Portland

Sunday July 6, 2008

I am sitting in my tent beside the beach in Olympic National Park; the sound of the ocean is very soothing (almost as much as a mountain stream : ) I had a wonderful visit with my uncle, Donnie Spears and his family over the weekend. I arrived at his house around noon or so on Friday, the fourth of July. I hadn’t seen him since 1981 and had never met his children. It was quite exciting! He was happy to see me and wanted to take me out in kayaks on the Willamette River. After a quick “hello” to his wife Rita, we were off! It was so much fun! And a great upper body workout! Donnie was glad to have someone to go with because he can’t get Rita or his kids to go. I don’t know why; I’d go all the time if I lived there! For the Fourth of July celebration, six of Uncle Donnie’s kids along with their families came over for a cookout. It was a Blast! It was so cool to meet all of them and to feel very much a part of the family. What a great family! But of course they would be ; ) Saturday Donnie and I went out for an awesome breakfast of crepes at a little bistro that we walked to from his house. Then we went for a bike ride and walk up Mt. Tabor, a beautiful park in the city. We were going to go for another hike in the afternoon, but when we got back to the house Rita said she was going for a pedicure. I said: “I wanna go!” I’ve heard so much talk about pedicures lately and I’d never had one before. I’ve lived a very sheltered, deprived life! So, Rita and I went for pedicures. It was wonderful; I think I’m addicted after just one! My nails are purple and so pretty : ) Later we went for a drive up to Rocky Butte where there is another beautiful park and awesome views of the city. It was cloudy, but we could still see the city fine. If it hadn’t been cloudy we would have seen Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helen’s and Mt. Rainier. After Rocky Butte we went out for pizza, home for a glass of champagne and then I crashed!

I left early this morning and drove to Mt. St. Helen’s. Another amazing, gorgeous area, but I couldn’t see the volcano because it was cloudy. Bummer! But, that’s the weather out here. I drove on to Olympic National Park where I am now. I drove around Lake Quinault on the south side of the park. There were some nice camp spots there, but I decided to drive to the shore. I want to go for a walk on the beach in the morning.