Mt. St. Helens

Since I missed the trip to Mt. St. Helens, I asked Jeff to guest blog for me about his outing. His narration follows:

While enjoying all of the fun day trips, with Joyce acting as my tour guide while Larry was at work, Larry was beginning to feel a little left out ... finally though, he managed to get a day off with no other pressing commitments. The previous week he had been kept busy with a "honey do list" involving lots of yard work, errands, and the completion of brake repairs for the family's second car. This week, however, the forecast was calling for an unusually warm day, with beautiful sunshine, and temperatures into the 90's ... and he was rearing to go on a road trip.

After some discussion, and much preparation, it was decided we would drive up to see Mount St. Helens. While in college Larry first completed a degree in Biology, with a major in Chemistry. That was followed by additional schooling to complete an Engineering degree. Through the years Joyce has often regaled me with stories regarding life "being married to an engineer". All I can say is that he puts the Boy Scout motto of "being prepared" to shame. We went boldly into the day, complete with ice chest, snacks, sweaters, caps, sunscreen, maps, and armed with reams of information. We felt we were well prepared for virtually any contingency.

Joyce and Larry's youngest daughter, Emily, decided to accompany us on this trip ... while Joyce and Sarah were left to a day on their own. Mount St. Helens is an approximate two hour drive from Portland. For our reading pleasure Larry brought along a multi-page computer print out written by the geologists stationed at the National Volcanic Observatory located in Vancouver, Washington following the aftermath of the 1980 eruption. As our trip progressed, Larry pointed out sites of interest that corresponded to the observations made from the geologists' report, and we occasionally stopped to observe them up close, or for me to snap a picture or two.

Emily, who to some degree shares her Dad's affinity for science, and other randomly precocious facts, was kind enough to define some of the words with which I was having difficulty while reading from the geology report. I'll mention two of the terms, as they are evident in the photos here and you will then feel more informed, as was I. What appears to be the Toutle River, or riverbed in the photos is actually a "lahar", or the currently dry pathway of what was once the volcanic debris that flowed in rivulets from the crater source. The other term is "hummock", and refers to the "mounds" that are observed in the lahars. They were created by the large chunks of rock propelled by the explosion and then covered over by the flow of mud and ash.

Upon reaching the end of our scenic drive, we arrived at an observatory and tourist center located there. Inside we viewed an informative and educational film on the history of Mount St. Helens, and of the nature of volcanoes in general. Larry explained to me that while National Monuments are deemed such by declaration of the President, National Parks are given their status by a declaration of Congress. While normally a National Park would be maintained by the U.S. Park Service, it was determined that in this case, it would be better maintained and monitored by being the responsibility of the U.S. Forest Service. We spent some time exploring the other exhibits in the observatory, took a couple of photos, and then began our journey home.

Due to the exceptionally warm weather and lack of wind at the summit, we had no need of the sweaters and caps we came prepared with, but were blessed with an ideal day for a trip to view this astounding site. On the drive back Larry arranged for the perfect ending to a perfect day by meeting Joyce at a restaurant named Beaches in Vancouver for a seafood dinner. Beaches is located on the Washington side of the Columbia River, adjacent to a promenade that overlooks the river and the city of Portland. From that viewpoint we enjoyed a couple of margaritas and watched the sail boats sail by, as we watched the sun set.... and agreed it had been another beautiful day!

Wine Country

Larry was off from work on Wednesday, so we were finally able to head out as a family (except for Sarah, who was camping with her friend) on a day trip to beautiful Oregon wine country.

We started our day with lunch in McMinnville. It is a charming little town, with a quaint main street and lots of interesting shops and restaurants. We ate at a the Red Fox Bakery where we had very nice sandwiches on fresh-baked bread, and strolled through the old Hotel Oregon, now a McMenamin's property. They've done a nice job of restoring the place; it was busy with lunch patrons. After ice cream at Serendipity, we hit the road in earnest.



Larry and Emily wanted to go to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, the home of the Spruce Goose, so we dropped them off there, where they spent the next few hours in the company of planes, engineering feats, and space exploration. Jeff and I headed off for a less technical pursuit.



