The Pilgrimage: Part Deux - The Film Sets

Bella's House

Through my super sleuthing, I discovered that one of my neighbors isn't afraid to admit that she, too, enjoys her a little dose of Twilight-mania from time to time. Okay, so really I just mentioned in passing at the bus stop that we had driven up to Forks and her face lit up, so I knew she was my go-to girl on the subject. Since discovering that none of the filming for the movies had taken place in Forks or points in-between during our first pilgrimage, I began researching the actual filming locales in the Portland area and discovered that I was living within an hour away from almost all of them.

With map and my smart phone GPS in hand, I picked up my neighbor on the drizzly Sunday before Halloween, and we decided the best place to start was at Bella's house located in St. Helens, Oregon. As we started to get closer, the excitement built as we made the final turn onto the actual street....and then the road narrowed down to one lane....and we noticed the 'No Outlet' sign....and then there it was. Cue the choir singing. This sign greeted us in the front yard.

Through the illusion of Hollywood, it would appear as though this house is on a busy street or possibly a highway in the movie. Actually, it's in a somewhat secluded residential location and I had to do some maneuvering to get us turned around when we were ready to move on to the next site. I'll spare you the images from the movie that went through my mind as we stood in front of the house. I know how delicate some of your stomachs are for that kind of thing. (Robert Pattinson! Kristen Stewart! That's where Bella slipped on the icy sidewalk! That's where she looked out the window at Edward! OMG!)

Back view of
garbage house/lawyer's office

Next, we tried to find the Thunderbird and Whale Bookstore. I would have believed it to be the lovely bed and breakfast we first came upon at the top of a hill overlooking the waterfront, except the addresses didn't match up, so we turned around and attacked approached from the opposite direction and ended up in another parking lot at the bottom of the hill and next to what looked like an abandoned house. Nope, it was a private lawyer's office with garbage strewn all over the back porch. Okaaaay. So where's the bookstore? We eventually ended up getting an extensive tour from the owner of the bed and breakfast and she informed us the garbage house lawyer's office is indeed the building used in the movie. She walked us right around the other side so we could see the front of it and, sure enough, that was image I remembered...more or less.

Thunderbird and Whale Bookstore

Oh yeah, and then she mentioned that Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart rehearsed their lines in the swing on the FRONT PORCH OF HER B&B. She thought they were doing some artsy indie film, so she didn't think anything of it at the time. And then I had an inner moment of Jr. High squealing going on in my head.

The b&b owner was nice enough to then walk us down to the area where they filmed the alley and parking lot scenes adjacent to the bookstore. The large mural advertisements on the side of the parking lot buildings were added for the movie. (That's where Edward drove up in his car and saved Bella! OMG!)

Creepy Parking Lot

Creepy Alley

After our tour, we drove a short distance to the dress store and restaurant set in "Port Angeles" -- Le Petit Jolie and the Bloated Toad. If you haven't seen the movie, I'll let you decide which establishment is which.

As illustrated by the bookstore building earlier, Hollywood sets quickly come and go. The dress shop is now home to a hair dresser (with a lovely eau de Marlboro scent in the back where the bathroom is located) and the restaurant building is for rent, and therefore, perfect for two nosy Twilight peeping toms to check out. (Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart stood here and walked up these steps! OMG!)

Le Petit Jolie

The Bloated Toad

If you're still enduring this post reading at this point, then we've come to the piece de resistance -- The Cullen House. Located in a very metro part of the city (no off-roading seatbelts required), we wound our way up a narrow street in the hills of Portland and came around the bend to this sight:

Cue Squealing

From here, we visited the site of Bella's ballet studio and then drove all the way across Portland to Damascus, Oregon, and the cafe that Charlie and Bella frequented in the movie. The bush on the right is the one Mike molested in the background during a scene where Charlie and Bella are eating at the cafe.

Ballet Studio

Forks Cafe

We pulled up to the cafe just as it was closing up for the day, so our dinner plans were thwarted at this point. Then trusty ol' Mr. GPS located the Stone Cliff Inn for us. We didn't know until we got there that the stony hillside behind the Inn's parking lot is where they filmed the 'Lion and Lamb' scenes and Edward reveals his vampirey diamond-like skin in the sun to Bella. Because we didn't get there until late in the day and decided to eat first, all I have are pictures of the signs posted next to the parking lot.

