I woke up a little sad today. It seems so long ago that we were in Portland. And now our trip is coming to an end. I've had many miles to think about this trip. One huge advantage of touring by bike is that you can really focus on the details of the place. We've moved around and have seen so much. But, from a bike, you can truly appreciate your surroundings. In a car, it passes by quickly. On foot, (although that seems crazy) it passes too slowly.
We headed out this morning to Tamanawas Falls Trailhead on Mt. Hood. We hiked about two miles to the falls. The trail wound through forests of tall, tall trees and giant rocks that made me feel like I was on the set of Jurassic Park. The falls were awesome. As I walked on the trail close to the falls, I could feel fur on my hand! I actually considered closing my eyes and not looking down for fear of what I might see. But, it was just Zack, a Leon Berger dog (that's the breed, we googled it!).
After hiking back out of the forest, we drove to the Timberline Lodge, used in the filming of the outdoor scenes of The Shining. Mt. Hood is a destination for world class ski teams for summer ski training. There is a chemical that makes the snow uniformly hard (like ice) and provides the perfect training ground for skiers. So, when you watch the Olympics in three years, consider that the skiers are really skiing on ice, not snow. Amazing! There were lots of skiers and snow boarders out today and some of them were doing some great tricks. We took the lift up to the top. It was a bit scary, although not as bad as it was on Denise and Annette's lift -- they did not realize that there was a bar and rode up without it. We were probably 20 - 25 feet off the ground. But, this lift is only open in the summer because in the winter it is covered over with snow!
Glover and I had lunch in the lodge. There was a good buffet with fresh Washington cherries. I probably went overboard when I took the entire bowl from the waiter. But, I'm here such a limited time!! Anyway, during lunch, a chipmunk ran all over the dining room, having the best time picking up scraps. He was too fast for photos.
We all spent the afternoon in town, shopping and hanging out at Mike's Ice Cream. I got a new Hood River jersey from one of the two local bike shops. The locals that we talked to thought it was too hot this week to ride! It was in the 80's all week. We told them they didn't know how good they had it! In Little Rock it was 113 degrees today!
Tonight we had our farewell dinner on the patio overlooking the falls. It was beautiful. And for dessert, we had birthday cake for Denise and Annette. Their birthdays are a week apart in August, which they try to celebrate with a cycling trip!
Tomorrow is our last day and we will probably bike less than thirty miles. Our trip covers one of Bicycling Magazine's "Must Rides" so I am looking forward to it.
We headed out this morning to Tamanawas Falls Trailhead on Mt. Hood. We hiked about two miles to the falls. The trail wound through forests of tall, tall trees and giant rocks that made me feel like I was on the set of Jurassic Park. The falls were awesome. As I walked on the trail close to the falls, I could feel fur on my hand! I actually considered closing my eyes and not looking down for fear of what I might see. But, it was just Zack, a Leon Berger dog (that's the breed, we googled it!).
After hiking back out of the forest, we drove to the Timberline Lodge, used in the filming of the outdoor scenes of The Shining. Mt. Hood is a destination for world class ski teams for summer ski training. There is a chemical that makes the snow uniformly hard (like ice) and provides the perfect training ground for skiers. So, when you watch the Olympics in three years, consider that the skiers are really skiing on ice, not snow. Amazing! There were lots of skiers and snow boarders out today and some of them were doing some great tricks. We took the lift up to the top. It was a bit scary, although not as bad as it was on Denise and Annette's lift -- they did not realize that there was a bar and rode up without it. We were probably 20 - 25 feet off the ground. But, this lift is only open in the summer because in the winter it is covered over with snow!
Glover and I had lunch in the lodge. There was a good buffet with fresh Washington cherries. I probably went overboard when I took the entire bowl from the waiter. But, I'm here such a limited time!! Anyway, during lunch, a chipmunk ran all over the dining room, having the best time picking up scraps. He was too fast for photos.
We all spent the afternoon in town, shopping and hanging out at Mike's Ice Cream. I got a new Hood River jersey from one of the two local bike shops. The locals that we talked to thought it was too hot this week to ride! It was in the 80's all week. We told them they didn't know how good they had it! In Little Rock it was 113 degrees today!
Tonight we had our farewell dinner on the patio overlooking the falls. It was beautiful. And for dessert, we had birthday cake for Denise and Annette. Their birthdays are a week apart in August, which they try to celebrate with a cycling trip!
Tomorrow is our last day and we will probably bike less than thirty miles. Our trip covers one of Bicycling Magazine's "Must Rides" so I am looking forward to it.
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