August 2nd 2009

We have had a wonderful time here in Portland. When we got here the weather was great. We took a ride to Mt Hood and drove to the Timberline Lodge, it is a ski lodge and the people were skiing remember this was the first week in July. They were wearing short sleeve shirts and ski pants. Mount Hood's snow-covered peak rises 11,249 feet and is the highest mountain in Oregon.










The past couple of weeks we have had record breaking temperatures of over 100 for about 5 days and in the high 90s the rest of the time. Our friends from Las Vegas were staying in Long Beach WA. and the weather there was cooler so off we went. We left our rig at the Elks Lodge in OR and we stayed in a hotel in Long Beach WA . We stayed there Friday and Saturday, While we were there we had to buy a couple of sweat shirts, it was around 50 at night and only 65 during the day.


Here is Ron & Joanne, they are the most wonderful people anyone could ever want to know. We met them two years ago in Boulder City NV and have stayed in touch and traveled with them the last couple of years. This past weekend they introduced us to some more of there friends and we started some more new friendships. After lunch Friday we all went back to their rigs for HAPPY HOUR.



On Saturday Ron, Joanne, Buffy and myself went to Fort Stevens in Astoria OR.
On the nights of June 21 and 22, 1942, a Japanese submarine fired 17 shells at Fort Stevens, making it the only military installation in the continental United States to receive hostile fire during World War II. Fort Stevens was constructed during the Civil War. The fort was an active military reservation from 1863–1947



Then we were off to Fort Clatsop. It was built for the Lewis & Clark Expedition team.






On Sunday Buffy & I had breakfast at the Long Beach Elks Lodge with all of our friends. We said our good-byes and left Long Beach WA and drove to Mount Saint Helens.

Here is a picture of Mount St. Helens the day before the 1980 eruption, which removed much of the northern face of the mountain, Fifty-seven people were killed; 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railways, and 185 miles of highway were destroyed.

Here is what it looks like now.







Now we are going to rest, it was a busy weekend and Buffy will have her 2nd round of chemo on Tuesday. She is doing real good now, she is eating better and she is going to start working out to try and get stronger.
Buffy says it to hot here in Portland and wants to go back to the beach.