Winter Treat!

Wow, we have been busy! But all with good fun things. Elisabeth's parents came for a visit President's Day weekend. We had such a blast seeing them. It was a go, go, go weekend! On Friday we went to McMenamins pub, a Portland favorite. They also have a movie theater, so we saw The Departed. I have to say the movie could have been so good, but I now regret my decision to stay awake and watch the rest of it. Sleep would have definitely been better! Saturday, we shopped and browsed and shopped some more. Josh took an opportunity to study in the car for part of the day rather than look at antiques. I think Tom would have liked to join him at times. Sunday, we went to church and then headed up to Timberline Lodge for the night. It was so much fun!! The weather cooperated (depending on what you wanted) and we enjoyed 14 inches of snow during the night. Josh had to dig the Durango out the next day for us to go home.

Tom and Ann temporarily lost their minds and slept with the window open, so they enjoyed snow INSIDE their room. I guess people from the South don't get as much winter as they'd like at home, so they get as much as they can elsewhere. The lodge was so much fun to stay in. We played games by the fire at night and had yummy yummy food. For those of you who don't know about the lodge; the exterior was used for The Shining and it was built in the 1930's during the depression by workers in the WPA. Below is what it looks like looking straight up from the second floor window at the Lodge. Notice that the snow is much higher than the window. They have an average annual snow depth of 21 feet and receive about 45 feet of snow a year.

The lodge is about an hour from Portland. The picture below was taken out the window in our room. The corrugated metal thing is what keeps the entrance open in the winter due to the high snow depths.

It is a very cool place to visit year round. Sadly, Tom and Ann left on Tuesday and Elisabeth had to go back to work. We had so much fun during their visit!!! And hope they come back soon.

Last weekend Josh played volleyball 1/2 the day on Saturday and Sunday we had a marathon set of potlucks. We were gone from 9:45 AM to 7:30 PM! Busy times, but we're having a lot of fun. Tonight there is a snow advisory in effect for the Valley (Willamette, not LA), so maybe we'll wake up to snow.