Mt. Adams? Check.

Mountaineering is an interesting sport. It can be physically demanding, mentally exhausting and awe-inspiring all at once, which is why I always agree to go on a trip when invited. But is it fun? The jury is still out. The top sure is awesome, but getting there? Oh, I've done more enjoyable things in my life. But, for some reason, that moment of glee at the top, makes up for it. We climbed Mt. Adams last week and as I sit and reflect on the experience, I can't remember the climb. But I remember the top. Summit fever--it's what keeps people coming back for more.

B looking south toward Mt. Hood in the distance. Approx. elevation: 7,900 ft.

Me, climbing up through one of the first really big snow fields. All of eastern Oregon at my back. Approx. elevation: 8,600 ft.

Our little campsite on the Lunch Counter at sunrise. Mt. St. Helens is off to the upper right. The long dark triangle is Mt. Adams casting its shadow on southwestern Washington. Elevation: 9,100 ft.

Looking up toward the first false summit from our campsite. False summit elevation: 11,520 ft. The long lines you see running up and down are the glissade trails. It takes about 4 hours to climb from here to the summit and about 30 minutes to get back down.

Me, taking a rest at the stop of the false summit, Piker's Peak. I was in just a t-shirt until this point and then, in usual Gayle fashion, added two more layers and one more hat.

They call it a false summit because you think it's the top. While you're climbing up it, you think, "awesome, the top is right there." Then you get there and see that you have about 700 feet more to go. It's pretty deflating. Once at the false summit, you then have to cross a big snow field saddle over to the real summit.

Looking across the saddle over to the true summit, that little bit of snow sticking up in the upper left. Only 700 more feet up!Celebration on the summit. Elevation: 12,276 ft.Our climbing team included five of my co-workers: (from left) Brandon, age 20; Ron, age 64; Kim, age 40-ish; Caroline, age 40-ish; and our fearless climb leader, Doug, age 50.
B, dropping in off the false summit. It took me 30 minutes to get down. B? About 5 and he loved every minute of it.Descending after our successful summit.Back on dirt. Ron, Caroline, me, Doug, Kim & Brandon.
On the way home, I turned to B in the jeep and said, "I'm done climbing mountains. If someone asks me to do this again, I'll say no." At that point, I remembered how my legs ached and how my shoulders hurt from such a heavy pack. Right now, all I remember is this:

Guess I'll be coming back for more, just like the rest of you.

More photos here: B's Flickr page

The phone's for you. It's crazy calling.

I answered the phone at work on Monday, the conversation went like this:

Guy: Hi, I was wondering if you knew or had any contacts with anyone that does search and rescue for pets.
Me: Did you lose a pet out on a trail or something?
Guy: Well, we live in the woods and we lost our cat. I know that she is probably dead, but we want someone to come out and find the body so we can have some closure.
Me: Um, search and rescue doesn't do that kind of thing. Have you tried calling your local police department? They might be able to put you in touch with animal services.
Guy: Oh, yeah, that's a good idea. Search and rescue won't do that?
Me: Nope.
Guy: OK, thanks.

Seriously?

The rest of the story

Of-course, I can't go to Nebraska and not try to see as many people as I possibly can, so after we got back from North Platte on Sunday night, I started the second, more tightly scheduled part of my trip.

First stop: Scribner, to see Grandpa and Grandma
We had a great lunch, I taught them all about how "to google", we drove out to see the flood damage from a couple of weeks ago and then we came back to town where they showed me some projects they were working on-- Grandpa is cleaning and re-wiring the oldest electrical cord I have ever seen and Grandma is sorting through old fabric. Then, we discovered the coolest thing. In a bag of fabric she was giving to my mom, Grandma pulls out a piece of white silk. It's a parachute that my Grandpa brought back from England where he was stationed during WWII. They had used part of it to make a baptismal dress for my mom and Grandma thought there was just enough fabric left to make another dress, that is, if there might be a baby anytime soon... hint, hint, wink, wink.Second stop: Wayne
Mom and I survived a deluge thunderstorm on our way from Scriber to Wayne to make it home in time for supper with my dad. We spent the evening on the new 3-season porch and talked until the wee hours of the morning. I've seen them four times in the last eight months, I'm really getting spoiled.