First, we stopped in at Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey. Jeff found a mention online of the fruitcakes they bake there, so we had to check it out. They are situated on 114 acres of forested land, and bake fruitcake and datenut cake (both saturated with copious amounts of brandy!) and produce creamed honey. They also have a book bindery and calligraphy center. There is a guest house where individuals can come to stay and contemplate life, nature, and God in a peaceful atmosphere. The Abbey was built in the '70's, so it's not an old historic structure, but rather contemporary with lots of windows letting light and natural views take center stage.

Next, it was time to get serious about vineyards. Since we left Larry and Emily at the museum, we limited our wine tour to vineyards in that vicinity. And there were plenty! We hit seven or so, and, although we never had a drop to drink, we saw some breathtaking views. Set in the rolling Dundee hills, this is some of the most beautiful scenery around.



En route to a vineyard, we came across a sign that mentioned olive oil tasting. Of course, we had to check it out, and discovered Red Ridge Farm. They grow herbs, flowers, and olive trees, and have a press on site for producing olive oil. We may not have tasted any wine, but we did taste the olive oil. And, yes, there are definite differences. This would be another pretty setting for a wedding one day (with two daughters, I'm collecting ideas), and they do have a facility for receptions and other events on the grounds.



With just a little time to spare before heading to pick up Larry and Emily from the museum, we made a quick visit to the Old Schoolhouse Antique Mall. I'm afraid I lack that "antiquing" gene so prevalent in my mother, but Jeff has it in spades. He explored a bit, but didn't cover the entire three floors and outbuilding full of furniture, porcelain, and glass. Alas, they needed to close, and we needed to pick up the rest of the family.



All in all, a lovely day, in which we each got to do exactly what pleased us within the space of a few square miles!

We're drowning in fruit!

'Tis the season for fruit and berries in Oregon, and we have our share of it at the Bates house! Jeff and Emily picked blackberries one day last week, and we made two cobblers - one for us to eat (which we promptly did in one sitting!), and one for Nancy, our neighbor, to thank her for the firewood she gave us after she had a tree cut down. Jeff and I worked on the cobbler together, and we made it the way my grandmother used to, with strips of pie crust inside and out. Pretty yummy! I have some berries in the freezer, too, and made blackberry syrup one morning to go with our pancakes.

I keep berries in the freezer for year-round use, and always have plenty of blackberries, but last year I got caught short on blueberries. I use a lot of them in recipes, pancakes, and muffins, so like to have a good supply on hand. I feared the season was getting away from us again this year, so took Sarah and Emily out to pick blueberries with me yesterday. We went to a little family farm just a few miles from the house called Blueberry Hollow, and their bushes were loaded! We barely got past the first bush, and within 30 minutes had plenty of berries. I put the last batch in the freezer this morning, and now have three gallon bags to use over the course of the next year. Woo hoo!



When we got home last night, there were two huge bowls of peaches on the counter. Larry was busy while we were gone - he picked peaches from the tree in our back yard. Let me just say that this is an ugly, scraggly, peach tree that has never borne decently in the past. I threatened to cut it sown last year, but never got around to it. I guess the tree overhead my insults and decided to prove me wrong, because this year it has outdone itself! We have had a bumper crop of peaches! This is our third picking, and there are still more on the tree. Jeff helped pick last week, and I made a peach crisp that was pretty tasty. Now, however, we have more! What to do?! I don't can or do jellies/jams. After watching my grandmother make blackberry jelly as a child, I decided it was way too much trouble. But, I need to do something if we're going to have this many peaches! In the past, I've harvested our plums and baked with them, freezing the baked goods for future use. I have a whole collection of recipes for using up plums, but not peaches. I suppose I could cut them up and freeze them... although Larry eats them out of hand pretty fast!

