2011 Edition
All rights reserved - may not be copied without permission
So this is the final countdown for the last year of the "Fall" of my life. This time
next year I will officially be an old man and a Geezer... In some respects, I never
expected to get this far. And the life I have is not exactly the life that I envisioned
for myself. But, it is what it is and for better or worse, I am more or less happy (or
at least not horribly unhappy). Perhaps "content" or even "resigned" might be a more
apt description.
Of course I have every confidence that Jessica Jeep is fixing up a room for me in her
lovely home in Vermont and will be asking me to come stay with them there any day now.
And that my Grandchildren, who's names, ages and even genders are all a mystery to me
will be coming by to visit any day now. And maybe pigs will fly someday...
And I need to get on the stick about getting life insurance to protect my so-called
"loved ones", whoever they might be. And I'll get right on it as soon as I answer
Alex Trebeck's three questions.
But in the meantime, Julie and I had a nice day so who's complaining? And on the bright
side, maybe I'll get to meet my Great Grandchildren some day since it's unlikely I will
ever hear from my own kids or their kids in my lifetime.
We were out Mosier way last year and
Rowena Crest earlier this year.
I guess I look "OK" for a geezer of 64, huh? Still have a lot of hair and it's
still un-grey.
And no polyester, baggy pants and suspenders here. The uniform of the day is still
black Harley T-shirts, 501's, boots and my black Biker belt.
The beard comes and goes.
Got an early start and headed out to the Tom McCall preserve over Rowena Crest way.
Nice, sunny day but pretty windy.
Our first destination is the Tom McCall Viewpoint behind me. Elev 1800'. It's a 3
mile round trip hike that we stretched out to 5 miles. Some nice views and lots of
colorful weeds for Julie.
Big difference in the high desert terrain once you get on the East side of the
Cascades. We're only an hour or so drive from Portland.
Nice view of Mount Hood.
This old barn at Dry Canyon reminds me of the old barns you used to see in Vermont.
Mount Adams
Mount Adams
About a mile past the McCall viewpoint, you come to these planks of wood that pretty
much denotes the end of this trail. This trail is supposed to eventually loop back to
Rowena Crest but there are land use issues and lots of private property fences. I'm
guessing this trail comes out a couple of miles East of the trailhead which means
several miles of highway walking to get back to your car.
Headed back down and then hiked over to Rowena Plateau which was VERY windy.
Back at the trailhead. Time for lunch....
One of my favorite Chinese places.. the China Gorge in Hood River. Great Kung Pao
but you have to tell them "no veggies" when you order it.
One candle is about right. If they used the correct number of candles we probably
would have burned the place down.
After lunch, headed down the road to the State Park to hike (walk) the ten miles
round trip on the Old Historic Columbia River Highway.
Memaloose Island was an Indian burial ground for some 15,000 years.
The Mosier Twin Tunnels
Best b'day I have had in a very long time. Thanks Julie honey baby :)
The Original Easyrider®
Motorcycle Touring Forum
HOME
These pages were designed for high resolution, wide screen monitors
on computers with a high speed Internet connection
Copyright 1990-2011 Easyrider LAN Pro
All rights reserved - may not be copied without permission