Mamma Mia!

Mom came for a visit in Portland. We went out to the Columbia River Gorge and went to many of the waterfalls including Multnomah Falls, the Bonneville Fish Hatchery and Dam where we fed trout and paid a visit to Herman the Sturgeon.

(View from the Vista House)

We also braved Mount Hood in a rental car with bad tires. I got us stuck in about a half inch of snow. Mom got us unstuck. We made a quick stop at the Timberline Lodge (because dammit, if we got up that far onto Mt. Hood we were going to see the lodge).

(Mom walking from where the car got stuck to the lodge in the most slippery shoes ever)

On another day we headed up to Seattle to visit Pike Place Market. We watched some fish being tossed and poked around looking for purchases we didn't need. The traffic was horrendous, but I hear that is so very typical of the Seattle area. The following day was dedicated to the beaches. It was sunny, almost warm and a perfect day for the beach. We drove out to Cannon Beach. Along the way we stopped at an overlook that I wondered over its existence. Well, it's there because on a clear day you can see Mount Saint Helens very clearly. Mom finally believed that indeed there were mountains around us! We found Cannon Beach very agreeable and had a nice lunch there. I apparently shocked my mom by having a conversation with the waiter in Spanish. He was a little lonely for Spanish speaking friendship there, and his daughter, and Mexico. We walked on the beach and then headed south to Manzanita (my favorite beach due to its name and general lack of touristicness). We stopped at all of the overlooks and it was beautiful. We stayed a while at Manzanita and then headed back to Portland with a nice view of Mount Hood.

(Mom on Cannon Beach)


(Mom on Cannon Beach with Haystack Rock in the background)

(View onto Cannon Beach from the south)

(Mom and me)

(Mom presenting Manzanita Beach from the north)