Mom picked up her rental car this morning at the Hillsboro airport, loaded up and headed south to Sacramento on the first leg of her return home. With a 10am departure time, she should have arrived in Sacramento at 8pm for a drive time of 10 hours. But who knows how lead-footed she ended up being due to the heat in the valley after Redding.
Jill and I had a great time having her here for the week. Mom got to do a lot and get a lot done while she was here as the trunk of her car can attest. We had fantastic berry picking, hit the Compass Room theater at McMenamins Grand Lodge for Holes, ate some great food and after all the work was done this week, we headed over to Sisters and Bend to check out the area. I think she had a fun time; I know we did.
Maybe we didn't scare her out of visiting again in September/October when the apples are ready. We can also check out Oliphant Orchards in Sherwood - they have the best variety of apples we've found.
FIRE NOT A THREAT ON BEND TRIP
Our trip to Central Oregon was a success yesterday, although we didn't get to see quite as much as expected because the Sisters quilt show was so much bigger and better than expected.
We drove to Sisters via I-5 and then Highway 22 from Salem. Along the way, we drove by and photographed Detroit Lake, though not as well as the following:
That's Mt. Jefferson in the backdrop - funny, I don't remember that view from the side-of-the-road pullout. We did see one fellow catch a tiny fish from the dam and Mom was impressed with a family of ducks that swam nearby. As we approached Sisters, we did see smoke from the Link Fire to the south. It was quite a dramatic view as the smoke billowed up with Three Fingered Jack and the Three Sisters in the background. Hopefully the photo I snapped on Mom's digital camera will come out.
Just imagine a big plume of smoke on the left side of the photo.. courtesy of U of Oregon.
Sisters proved to have a fantastic quilt show. The town has only a few thousand residents, but true to my boss's warning, the town was congested due to all the people looking at the impressive quilts.
We took plenty of photos, but I was unable to load them onto my computer. Hands down, the best quilt of the day in my opinion was from Colorado. The front had a mosaic of various fabrics with fly-fishing patterns on them. However, when the quilt is flipped over, the backing is fabric with 1940s-style pin-up girls, scantily clad, fishing, knealing on a bear rug, etc. Jill dubbed it "The Pornographic Quilt."I report, you decide. Photos will be up as soon as possible!
Later, we drove south to Bend and looked around at the community and various residential areas. This link goes to Northwest Crossing, a large master-planned community that we drove through and liked. Prices weren't cheap, however. The area actually looks a lot like Flagstaff, Arizona, though not as cold and with more amenities like golf, resorts and fishing. The topography allows many great views of the area including Black Butte. Although here's my favorite Black Butte.
All in all, it was a good day-trip, though Mom and Dad really need to visit the area in a few different seasons to see what it's like year round...
PASSING OF LONG-TIME WACHDORF FAMILY FRIEND
When we returned from Bend last night we got a message from Judy that Ruth Kelly of Lawndale, CA had passed away yesterday. I had never met her, but she was a long-time neighbor and friend of the Wachdorfs, particularly Larry who has lived in the Wachdorf Lawndale residence the longest. Anytime her name was mentioned, she was fondly regarded. We express our sorrow for the loss.
JOHN AND JUDY HEADED TO HILLSBORO
John and Judy will be driving to Hillsboro on Wednesday to visit us for a few days, then they will be flying to San Antonio to witness Judy's brother Colonel Art Wachdorf retire from the Air Force. He's involved in Air Force intelligence (insert your own joke - I don't have the strength).
I don't understand the technicalities, but you can Google him and learn all sorts of things. Hopefully none classified or he might have to hunt you down and kill you. We won't be able to attend, but we hear it's quite a spectacle to see. Not only that, but Art's had a distinguished career serving his country admirably. We wish him happiness and every success as a newly-minted civilian.
ENCOURAGING NEWS FROM HONG KONG
With our vacation quickly approaching, we've been tracking news of the demonstrations in Hong Kong with keen interest. I reported in a past update that the Hong Kong government was considering a mainland China-style crackdown on dissidents. Well, the residents took to the streets and protested. After a considerable series of protests, according to this report the local government appears to have shelved the hardline-style approach to political dissent.
Here's hoping areas on the mainland follow similarly...
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