Hood as seen from Government camp

We finally made it to Mt Hood this week! We'd hoped to go last Sunday, but the weather wasn't cooperating so we tried again on Wednesday.
Since Doug and Brenda were in Arizona and work was slow, we 'seized the day' as the they say, and left right after breakfast for the 1.5 hour drive to, and up, the mountain.

It was actually rather foggy when we left, but we'd looked at a live-webcam from all the way up the mountain and it looked sunny and clear ... we kept our fingers crossed.
Our first views of the 'Hood' weren't looking too good, it seemed shrouded in clouds ..

But when we arrived at Government camp, halfway up, we'd left the clouds behind and the weather was absolutely gorgeous!

Government camp, at 4000', and still on the base of the mountain, is the only town within 5 miles of Mount Hood and therefore it's the only 'ski town'.



It is the gateway to several ski resorts, with the most popular being Timberline Lodge and Mount Hood Skibowl.



We had a nice cup of coffee and, off course, some pastries at the local coffee shop, the High Mountain Bakery and Deli.

Which actually was the same place we had coffee 10 years ago, when we were here before  ..

I know, wow, 10 years! We still had our girl Sadie, who loved the snow !

Any-who, flash forward 10 years, we had a lot 'better' weather. Less snow anyways ..

Nothing had changed much here, inside or out .. except for us of course, getting old(er) ..

                                                   

          

Still pretty good pastries though!

We took a little walk through town:

     

 

And watched some early skiers at the towns small ski resort, Summit Pass

From there we drove the windy 3 miles up the mountain ..

All the way to Timberline Lodge, which is the highest you can go ( by road).

As I said, we'd been here before, 10 years ago, and it was as impressive than as it is now.
The beautiful old lodge, at an elevation of 5,960, was constructed from 1936 to 1938 by the Works Progress Administration, and it was built and furnished by local artisans during the Great Depression.

We walked around the lodge for a little bit and looked at the little museum area at the front entrance, where they display some of the original furniture and accessories as well as memorabilia of times when celebrities visited the lodge.



Exterior views of Timberline Lodge were used several times for filming, most famously for  The Shining (1980), Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of the Stephen King's 1977 novel set at the fictional Overlook Hotel.

 

The resort has the longest skiing season in the U.S., and is open for skiers and snowboarders all 12 months of the year.

We watched the skiing crowd for a while ..

Eventually we drove back down and had lunch at the western themed Two Mikes Saloon of the Tollgate Inn in Sandy:

Where we enjoyed a great (smoked) mixed meat platter:

All in all, a great day in the snow, but I think we've seen all there has to be seen there now. I'd probably visit again for some snow-shoeing or cross-country skiing, something I would have loved to do this time around as well, but which is something my ^%$#! heel still isn't allowing me to do!

Since we were back early, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous (65F(17C!), we spend the rest of the afternoon pruning the blueberries:

                                                       

Because of the high temperatures this last week their buds are already 'shifting'!

      

And look at this Rhubarb! It has woken up as well ..

I gave it a few scoops of good manure, hopefully it will do a little better than last year when it didn't do too well since it was rather neglected for a while ..

All the cut-offs went on the burn pile, which is getting quite big! Due to bad-air quality we're not allowed to burn right now, although actually, I think the burn season isn't until March as well.

OK. I think that was all she wrote for this time. James went golfing and I'm put-zing around the RV a bit.
Here's a last picture of my DIY green-house I set up, after I saw it on someone's blog the other day:

That clear tub goes on top of the soil, over the seeds I sowed, like such:

 

                        Hopefully I'll have some lettuce and spinach in a couple of weeks!

We'll see .. spring is around the corner but I'm still hoping for some more snow ..

Pussy Willows, probably the earliest 'flowers' of Spring!

I know, Spring is still wayyyys away, but I can't help looking for some early signs, mainly because there's not much else to do or look for so it gives a little goal to 'do' om my (still very short) 'walks'.
These pussy willows really are about the earliest flowering plants indeed and I have a small grouping in the ditch behind the RV.
Which is the side I see from my 'laptop-window' so it was a fun find.



Also, all around the property, hazelnut trees are developing their catkins or male flower-buds as well.
It will take forever before they will really flower though because although the pollination season starts in January their pollen will stay rather dormant until about May/June, after which they will fertilize the female buds and than the hazelnut won't be fully grown until August!

 

Another sign of very early Spring can be heard whenever the sun makes an appearance these days, when some birds are starting to set out there territory and impress the girls by singing their little hearts out already!

Like this pretty red House Finch, and this flashy Starling ..

It all may be a little too optimistic though, since last Wednesday, on Groundhog Day, good ol' Pennsylvania Phyl saw his shadow!

Which, of course, means ... 6 more weeks of winter!

Oh well. His forecasting accuracy is about 39% so it's of course basically a crap-shoot .. I mean, having spring predicted by a rodent .. we'll see!

James had something to celebrate this week. He aced his Realtor exam! Yoohoo!

Yes, definitely reason for a big smile indeed!

Congratulations Hon'! One done, one to go! On to the rest/second installment of the realtor classes! You know, 'there's no rest for the wicked'!
(Also, better to study in the winter than having to do it this summer, when you can go .. golfing, of course!)

OK, let's see .. Wednesday dinner was at Shari's this time. We'd been their before, last summer, (can you believe it, where do these days go?) and liked it so .. time for a repeat visit.

I don't think i showed pictures of the restaurant last time but this is how it looks like:

                   

Shari's Cafe & Pies, originally known as Shari's Restaurants, is a chain of family-style dining, the largest brand in the Pacific Northwest. Restaurants are open 365 days a year, many are also open 24 hours.

                    

 
Founded in 1978, there famous for fresh Northwest comfort food, welcoming service, and grand selection of award-winning pies!

Guess what? It so happened to be a Wednesday!

There's even a Shari's Rewards app, where rewards are built right in, so you'll collect points and start earning rewards with every purchase!
We split a T-bone steak and of course a piece of FREE Chocolate-silk pie. All delicious!

I wish I could say something like 'I worked off that piece of pie while walking' but no, no such dice .. that heel is still much to painful.
I've come up with yet another cause for the pain, I might have what they call 'fat pad syndrome' which means that the fatty layer under the heel is either bruised, damaged or has gotten thinner. Nothing to do about the latter but in case of the first two I've started to tape my heel in a certain way, which helps the tissue to be less painful and give it time to heal.
My butt/leg are feeling a little better due to the exercises but I guess it's still to early to feel a lot of difference.
Oh well, and so it is and so it goes ...

I've picked up spinning again, just for variation, and my 'never-to-be-finished-socks' I'm (still) knitting:

  

My weaving sampler is coming along.
So far I've woven a plain weave, a linked weft, a laid-in, a twisted weft, a Leno and a Brooks bouquet and am now working on straight twills ..

The top is the twill, below that the Leno and below that the  Brook's bouquets (they look a little bit like lace in knitting).
Doesn't it look like I totally know what I'm doing? Ha!

On top of all that, I'm also on a new puzzle. I know, I'm on a roll!