Here is the view of Mt. Hood that we had on our last day in Oregon. We pulled off the highway to drive up the mountain and see the hotel that is there. We were glad we did, as it had been quite a few years since we were up there and we enjoyed ourselves.








This is the entrance to Timberline Lodge, the
hotel on Mt. Hood. It was built in the 1930s and is a very interesting place. You see Vernon on the steps.


















We walked through the lodge and then exited at the back so we could look at the mountain some more. We walked this paved trail for awhile. The lodge is at 6,000 feet elevation so we didn't walk very fast but the views were great of the surrounding area. The Pacific Crest Trail crossed this paved one. Hiking the Pacific Crest of the Cascades would be like hiking the Appalachian Trail, except for a big difference in altitude. Remember I said we were at 6,000 feet.



In this picture you are looking back at the lodge and the mountains beyond. If you see a peak with snow on it, that is Mt. Jefferson. Hood and Jefferson are two peaks in the Cascade Range with Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier in Washington State.

We didn't play in the snow but others did and made snow balls to throw. Vernon jokingly proposed making a snow angel but that works best in soft snow. This would not have been soft, for sure.


And finally, here's Mt. Hood from the airplane when we left Portland, with Mt. Jefferson in the distance.

We enjoyed our Oregon vacation and now we are back at work. Adjusting back to this time zone and climate took a few days and we were very tired but now are back to normal.




Our next visit to Shands will probably be August 27 when Vernon is scheduled for a routine visit with his cardiologist there. It will be almost seven months since we saw Dr. Hill at the last biopsy. We'll probably go to Gainesville on Saturday so we can have some time to visit friends and the nurses on both shifts before returning home Monday evening.

Here are some of my favorite close-ups from our trip.

One of the highlights of being in Oregon was the day we spent at Crater Lake National Park. We've been there several times but not last year. One of the two nieces who went with us hadn't been there, so it was fun to show her. There is a 33 mile road around the rim of the lake and many places where you can stop to enjoy the view. The lake is the caldera of a volcano that erupted long ago and the water is from either snow melt or rain. It is the clearest water in the world.

For the first time, we hiked the 1.1 mile trail down to the shore of the lake. Needless to say, without the heart transplant Vernon wouldn't have attempted it.

This picture of Deb, Emily and Beka was taken at the lake shore. Vernon made it down there, too. Being runner athletes, it took the girls only 16 minutes to hike back up to the rim, as they were seeing how quickly they could make it. The average person takes 40 minutes, we were told. Vernon and I stopped often to rest, so it took us 100 minutes, but we enjoyed it.


Most people hike down to the lake to take the two hour boat tour around the lake. We didn't have time for the boat tour this time but hope to allow for it next time.

It was great to rest on the bench at the top and enjoy the beauty. We completed the entire circle, stopping for a late lunch at the Visitor's
Center

Hello again~ I've noticed that I'm averaging one blog per month, which is not too good. I hope to do better. It is August and we are back home from 10 days in Oregon so I'll try to share some of our experiences with you.

Our first few days were spent on the Oregon Coast with some of my family. Here Vernon is posing in an area known as Marine Gardens, where at low tide you can explore lots of tidal pools. Notice the green stuff behind him. Hence the name "garden". It is slippery, though!


It was raining lightly and the tide wasn't very low so we didn't stay long. Instead we sought shelter and dried out at Pirate's Coffee Company. The picture shows Deb's mother and three nieces entering the shop.

Driving back to the hotel we were able to see some whales spouting from this bench, so that was exciting. They were too far away to capture in camera, though.

The rest of our time was spent in Central Oregon, near the town of Bend. One of the mountains in the Cascade Range there is known as Broken Top (below).