Columbia River Gorge

After dropping my sister off at the airport and getting a speeding ticket (Hi, Mom!), RightHand and I headed out for more sight-seeing.

We were immediately cursing ourselves for not washing the darn window! It was nasty in the sunlight!

Our first glimpse of the river

Arriving

First we stopped at an overlook

Cape Horn- not really significant :)

My fellow photographer

Yes, that's the sun rising. Did I mention this was at 7:00 a.m?!!! My sister's flight was at 6:00 a.m., and we just went from the airport...

Happy but tired :)

Cutie- not tired! grrr...

Beautiful setting

Lone rock

Again...

That's Crown Point on the cliff in the distance...you'll see more of that in a bit!

A little closer...

Sheer cliffs

Netting to hold the rocks off of us- makes me so nervous!

Excited!

We hoped out of the car again and spotted these insect-catching boxes. Some kind of scientific study goin' on

Beautiful field and river

And railroad track

Miscellany

This is what happens when I don't blog regularly- I have a few pictures/events that I skipped. So forgive me while I play catch-up:

First, dinner with the gang a few Fridays ago:

Beautiful tomato and mozzarella salad

Sweet Natalie in her ice cream shirt

Precious

Potatoes, roasted beets, tomatoes, great bread- it was awesome

Jen enjoyed it


After dinner entertainment! Here's Natalie imitating a bunny and then a reindeer- she moves her head like those white metal yard deer people put out at Christmas! Love that sweet girl! (Gosh, she's not even related to me! Imagine how cute I'll think my own kids are! Gasp!)


The Goof Troop

And, switching gears to the last petsitting job I had. Their neighbors had beautiful bunches of daisies- one of my faves!



And here's what I encountered in front of a house while walking the dog one hot afternoon:

What kind, generous folks! And what a good idea!

Downtown Day, Part 2

RightHand bravely accompanied Jen and me to my new dream place to get married: The Old Church:

Gosh, these pictures don't do it justice...

The intricate details make it just stunning

It's actually wood- the style is called "carpenter gothic".

It's no longer a working church, so it's secular, with no restrictions on music, flowers, anything!

Perhaps we will be back one day? Ooooooo! Squeal!

Awwwww! My Romeo!

Cool fountain downtown

On the way home, we stopped at an art gallery that shares a name with Jenny's fiance, Paul (a vet! Score!)



After that busy day, we went back and cooked dinner. RightHand handled the beef and broccoli in a peanut sauce, Jenny made the salad, and I made the key lime pie dessert- everything was so yummy!

Cookin' up some loooooove ;)

Jenny is workin' hard with caramel appletini in hand!

Great friends and family! :)

Always fun

And a little crazy! :)

Because of wine. Yes, that's it. Blame the wine. :)

Nice photo of the house below... it was a beautiful night, as (nearly) always!

So happy to be sharing it with RightHand!

And I leave you with this: A rare normal moment! ;)