The best part of the whole trip?  One of the managers (owner?) of the Inn indicated that the final film, Breaking Dawn Part II, is looking to come back here and film again in their woods. Production is currently trying to negotiate the price of filming with the state of Oregon. (OMG!) Cue inner squealing.

~Paula

The 'Dubyas' In My Life

We are having a fairly mundane weekend so far compared to this time last week. We were happy to have the Dovre Wudalis--affectionately referred to as the D-Dubyas (or D-Dubs, for short)--fly all the way out here from the Twin Cities to spend their four-day MEA break with us. My children were thrilled to have their cousins spending four whole nights in the same house and we were glad to have some familiar faces walk through the door.

We took advantage of the first non-rainy day (Thursday) and hit the Gorge/waterfall route again. This time, though, we packed our hiking supplies and did the full Wahkeena Falls Trail from start to finish. If you've been following my blog, you will recall that we attempted this hike once before shortly after we first moved to the area. Unprepared and unknowing, we only made it about the first third of the way and had to abandon our mission. This time, we brought our game faces.

If I seemingly went on and on about how many jaw-dropping photo ops there are on this trail the first time we tried it, I hadn't seen anything yet. Once you get toward the "summit" of your hike along the gorge wall, the environment turns from lush and ferny to fir trees towering above you and their scented needles blanketing the path in front of you. When you're not right next to the rushing rivers and waterfalls, you can hear strange bird calls high above you in the treetops and I was suddenly Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games (if you haven't read these books, start right after you finish reading my blog. Otherwise, sorry for the random literary reference).

The Crest of Multnomah Falls
(That's the parking lot 630-ish feet below)

All along the way, we exchanged inane pleasantries with the people we passed on the trail and we'd get some surprised looks and/or comments when they spotted all the kids we had along with us. On our descent to the other falls, Multnomah, we stopped at a fork in the trail and asked an older gentleman which way we should head to get to the top of Multnomah Falls. He directed us accordingly and then said, "Next time, try starting from Wahkeena. I hear it's a beautiful hike." He was floored to find out that the 4-yr-old boy standing in front of me and the rest of us had just come from there. We parted with high fives (my son and the guy, not all of us...cuz that would be awkward) and FINALLY got to peer down over all 620 feet of Multnomah Falls. Mission accomplished, Dubya style. The only thing missing was a fighter jet and a festooned banner.

So what do you do the day after you hiked for four hours straight? You go to the zoo, of course! We didn't last long that night after dinner.

To top off our tour marathon, we chose the rainiest day to go to the beach. What it lacked in leisurely strolls up and down the sand, it made up for in quality time in the car. We spent a short time on Cannon Beach--just enough to get soaked--and then drove down Hwy 101 to Tillamook, Oregon. Now, normally, I wouldn't have known Tillamook Air Museum existed, much less wanted to spend another 2 hours in the car to get there, but there's some family history in this small town, and I wanted to check it out. 

K-ship Blimps in Tillamook
Copyright Tillamook Air Museum

My mother's parents lived in Tillamook for a short period of time in the early 40s while my grandfather help build the two blimp hangars there. And, yes, they actually housed eight K-ship blimps in them until 1948 and had their own blimp Squadron Z-33. There is still one hangar left, the other destroyed in a huge fire in 1992, and it houses a collection of around 30 privately owned aircraft at any one time, including those from WWI and WWII. The wooden hangar itself is an impressive sight, and I'm proud to say my grandpa was a part of constructing one of the largest wooden structures in the world.

The kids had a good time crawling in and around the various cockpit displays that were there for the public to sit in. The big boys strolled around taking in the various planes, and we all got a chance to dry our pants out for the long ride home again.

I'll briefly mention the 'Balls of Fire' fritter challenge from Salvador Molly's in Portland. Those little suckers live up to their name. My brother-in-law ate all five of them and he lived to tell about it the next morning, even though he didn't have a very restful slumber that night. And I'll just leave it at that. Kids, don't try this at home.

We dropped the D-Dubyas at the airport Sunday afternoon and slept like the dead Sunday evening. I'm sure they did, too. We look forward to our next house guests and promise we won't submit you to the same crazy schedule, unless you ask for it. That includes the Balls of Fire.

