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Joey getting his bear

February Road Trip

We took off on Friday night over the mountains to Yakima. Meg had bid on a room on Priceline at the Red Lion in Yakima for $40 and we got it. The next morning we had donuts and started driving South. We stopped at a couple of wineries, the Darigold factory and then the Chukar cherries store for free samples and then went to the Columbia River Exhibition museum in the Tri Cities. Museum was OK but could have been a lot better. Stopped by the Maryhill Stonehenge but the Maryhill museum isn't open unitl March. We then crossed the river into Oregon and found a hotel in Hood River which is kind of a neat little town. We found a pretty good Mexican restaurant and then came back to the hotel and went swimming. On Sunday morning we woke up to snow falling so we quickly ate breakfast and got on the road. By the time we got to Multonomah falls, the snow stopped and we were able to get some good pics. I will download them soon. We then crossed back into Washington and backtracked a bit to see a winery that Meg wanted to see. The weather started to clear and we got some good views of the gorge. We went to a pretty good museum near the Skamania lodge and then headed to Stretch Island. There is no school on Monday or Tuesday so we dropped off Joey at the beach and then took Jess to Malik's. Overall, a good road trip but we should probably have done it in warmer weather. We also would like to come back without kids, there are a lot of things we would like to see in the gorge that the kids aren't interested in.

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Multnomah falls

Olallie Lake Hike

4 Miles up about 2200 feet to Olallie Lake in the snow. There was about 4 feet of snow on the ground but most of it was old packed snow so I only used my snowshoes for about a mile. I had been up to Talapus Lake and Olallie Lake years ago but this time I came from the Pratt Lake Trailhead which was a little further. Had to get back quick to take Joey to the doctor.

Beachhouse Weekend

We had the gang out at the beach house this weekend. Our family, Gerrit's family and Dennis, Linda, Genny and Ann. The highlight was the first annual Nyland Poetry slam. We all performed our favorite poem in front of everyone. The winner was Max. He blew us away with his impromptu freestyle about boats. "Boats are like time. We row them away....ring a ling a ding ding......etc..."

Superbowl Weekend

Another Big Weekend. Friday night was Bingo night at Meredith Hill and I volunteered to be a caller. Meg's brother Paul came over to spend the night because he had a test in Seattle on Sat.

On Saturday, we had the family over for dinner for Jess and Gerrit's birthday. We hadn't had everyone at our house for a while. Meg made a great dinner.

Sunday was Superbowl and we had a crowd over for the game and Mexican and Salvadoran food. Great game but we were all mad because Pittsburgh won; except for Tarra who won $100.