Mary Ann and I went to Oregon for vacation in July. This post has some descriptions of the trip, and photographs.
We arrived in Portland on Wednesday, July 3rd and stayed until July 10th. The ‘main event’ for the trip this year was Mom’s 90th birthday party. My job at the party was to take pictures of various family groups. My new flash helped compared to last year. I don’t have the gear (e.g. more lights) or expertise (e.g. how to set people up) to take professional quality photos, but they came out OK. You get what you pay for :). I picked out some pictures to include in this post. They are reduced size and quality in order to be suitable for the web page. I also downloaded the full resolution files for all the family photos from Mom’s party, if anybody wants them – I sent the link to those in an email.
Here is a brief travelogue:
Wednesday: We had dinner with Mom and Jim, and went to Terry and Bob’s.
Thursday July 4th: Josh traveled to Portland by Amtrak. We picked him up, and then went to Bob and Garnet’s for dinner. Then we went to Mike and Jill’s to watch the fireworks at Waverly Golf Course.
Friday: I went on a hike with Bob S to Tryon State Park. I was happy to get the photograph of the Pacific Wren. Bob recognized the call of the Wren, which is really remarkable (see allaboutbirds.org, and look up Winter Wren to hear the call. The Pacific Wren is the western version for the Winter Wren). It’s a very long duration call with a lot of variety. The Pacific Wren is shy and secretive, and difficult to photograph, and is often heard and not seen. Later Bob, Chris, and I went golfing.
Saturday: We picked up Aaron at the airport, and went to Mass at Russelville with Mom. We went to Washington Park and saw the Rose Garden and the Japanese Garden. We ate at the Elephant Grill, which is a nice place, and the food was good. Later we went to Bob and Garnet’s. Josh’s birth father, Freddie Avila, just happened to be in Portland. Mary Ann and I met him for the first time.
Sunday: Mom’s 90th birthday party.
Monday: We picked up Josh and Aaron at Bob and Garnet’s and visited for a while. Then we went to Mom’s and had lunch. We took Aaron to the airport, and Josh to the Amtrak station. Later, I went golfing with Bob at Colewood Golf Course.
Tuesday: We went hiking at Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Washington state. It was a great place. We hiked to the Columbia river, then in a loop back to the parking lot. There were a lot of birds. I included some pictures. We had lunch at Natalia’s in Camas, Washington. We visited Jim and Felicia’s that afternoon.
Wednesday: We got to see Lydia Law for the first time at Mike and Jill’s. I included pictures of Lydia, and pictures from Jill’s patio. We then went to Mom’s where Tony gave a talk about the bridges in Portland. Then – off to the airport and home.
The weather was great. There was no rain (Mary Ann was disappointed about that), and the temps were in the high 70’s or low 80’s. We had a fun vacation. Thanks to all for your hospitality.
There are more pictures than I usually like to put in a post, but I decided not to break it up into separate posts. Here are the pictures:
One Comment
Fabulous photos, Joe. Especially from the Preserve. Love the baby purple martin. What a shot. Thanks for sharing them and the drop box ones. You did a great job on the party pictures.
xo