~Paula

The Pilgrimage: Part I - Forks

Sorry it's been so long since I posted last. We are in the middle of a visitation wave. My sister-in-law's family flew out and stayed with us over MEA break, tomorrow a friend of mine from PLAY Group in Marshall happens to be in town and is visiting, and then next week, my husband's boss is coming to town and having supper with us. So...I'm preoccupied. I have a few posts I'm working on in order to share the various things that have been going on, but I want to make sure I start where I left off.

F.O.R.K.S.

Yes, that's right. I made it to Twilight Mecca. It was a lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ong day of driving there and back, but I made it (and I'm sure my husband and the kids were enjoying it just as much). The town itself isn't much to look at, but it was fun to drive around and see the setting for the books that I've enjoyed so much. I thought some of the movies had been shot in Forks and Port Angeles, but turns out that most of the filming of 'Twilight' was done in St. Helens, Oregon. And yes, I am already arranging a fieldtrip there this coming weekend. The others were filmed around Vancouver, B.C., and I'm not ready for another long car ride just yet.

The Movie Truck 

We stopped at an information center as we entered Forks, and the lady inside knows exactly why people come to Forks and stop in her shop. Or, maybe it was me giving my best brooding Twilight pose, but she handed us the Twilight Tour map of the town and directed us toward a few other specialty shops to accessorize our mission. The truck used in the movie was parked outside her building, so after an obsessive excessive amount of picture taking of this beat up old red truck, we headed into town and hit the highlights.

And by "highlights" I mean the houses and buildings that the Forks chamber of commerce has designated as the buildings Stefanie Meyer described in her books, not the ones from the movie. Underwhelming would be a good way to describe the Forks tour, but fun nonetheless.

"The Swan House"

Forks High School

"The Cullen House"
(aka Random Area Bed and Breakfast)

Has the town cashed in on the empire? Um, YES. The town has half a dozen shops dedicated to everything Twilight and Quileute. And why not? Instead of being the hometown of a celeb in rehab, they have a best selling author to thank for picking their town off a map on a dartboard to set her blood-sucking, bazillion dollar stories in. I need to write about werecoyotes on a small town farm in the midwest and cash in on this trend, too. Or weresquirrels. The possibilities are endless.

To top our trip off, we swung over to Port Angeles, and another hot spot in the book series: Bella Italia. The restaurant is really there, and we had the mushroom ravioli which was delish. We walked past the movie theater and the bookstores (in the books) afterwards. Port Angeles is actually quite a beautiful city and I'm hoping we can make it back there at some point to do some more exploring.

Look for Part II of my Twilight pilgrimage in the next week(s) to come. In the meantime, if you spot any weresquirrels, be sure to post details in the comment section so I can start writing my cash cow novel.

~Paula

Five Minute Friday: Catch

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here (The Gypsy Mama) and invite others to join in.
3. Most importantly: leave a comment for the person who linked up before you – encouraging them in their writing!

OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes on:

Catch


This time of year is full of things to catch. A scarlet leaf, a worn out football, a cool fall breeze, and my least favorite, a new virus. As with any new school year, a batch of ick is working its way through the local schools. Each morning, I stuff my children full of vitamins and supplements and send them out the door with a quick prayer to keep them in a sanitary bubble while they're away.

Of course, the flip side is that by keeping them secluded from the outside world, they also miss all the things that make being a kid so fun. I can only speak for myself, of course, but I don't remember my mother ever barging in on an intense scene in our superhero role play to squirt us with hand sanitizer. Nor do I remember ever having been dragged to the doctor for a flu shot.

Has the level of ick become uglier, are we products of media hype, or are we just more educated about the ick?

STOP

Here's hoping you're all healthy and happy and able to enjoy the beautiful cool weather this time of year offers without all the snow.

This weekend, we travel to my Mecca....Forks, Washington. Stay tuned.

~Paula

SOAKED!

Off I started this afternoon to pick up my daughter from school in my jacket and jeans with my 4-year-old son and the dog under overcast, but non-threatening skies. Two blocks later, it started to sprinkle. When we reached the school a block later, it started to rain harder and quickly turned into a deluge of Biblical proportions.

