Our Oregon respite is over, we're all back together in Nevada for a little while. We had a good time on the farm and exploring Bend. Silas especially loved all the volcanoes - every mountain or hill you see in the area is volcanic. Here is Silas pictured at the top of Pilot Butte - an little volcano we hiked in-town Bend, with a view of the Cascades behind him:
I liked Bend, but I loved Northwest Oregon. We spent some time in Portland with our old friends Michelle, Joe and Eli, they gave us a great tour of their new city. Portland seems like a fantastic place to live. The city is lovely, plants and trees were blooming and so green, such a treat for my eyes after all the juniper, sage, browns and dust of the Great Basin high desert, which extends all the way to Bend.
We spent a fun day at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. We all really enjoyed this place, Mark just loved it.
We spent an afternoon exploring the Columbia River Gorge and its many waterfalls - a very beautiful area east of Portland.
After Portland, Mark went back to work and the boys & I met my sister Karen for a beach vacation on the Oregon Coast. We stayed right near the beach on Cape Falcon, just south of Cannon Beach. The coast here is amazingly beautiful.
The tide pools are incredible, we discovered many sea creatures like starfish and giant green anemones.
The headlands on the coast here are covered in green, lush rain forests. Silas and I loved the forests, especially at Ecola State Park, where we hiked the trail to Indian Beach.
Our time in Oregon was a lot of fun and we look forward to returning, especially to Portland and the coast. Now we're back in the dust and wind of Winnemucca to rest from our travels for a few days before tagging along with Mark to Eastern Nevada for a couple weeks of field work.
When are you guys coming to Maine?
it hit 90 degrees today!
Posted by: Erik | April 28, 2009 at 06:53 PM
Erik - don't torture me with news like that! It is 57 degrees here in Winnemucca and strong winds are blowing dust everywhere. I have allergies so bad I feel like I have the swine flu. I'm not sure when we are coming, maybe the end of May, not sure yet. See you then! Michelle
Posted by: Michelle | April 28, 2009 at 08:22 PM
awesome pics. I am going to Portland in August...can't wait!
Posted by: al | April 29, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Love the new pics! The little astronaut is precious! Tiny the scientiist was so cute and smart! Those starffish- we have to go there!!
Posted by: Deb | April 30, 2009 at 11:44 AM
Really love the pictures! Si & Levi are so cute, and the coastal landscapes are breathtaking! Looking forward to seeing back in Maine soon.
Posted by: angela | May 03, 2009 at 01:07 PM
Thanks for the link Michelle! We all loved looking at your photos and appreciate your advice on Tillamook. We think we will skip that and go to Cannon Beach!! Cody can't stop talking about the starfish Silas had!!
Posted by: Deb | October 28, 2009 at 10:46 AM