Third stop: Concord
Tuesday morning, I headed to Concord to visit with Aunt Ave and hang with my cousin Mark and Tiff's kids. It was non-stop action with all the "Gayle, guess what?" and "Gayle, watch this!" going on. How she keeps up with them, I will never know. Grandmas really are fountains of never-ending energy.
Fourth stop: Omaha
Tuesday afternoon, it was back to Omaha with Mindy and then off to the historic Joslyn castle for a networking event. Lisa came along too and since we really didn't have anyone to network with, we decided to become better acquainted with the food and drink. Delish. Then we were off to Brix, a wine bar in West O, where we met Carla and proceeded to drink the night away. So much fun.Wednesday was another day in Omaha so the girls all had lunch together again and then Mindy, Jason, Hudson, Skyler and I hit the mall to get out of the super yuck humidity. 95 degrees, dewpoint at 79, heat index of 117. Major suck.I tried to fly out Wednesday night, but for the first time in my life, my flight was "delayed indefinitely" because of a nasty thunderstorm. So, surprise! One more night in Omaha with the Hortons.
A truly fantastic trip to one of my favorite places-- home.

Husker Summer #5

Well, it's July again and that means it's time for another reunion of the Husker friends. This time, instead of packing up all six of the little kids and jet-setting to San Francisco, we all descended upon Jody's parent's house in western Nebraska.

I flew into Omaha on Friday and then drove out west with Tom, Liz and Abbie. Karen and Tony drove down from Norfolk with Aubrie and Natalie and Jody, Travis, Jonah and Barrett flew in from San Fran. Gwen and Matt were missing this year as they are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Keller Baby Boy #2. (Gwen isn't spilling on the name, but I've heard if you talk to Gavin, you won't even have to bribe him.)

We had a great weekend! Like usual, lots of chatting, eating, drinking and playing with the kids, but we also managed to shoot guns, hit the waterslides, go hot-tubbing and let Tony cook us a feast. Two days sure went by quickly, but here is the photographic evidence of a good time.

Natalie and Abbie, besties already.Jonah and Aubrie on the lookout for SNAKES!Me, shooting a gun...
A pink swimsuit, a cupcake and a red slushie. What more could a girl need?Jonah, diving into a cupcake at the waterpark to celebrate his 3rd birthday.Baby Barrett enjoying the waterslide too."Hey, let's take a photo of all the kids!"Good photo? Not so much. Getting Jonah to think girls are crazy? Success.

Moms and kids and me.The girls. Jody, me, Karen and Liz.

More photos from our fun weekend here: Husker Summers.

Home Sweet Nebraska Home

Honestly, there really is no place like Nebraska. I'm not kidding. Oregon is absolutely stunning and summer here is just to die for. But there really is no place like Nebraska in July. It's hot, it's windy and you almost have to chew the air and then breathe it, but it's gorgeous. Thunderstorms that roll across the horizon, lightning bugs in the backyard at dusk, row after row of tall green corn rolling in the wind. I've said before that Oregon is now home to me, but sometimes I go back to the Midwest and it makes Oregon feel like where I live and that Nebraska really is home.

Dear Focus

Dear 2002 Ford Focus,

You're such a good little car. Oh, the places we gone together! Across the country to Oregon, to the Wallowas, to Smith Rock about a dozen times, to Utah, to the coast another dozen times, to Seattle, to Pullman and beyond.

Such adventures lay ahead of us. So many places for us to see! I promise to take good care of you as long as you give me another 100,000 miles. OK? Good.

Love,

Me

I'll believe it when I see it.

from NOAA.gov

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 52. North northwest wind between 3 and 7 mph.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 87. Northeast wind between 5 and 11 mph.
Tuesday Night: Clear, with a low around 60. Northeast wind between 8 and 11 mph.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 92. East northeast wind around 10 mph.
Wednesday Night: Clear, with a low around 63. East northeast wind around 8 mph.
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 94.
Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 61.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 93.
Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 58.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 90.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 58.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 87.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 59.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 86.

A Day in the Life

8:00am

Me, to B, "Hey, what are you doing today? Let's go for a hike!"

B, to me, "I might have a shoot tonight. I'll let you know."

2:06pm

B, to me, "Hey, let's go for a hike!"

2:07pm

Look through hike book, select hike, go online to find out

the conditions.

2:17pm

Realize the hike is still snowed in. Go with Plan B.