Now, school policy dictates that you are not to leave the street level if you have a dog along. Human instinct, however, doesn't give a flying frog what the rules are when you are getting soaked to the bone. I dashed up to the school next to the exit I knew my daughter would be coming out of and waited under the shelter of the school overhang.

When an adult supervisor came out the door and saw the three of us standing there, I immediately began babbling about our precarious situation like I was trying to negotiate our way into the embassy on foreign soil. Not that the shelter we were under was luxurious by any means. The rain was coming down so furiously that the eave began to leak in several random places, so we had to find a circle of dry above us in order to keep from getting wet anyway.

From the bewildered look she was giving me, I assessed that she had no intention of throwing us out into the weather again, and my brain mercifully turned off my mouth. Then I spotted my husband pull up in our ark (aka, the minivan) and my cell phone began ringing, affirming my hopes that we would indeed somehow get out of this purgatory.

The children that began to stream out of the school were, of course, delighted by the sudden change in the weather and gleefully screamed in a chorus of what I can only describe as gym whistles. The dog began a pulsing whine at this, and I suddenly noticed that my son was joyfully standing directly under a steady stream of water that had worked its way through another leak in the roof.

My son's rain-soaked shoes, pants, under-
wear, and socks exactly where he took them
off when we got in the door.

My daughter finally emerged from the school and we waved her down. S-l-o-w-l-y, she put on the light jacket I sent her to school in this morning as we started our sprint-walking to the van down at the street level again. When we reached the bottom of the hill, it was apparent that the only way we were getting across the rushing rapids forming in the gutters was to step directly in the middle of them. My mind quickly did an inventory of how many pairs of dry rain boots are sitting in the coat closet and belittled itself for not thinking to put any of them on in the same thought. Did I mention that we bought a stupid raincoat for the dog for just sort an occasion? Yeah, that was also still hanging in the coat closet.

We finally reached the van, loaded the drenched dog in the back, and piled inside the heated paradise. It wasn't until I was out of the rain that I realized the only part of my outfit that was still dry was the back of my upper leg. A short drive and we were home again, and when we stepped out of the van, the rain stopped as suddenly as it had started.

Ha, ha, God. Very funny. Fool me once, blah, blah, blah.

~Paula

Five Minute Friday: Ordinary

I'm going to give Five Minute Friday another whirl. Mostly because actually remembered to do it this Friday. TGIF!

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here (The Gypsy Mama) and invite others to join in.
3. Go all out encouraging the writer who linked up before you.

OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes:

Ordinary

We've been bombarded for the last month and a half with scenery that makes you stop and stare and absorb every last bit of it. We have been enjoying new foods and activities within a short 20-30 minute drive at the most usually. And we even have a DVR that makes our television viewing easier to enjoy.

But the one thing that we've been craving lately is the familiar, the ordinary. Something as trivial as a Mary Kay party the other night wrapped me up in a warm blanket memories and recognition of things that I've known before. The weather is different here, the landscape is different, and living in town has been a big change, but my Mary Kay party grounded me again in the ordinary life. And it felt nice to be invited to something and belonging somewhere.

I know by this time next year I'll be wondering where the months went. Right now, though, the less extraordinary moments in life are just as welcome.

TIME'S UP!

Hope you are enjoying the warm weather in the Midwest (albeit windy, from what I understand). We are missing the sights and sounds of harvest this year and feeling a little melancholy. May all of our farming friends and family reap a bumper crop.

~Paula

A Day At Da Hood

I can feel that our sunny, rain-free days are numbered here, so yesterday we went east to Mt. Hood to explore. Don't worry, no helicopter rescues or search parties were needed, although we did have one minor injury and a hit-and-run incident, but I'll get to that later.

My parents flew out last Friday, and as I had posted earlier, they brought along with them our dog, Penny. She made it through the four hour plane ride with flying colors and has acclimated to her new surroundings quickly. She did seem a little skittish the first few days after the trip, but I think she was wondering if she had to leave when my parents did, because now that they are gone, she seems much more relaxed and willing to explore the house and back yard. On the farm, we couldn't easily convince her to come in the house, and now we can't get her to leave without the promise of a ride or a walk.

