Early winter getaway

Group shot.

This past Sunday and Monday we had fun hanging out with our friends Roj and Gina at their cabin near Mt. Hood. The drive on Sunday morning was excellent with beautiful eerie lighting through the Columbia gorge, gorgeous fall colors near Hood River and breathtakingly majestic snow covered trees as we drove over Barlow Pass. There was a decent amount of snow but the roads were clear which was fortunate since I forgot to pack our chains. Oops! Taran napped on the way so shortly after arriving we headed off for a lunch excursion and a hike at one of the nearby snow parks. We didn't hike far because I forgot to pack (here we go again) our hiking boots and it was especially wet out. Taran marveled at all of the very tall trees but eventually started complaining about being carried the whole time and wanted to run and frolic in knee deep slush. We returned to the cabin for a delicious meal of pork chops, pasta, spinach salad and pineapple upside-down cake. mmmmmm. Taran went to bed early and we played several rounds of Euchre. Excellent.

Monday morning began very early (5 am ish) with Taran rousing us all. It was dark, cold and very rainy outside but he still ran eagerly to the front door of the cabin first thing hoping, hoping, hoping. Are you crazy? We had breakfast instead and let Taran run around the cabin exploring EVERYTHING including Roj's stereo. He discovered the volume dial and how to delete the preset radio stations (oops, sorry Roj). Later, Gina and I ventured out into the rain for a walk to checkout the zigzag river and historical makers for Barlow highway. When we returned Taran was ready for a nap and that gave the rest of us a chance to play some more Euchre. We debated going out for lunch but felt pretty cozy hanging out at the cabin so we split some leftovers for lunch including mmmmm more cake. Afterwards it was time for us to head back home. Your cabin is very nice and thanks for a wonderful time Roj and Gina. :)

During the drive home Taran resisted napping fairly effectively so after we crossed the Columbia river we stopped at Mary Hill State Park to let him run around. He ignored the beach and sidewalks and was instead delighted to run around in the parking lot collecting leaves and rocks. Silly boy! Eventually we convinced him to check out the picnic area. After hopping back into the car we grabbed some McDonald's and continued home. Taran LOVED his cheeseburger and eat more than half. The french fries were alright too except he sometimes tried to swallow them whole. Use those teeth little goofy!