Voice Recital

I've been taking voice lessons this summer as part of a workshop offered by my choir director, Don Anderson. We worked on two pieces, "Twisted", a jazzy piece recorded by Joni Mitchell in the '70's, and "With You I'm Born Again," a duet I sang with a tenor from our group, Dave Klosterman. After weeks of work, our efforts culminated in a "Cabaret-style" performance last night - really a recital - which I dragged Sarah, Emily, and Jeff to for moral support. Larry got called in to work at the last minute, and had to miss it... :-(

I was so nervous! Unlike me; I'm normally cool as a cucumber when I sing. But, we had a problem finding the written music/accompaniment for Twisted, so it was all done by ear. At the last minute, we decided to try to strip the vocals out of the recording, and use that to accompany me, but the stripping software took out the trumpet and bass, too, leaving me with only drums. It was hard to hear the first note, and I was afraid I'd miss it. Plus, I've wanted to sing this song for so long, and I wanted it to be awesome.

It wasn't awesome, but it wasn't awful. I let the tempo get away from me. I guess it's a good thing I had the drums, which I did catch back up to, or I'd have been like a freight train! My kids knew it - they've heard me practice enough, they know the piece as well as I do - but I'm hoping the audience wasn't quite as savvy. Many people spoke to me about it afterward; one guy told me what a tough tempo it was, and that I "nailed it". Guess there's a lot to be said for ignorance. :-) I had a hard time reading the audience as I was singing, too. I expected some chuckles, but all I saw was stunned faces. I couldn't tell if they were concentrating on the words, shocked that it was so different a piece, surprised by the out-of-context style for me, or what. The best reaction, though, was Don's Mormon wife. I caught her after I mentioned "getting into the vodka one night", and she definitely had raised eyebrows! She approached me afterward and said, "I didn't know you could sing like that, Joyce." Two reactions: 1) I didn't know she knew my name; 2) She's probably heard many voices that Don's worked with over the years, so I was flattered.

The duet I was thrilled with. I thought we blew it out of the water. There were moments when I was overcome with the blending of our voices, and almost had chills, it sounded so good! It was obvious that we worked hard on it, and the audience could appreciate the effort. I've been wanting to sing with Dave for a long time, and was pleased with the result we got from our combined efforts. Maybe Don will pair us up again, now that he knows what we can do.

Sarah taped it with my digital camera - our first attempt at using that feature. You can watch it below - once I figure out how to attach it!

Mt. Hood and the Fruit Loop Tour

Yesterday Jeff and I set out for the Hood Valley Fruit Loop Tour with a side trip to Timberline Lodge. It was a beautiful day to hit the mountain!

The Fruit Loop Tour is a scenic loop drive through orchards, vineyards, and farm land of other various uses. We passed fruit stands and working farms, quaint farming communities, horses, cattle, and alpacas. We stopped and bought Bing cherries and pear cider, which we enjoyed during the drive, but could have loaded up on peaches, plums, Gravenstein apples, blueberries, hazelnuts, alpaca yarn, all kinds of jams, jellies, syrups, and relishes, or antiques. Bosc pears will be ripe enough to pick in another week or so. Living here affords residents with magnificent views of orchards, vineyards, and, of course, Mt. Hood every day.


Our favorite farm, though, was Lavender Valley, our last stop of the day. Here we found an idyllic spot with lavender fields as far as the eye could see, with a gazebo right in the middle; a gift shop with a lazy black lab outside, and a chemists' lab inside for mixing products containing lavender oil; a 90-year-old proprietor's mother who sells her original oil paintings in the shop; and a totally relaxing ambiance.



Halfway through the "loop", we vectored off and drove up Mount Hood to Timberline Lodge. Built by the WPA in 15 months beginning in 1937, this ski lodge and inn is owned today by the National Forest Service and is still in use. But its beauty is appreciated by as many tourists as skiers. Featured in the movie, "The Shining", it is a magnificent piece of architecture. Using locally found (Douglas fir timbers and basalt stones) and recycled (railroad ties forged as andirons, old tire chains refashioned as fireplace screens, old telephone poles carved into newel posts) materials, and out of work carpenters, craftspeople, and artisans, it is a testament to hard work and found materials. Art work abounds, from paintings, to wood and linoleum carvings, to mosaics and sculpture, all in a rustic mountain setting of fir trees and year-round snow. The dining room features excellent Northwest cuisine and an eclectic menu, featuring local and seasonal foods. Jeff was taken with the place, and remarked that his brother, Jules, would love seeing it on his next visit to the area. I took far too many pictures of art and architecture...