While my parents were here, we went into Portland to the Japanese Gardens. They are so manicured and serene, I hope my four-year-old didn't disturb the chi or whatever it is they are attempting to maintain in there. No time for reflection when you're trying to keep a little boy from spitting (or worse) into the koi pond. If you know my son, you know that it takes him a while to warm up to people--even close relatives--so about the time Mom and Dad left, he was very chatty with them and giving out hugs and giggles. Hopefully he can warm up quicker next time or they can stay a few more days so we can enjoy the truce a little longer.

Little Zigzag Falls

Saturday, we (finally) went out to Mt. Hood. It was a warm, beautiful day and I was itching to enjoy every last ray of sunshine. We picked out a few easy hikes for the kids, packed our picnic basket again, and headed down Hwy 26. We started out at Little Zigzag Falls Trailhead. It's a short walk to the falls and the parking lot is actually part of the old Hwy 26 that was once all switchbacks down the hillside. It gave us a chance to enjoy our first hike with the dog. And by "enjoy", I mean tripping over and receiving multiple rope burns from her retractable leash. We're still working on her manners.

On our way to the second hike, Dave spotted the entrance to the Skibowl Alpine Slide. It's basically a bobsled run down a ski slope in the middle of summer. The freakiest part was the ski lift ride up to the top of the slide, an experience that was new to us all. We gleefully sped down the run a couple of times and then were duped into upgrading our wristbands and headed over to the Adventure Park on the other side of the hill. And by "adventure park", I mean deathtrap/lawsuit waiting to happen. I'll sum it up with the following conversation that my husband and I had:

Me: Sorry we didn't catch up with you. Your daughter fell and skinned her knee and I had to break into the first aid station to get her cleaned up and bandaged. What's the matter with D?

Hubby: He got into an accident at the kiddie karts. I got a guy fired and our money back, so I think we should leave this park and go back over to the slide.

Me: What?

Alpine Slide at Skibowl

Long story short, my son ran into the attendant with his mini kart at the understaffed mini kart ride, the attendant started shouting at my son, got into an argument with my husband, and is now no longer an employee of the adventure park. My daughter tripped on the wet pavement at the top of the hill, skinned her knee up pretty good, went into hysterics, and we wandered around the First Aid area looking for help until I finally just went in and started rummaging around for towels and bandages myself. We were able to end the day with a few more rides down the Alpine Slide and everything was right in the world again. If you ever get a chance to try the Alpine Slide at Skibowl, I highly recommend giving it a whirl, but don't bother with the Adventure Park pass. Your sanity will thank you.

This week, we are in the middle of an awkward game of musical mattresses as we try to re-arrange the sleeping quarters in this house. It's finally the master bedroom's turn to get organized and officially unpacked as well. Hopefully it won't take a helicopter rescue and search party to find the rest of my socks.


~Paula

Release The Hounds!

There is a lot of excitement in our house this week, and it has nothing to do with the fact that we have finally unpacked the guest bedroom, parked the van in the garage, or the sale on perennials at Home Depot. The fifth member of our family, our dog Penny, arrives on Friday, thus completing our move. The fact that Grandpa and Grandma are bringing her out and will be staying for a week hasn't even registered on the kids' radar yet. They are ready to have their furry sibling here and I'm not sure they've talked about much else in the last few days.

January 2005

My husband and I have had Penny in our lives for 10 years now. She was our first child, so to speak. We got her as a puppy and babied her and kept her in the house and squeaky clean for four of those years. Then we moved into a different house, I gave birth to my daughter, and poor Penny's world began to change quickly. As a sleep deprived mama, I could no longer put up with the 4:00 a.m. cleaning session at the foot of our bed, the dirty paws, or the constant vigil I felt I had to keep those first weeks with a newborn in the house. I finally told myself that a border collie was destined to be an outdoor dog anyway. We live(d) on a farm, so I'm sure it was a young dog's heaven.

Outdoors she has been for the last six or so years, and now on Friday she will be an indoor dog once more. We debated whether or not to bring her out here on our journey. Would it be too stressful (for the dog and me)? Would the kids be able to handle having her in close quarters? Would the dog be able to handle having the kids in close quarters? As the move got closer though, the kids began to cling to Penny and it wasn't long after that that the decision was made to bring her with us. Ready or not.

