Cardi-ology: February 2010

Please Note: Ian was taking pictures of Fig and Watson at a tubing park on Mt. Hood. My camera was in his pants pocket. My camera may eventually be found during the spring thaw on Mt. Hood (if there is one). It wasn't an expensive camera, but the pictures in it were priceless.

I downloaded the following pictures from the Internet. Use your imaginations to visualize two happy Cardis in each photo. :-(

A few months ago, my son, Ian, and four other classmates were chosen to represent their school (St. John's Lutheran) in a Knowledge Bowl competition. It's like Jeopardy! in a team format, and was held in Portland, Oregon.

I decided a drive to Portland was in order. It's been years since I've been north of Grant's Pass, OR, and I LOVE to drive. We packed up "the beast," our Ford Excursion, with two dogs, Fig and Watson. (Duncan stayed home to be grossly spoiled by my parents) Ian's "coach" and best friend, Landen Douglas came along for the journey.

We left on Tuesday, Feb. 9th, spent the night at my aunt and uncle's ranch near Medford,and arrived in Portland at noon on Wednesday.

Happily, the Knowledge Bowl competition was held from 3-7:30 pm on Thursday. There were 22 teams, and our team won! It was very exciting, and I was thrilled for the boys. It was a LONG 4.5 hours, and I still don't know how they answered some of the questions asked. I was a nervous wreck.

We then had two FULL days to investigate the area.....I fell in LOVE with Portland, and have already planned a trip back (including Washington, and B.C) for the summer. Hopefully, next time we'll be able to meet Emily and Megan.

Anyway, here are the photos I wished I'd taken:

Ian studying before the competition. This photo was snagged from his FB page.

I copied the following description of "Stonehenge" from its website:

The Maryhill Stonehenge War Memorial can be seen from a great vantage point on the Washington hillsides above the Columbia River Gorge. This full size replica of Stonehenge was built by a pacifist Quaker from 1912 - 1930 at the site of the original Maryhill community, which since burned to the ground. He was mistakenly informed that the original Stonehenge was a place for human sacrifices, so his goal with this concrete replica was to remind people that "humanity is still being sacrificed to the god of war" and a memorial to soldiers who died in World War I was also included. Since then, memorials have been added to the site for the wars of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

We had a great lunch at the Timberline Lodge. It is spectacular, and was used for some of the scenes from "The Shining. " Redrum!

The Lodge in summer.

I didn't see this actual barn, but I really liked this picture. Can you see why I want to move?

This is the Maryhill Art Museum. It was very close to the "Stonehenge" monument, and breathtakingly beautiful. Sadly, it was closed for the winter, but we'll be back in the summer. I'm told that it houses all sorts of treasures, including many personal items from Queen Marie of Romania.

This is the Hood River. It was gorgeous, and is infamous for great windsurfing. I now know why, the winds are tremendous. The dogs waded here.

Mt. Hood. They have year-round skiing here, and my camera.

Columbia River Gorge. The dogs waded in it from a state park on the Oregon side.

From The Dalles we tried to get to Mt. Hood. My GPS took us on a very interesting route which ended at Hwy 35; unplowed, and CLOSED UNTIL SPRING. Naturally, the boys wanted me to drive it. I told them that if we got stranded,they'd have to eat the dogs. We turned around. Very quickly.

This is the town we went through on the wild goose chase to Mt. Hood. It's tiny, but the countryside is unbelievably beautiful. I learned a few days ago that Wolfrun Cardis is near here.

The countryside around Dufur.

The Bridge of the Gods. We drove across it twice. Don't ask.

We HAD to stop in Boring!

This is Horsetail Falls, and the site of one the most memorable moments of the trip, and trust me, there were many memorable moments.

We had previously stopped at Multnomah Falls. It was raining, and yet we hiked a short way up a hill to cross a bridge that gave us a lovely view of the falls. When we, boys, and dogs, got back to the car, we were WET, and cold. The drive between the two falls is less than half a mile. I decided to leave the dogs in the car, and take a quick picture of the boys next to Horsetail Falls. Bad mistake. Fig saw us walk AWAY from "his" car, and jumped into the front seat. He then jumped onto the armrest where the electronic door locks are. Yup. There was an audible "click." Oh crap!

My purse, car keys, and phone were now tightly locked up. Thank God Landen had his phone. The poor dispatcher at AAA thought I was mad. My conversation was something like this, " Hello, I'm by a waterfall in Portland,OR, and my dog has locked me out of the car. That's right, my dog."

While I was on the phone, Landen and Ian had picked up some leaves, and were trying to convince Fig and Watson that leaves were food. Really good food. They stood by the driver's side window, and cajoled Watson to try to get the "food" outside the window. PRESTO! Watson jumped on the door lock and we were back in! Watson carried the name,"Corgi Hero" for the duration of the trip.