2:47pm

Stop at grocery store for picnic dinner provisions.

3:20pm

Sit in early rush hour traffic trying to get out of Portland.

4:00pm

Follow directions in guide book and drive on crazy forest roads for two hours.

6:00pm

Come upon a paved, two lane highway that would have taken us to aforementioned hike destination much, much quicker.

6:07pm

Commence to hike Lost Lake Butte.

7:03pm

Reach Lost Lake Butte summit. Gawk in awe at the amazing view. Study Mt. Hood's peak and crevasses with binoculars for the next 45 minutes. Put on an additional layer of clothing. Eat aforementioned picnic dinner.

7:48pm

Put on two more layers of clothing. Wait until the mountain turns the most perfect shade of pink.

8:10pm

Bust it back down the trail to catch the moon rise over the mountain, reflected in Lost Lake.

9:32pm

Drive home, content.

No, Portland, you're awesome.

Spotted at the Lucky Lab Brewpub.

Discovery Day

Sometimes, my job is just too much to handle.

Sometimes, I have to go spend the day at the Tualatin river and help people get into life jackets and find them paddles and then get them in boats and sometimes, this is their first time in a boat ever. Then, I have to listen to them cry out with glee about how fun it is to be in a canoe on a river. After all of that, I have to get into a kayak by myself and paddle down the river to make sure all of those people made it safely to the take out point. Plus, I have to do all of this on the first sunny day since last weekend.

Like I said, sometimes it's just way too much to handle.

More pics here...

Keep Portland Weird.

There is a popular bumper sticker in Portland: Keep Portland Weird. You know, I think we're doing a rather fine job on our own without the encouragement, thank you very much.

SUNSHINE!

I really could hardly believe it. That bright, warm, shiny, sunny, yellow thing in the sky all weekend. Sunshine? Could it be?

Naturally, B and I spent the weekend outside soaking up as much Vitamin D as possible. We spent Saturday on the Portland waterfront taking in the sites of the Rose Festival, this crazy two-week long "festival" that celebrates...roses? It's just another annual Portland event that we usually don't pay any attention to, but B was shooting engagement shots on the riverfront so we went down early to take in the sights-- dragon boat races, the carnival midway and most importantly, the people watching. Oh, the people watching. It was awesome with a capital AWE.

Sunday was even sunnier (is that a word?) so I hightailed it down to Corvallis to hang with Craig and Bridget. We headed for the disc golf course and were doing pretty good until we got held up at hole 15 by some fools who threw a frisbee in a tree. So Craig says, "Screw this, let's go drink beers." Hard to argue with that. We finished the day with beers on the sidewalk and then dinner in downtown Corvallis. Cheers to sunshine!

The twins are here!

Geoff and Julia's girls made their arrival on Friday. We are so excited for them!

Check these links for photos:

Julia's blog

Bryan's blog

Garden update

And now, for your early June garden update:

Nothing really to report in the produce department-- nothing in the garden is quite ready to harvest yet. I have a couple of strawberries that are just-about-almost turning pink and the romaine lettuce is getting a little-bit bigger, but everything else is just drowning in the soggy, mud muck that is the raised beds.

I do have some wildlife updates. It appears, though it may be too early to tell, that the deer fence is working. Now, I know they might not be coming in the garden yet because there isn't much to eat, but last year, they were munching on our starts from the very beginning. Success, full success.

However, we are fighting a slow, losing battle with the slugs. They are gross, icky, goopy and eat anything green they can get their grubby little mouths on. I've heard that beer kills them. They are attracted to its sweet hoppy taste and then they fall in and drown. Go figure that I would have to waste something I want to drink on those little slime balls.

An "Extreme" Weekend

Saturday:

National Trails Day, trail building project in Forest Park.

Weather: Sunny, 72 degrees. Yay!

Me, spreading REI cheer to the group of volunteers.

A happy, dry group of volunteer fence builders.

Sunday:

REI Paddle Demo Day, Vancouver Lake.

Weather: torrential downpour. Yuck.

The view out to the lake from the shore. All ready for the crowds...

Boats and paddle boards ready for action.

Correction.

It has rained in Portland for the past 17 days.

*sigh*

Send help!

It has rained here for the past 16 days. I'll be out back putting the finishing touches on my ark.