Why didn't we bring her out here in August, you may ask? That was the original plan, and a lesson we had to learn -- research first, book your plane tickets second. After purchasing our tickets to fly out here, chasing our moving truck, we discovered that the airlines have a blackout period to fly pets in the cargo hold during the really hot and really cold months. We left August 14, and she couldn't fly until after Sept 15. Fortunately, we have a long list of friends and family that wanted to come and visit us, and my parents were gracious enough to agree to bring her on their trip out this weekend. The health certificate from the vet is signed, the arrangements are all made with the airline, and my son has made sure that our house is stocked with new chew toys.

Penny with her summer 'do ~ August 2011

I have to admit, I'm looking forward to having Penny here, too. She's mellowed considerably over the years and become almost a pleasure to have along on walks and bike rides. It will be nice to have a quiet companion in a house that has become so very empty and eerily silent these past few mornings when the kids are both at school. So welcome home, my furry friend. Your humans can't wait.

Cougars, and Foxes, and Fires, Oh My!

We have had a busy, but rather uneventful week here, so my posting today is mostly about this and that. My daughter started first grade (and is loving it) and we've been getting a few more rooms in order (and I'm loving that). I gave into my urge to buy some shrubbery for our backyard today and am happily typing away with dirty fingernails. It feels good to get my hands dirty in the name of nature.

Speaking of enjoying nature, I had to slip in another photo from our Ape Cave adventure last weekend. You have to drive through Cougar, Washington, to get to the caves, and on the way, the park sign above was spotted. I can't help but picture the ladies from the Cougar Den on Saturday Night Live sitting around in big hair, big nails, and animal print clothing soliciting younger men as they pass through. It's made me smile to myself all week, and now I pass the gift onto you.

In other wild animal news, the mascot at my daughter's school is a fox, and there is a darling little statue of a fox leaping in the air right next to the main entrance. It seems that with every special occasion, one lucky lady working in the office gets to dig out an outfit and dress the statue accordingly. Tuesday was welcome back to school, Wednesday he was naked, and Friday he was wearing red for Spirit Day. Stay tuned for more pictures of the Foxy fashion collection as the year goes by.

I'm not sure if it's been hitting the news back in the Midwest or not, but Mt. Hood has been wrapped in smoke from forest fires for a couple of weeks now. At the end of August, there were several lightening strikes that spurred fires east and south of Portland. The wind here, although not as constant as back on the plains, can still whip up to 20-30 mph and a nice, brown cloud traveled 65 miles and entered over our neighborhood one day. It's nice to know that at least we don't have to worry about tornadoes now when something like this is overhead. These fires are not only hampering our weekend travel plans, as we would like to head out to Mt. Hood while the sun is still shining, but it has also besmirched the view of Mt. Hood from our deck. Prayers for all the firefighters, homeowners, and civilians that are in its path.

August

September

As mentioned in an earlier post, we are now sitting in our sitting room! It is actually looking more like a home and less like an abandoned storage facility all the time. Maybe by the time my parents and our dog, Penny, arrive in another week, we'll have somewhere to put them, too.

~Paula

Five Minute Friday: In Real Life

I'm joining a fellow blogger, Kimberly, in what's called 'Five Minute Friday'. I'm to write for 5 minutes flat - no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. This may be a challenge as I probably spend almost as much time editing my blog posts before publishing as I do writing them.

Today's Five Minute Friday topic:

In Real Life

Real life is having a lot of alone time. I'm surrounded by noises of a new city - traffic, construction, people walking by (usually with at least one dog in tow), and of course the noises inside a house that I've known for almost a month now. I'm getting used to the noises inside but it has taken some time to get used to the noise outside our fortress of solitude.

A friend of mine pointed out to me before we left our hometown in August that, like her, I have the tendency to turn in on myself and keep the outside at arm's length...do my best to shut it out when the input becomes too much. I've been so busy since we moved here that I haven't had time to think about this much. Now my oldest is in school and my youngest is about to start preschool. I'll have a lot of alone time in the mornings at least. How will I spend it?

Stop.

The five-minute rule puts an interesting twist on the result of the post. If you want to see what others are writing about, check out The Gypsy Mama.

~Paula

A Summer To Remember

'Twas the night before school starts, and what did we do?
We recovered from boating and spelunking, too.
The children are nestled all snug in their beds
As visions of a river and caves dance in their heads.

Happy Labor Day, everyone! We've spent a lot of this week trying to get through the last of our boxes that are sitting out in the house. We may be able to park at least one car in the garage sometime this week, and the front sitting room may actually be used for sitting in the next couple of days.

Sunday we spent the day on the Willamette (rhymes with 'dammit') River with a co-worker/friend of my husband's. He has a fun boat and offered to take us for a spin on what turned out to be one of the hottest days this weekend (again, by Pacific NW terms). My husband and I are from lake country in the Midwest, but are woefully lacking in the recreational boating department. I tried water skiing once back in high school. One self-inflicted enema later, I hung up my water skiing career. Since then, we (or maybe just I) mostly have partaken in the more leisurely, less emotionally-scarring forms of water sports--fishing and tubing. So when my hubby forwarded an e-mail from his co-worker listing such things as wake boards, wake surfing, and something called "skates", you can imagine the gruesome flashbacks that came to mind and subsequent panic.

I'm happy to report that even though I may not have spent a lot of time upright on the wake surfing board, I did get up and out of the water, my bottom and all. As is the plight of many moms out there though, there are no pictures of myself doing it, so you'll just have to take my word. My husband had a successful go at it and even my daughter gave wake boarding a try. All-in-all, it was a sun-drenched, adrenaline-pumping, laughter-filled afternoon. A big thank you to K.L. and his daughter for being so generous and showing us how to enjoy the Willamette.

I woke up Monday morning to the aches and pains of arm and leg muscles that haven't been used like that in many, many years. There are areas of my armpits I did not realize had individual muscles until now. In spite of that, we were game to get in one more adventure on the last day of summer vacation and headed north to the Ape Caves next to Mt. St. Helens. They are old lava tubes formed about 1,900 years ago in a rare lava eruption from the volcano. Most of the volcanoes in the Cascade Mountain range that runs along the west coast only give large, explosive, ashy eruptions because of the amount of silica in the ground here, but thanks to a blip in history (or someone who didn't read the memo), we were able to try our hand at spelunking for the first time.

If you ever get the chance to go cave exploring, bring long pants, a thick sweatshirt, and an ample light source. It was 88 F at the mouth of the cave and quickly plunged to 44 F by the time we made the short trip down the staircase to the cave floor. My husband and I have the tendency to try and forge ahead on outings even if we've forgotten a few key supplies back in the van or at home. Five minutes into our first attempt at the hike, we were tripping and shivering along because we forgot to change the kids into the warm clothes we left the van and had left the large flashlight on the kitchen counter at home. We put our pride aside turned around and started over from the parking lot once more. This time, we were properly attired with our jogging headlamp in position and our rented Coleman lantern in hand. And oh boy, am I glad we decided to spring for the lantern.

It's dark. As in can't-see-your-hand-in-front-of-your-face dark. There are no lights wired down in these caves, and as busy as it was on Labor Day, there were still times when we couldn't see the lamps of the people in front of us or behind us and it was just us four trying to stay within the lit circle of our lantern and headlamp. The ceiling of the cave is at least 20-30 feet high in most parts of the cave, thank goodness, so my claustrophobic tendencies didn't really bother me much. The kids were incredibly well-behaved and maintained a brave face for almost the entire time. It wasn't until we started the trickier ascent back up the lava tube and had to concentrate even more on our footing that kisses on scraped hands and piggyback rides were necessary.

We trekked for an hour round-trip and came back up into the warm sunlight again just in time as my claustrophobia was becoming directly proportional to how fatigued I was. A no-brainer, we had chosen to take the lower "easy" cave hike which was only 3/4 of a mile long instead of the upper "difficult" cave hike which is 1 1/2 miles uphill over large boulders and an 8 foot lava wall that has to be scaled. The kids didn't think it sounded all that difficult, but then again, they weren't walking the entire way, either.

Another summer vacation in the books tonight, I hope all goes well for my daughter at her new school tomorrow. Fingers crossed that she saved some of her bravado for the rest of the week to come. Here's a little video of our spelunking adventure to remember our Labor Day Weekend.

~Paula