Here’s the family album page of the blog so you can skim through it, but please take a look at the picture of this lovely group I belong to.  For those who need a program, here’s the cast of characters – Tim - #1 son, Jay - #2  son,  Erika – daughter, Jen – Tim’s girlfriend, Chandra – Jay’s fiancee, Janey -  sister-in-law.  Decided against descriptions for anyone  lest I be accused of picking a favorite (that’s a comment that’s been making the rounds).

Had some time before picking up Janey at the airport so decided to take a look around Great Falls.  There’s a terrific Lewis & Clark museum that lets you walk a maze through their entire journey.  Add a Ken Burns film and everything you wanted to know about their trek is there.  When they arrived, they expected to find one waterfall and thought they’d spend an afternoon dragging their canoes around it.  Instead, there were five of them so ended up spending a month.

Janey & I left for Yellowstone the following day and got there in time to look around the sights at the north entrance.  What a show at Mammoth Hot Springs!  The bull elks are in a romantic mood so one large one was keeping careful watch over his girlfriends who were happily grazing on the Village Green - must have been 25 or more.  Lurking in the shadows (between the post office and the museum) was a possible contender and a wanna-be (spike).  The rangers were kept busy herding the spectators away from the possible confrontation.  Quite exciting!  Heard later on the trail that the bull attacked a red compact.  Not their favorite color, I guess.

There was a mix-up on the reservations I made on Orbitz and the price of our room was confirmed for $100 more than expected.  Janey called Orbitz, who connected us to the hotel and they agreed to give us the only room they had available for the original price – a 2 room suite with 2 king-size beds, a full kitchen and huge deck. She’s a very valuable traveling companion.

We saw beautiful hot water falls, pools, streams & mini-geysers – all in a variety of colors - bright blues, oranges, browns and kelly greens -depended on the type of thermo-vegetation growing in the warm to really hot water.  Some even looked like paint pots that bubbled like thick grey pudding. The grand finale was the Old Faithful performance.  I don’t care how many pictures you see, it’s thrilling to see it begin with fits and starts and then explode.

I was around 10 when I visited Yellowstone with my brother, sister and parents.  The joke was we walked out and back.  Every time we got in a tussle in the back seat, dad would stop the car, make us get out, give each a quick smack on the side of the head and make us walk.  The routine was repeated regularly.  Surprisingly, we all remember a lot of the sights

Because of the smoke, we could only see the outline of the Grand Tetons on our way to Jackson Hole, but the following day, we drove through them when we began our race across Idaho.  We made it to northern Oregon and drove the Columbia River Gorge on the Washington side of the river.  Heard it was a great drive and wanted to have the option making some stops without having to rely on finding the right exit. Beautiful overlooks along a winding road.

Our first was Maryville, perched on a hill overlooking the river, the former home of railroad heir Howard Hill which has been turned into museum and gallery.  Beautiful paintings and museum pieces, a sculpture garden, Native American exhibits, and more.  Apparently he had a close relationship with Romanian royalty because most of the first floor consisted of Queen Marie memorabilia.  She was quite a talent - poet, furniture designer, architect, and had a very tiny waist (one of her gowns was on display).

We also stopped by the Columbia River Gorge Interpretive Center.  It’s a beautiful building that highlights the development of the area from river travel to railroad (the golden spike was put in near there).  We also stopped at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.  Life-sized models of the travelers on the trail (including the oxen).  A costumed presenter also gave us a peek into what the women wore as underwear.  There’s a good reason we go in groups to the restroom.  A leisurely trek down the hill to the trail belied the uphill climb back to the parking lot.  Janey was a good sport as I found several occasions to stave off a heart attack and  “admire the view”.

Met Chandra, Tim & Jen at the rented house in Portland.  Jay arrived that evening and Erika the following morning.  Great fun to have everyone together and super kudos to Chandra for arranging some great places for us to dine over the weekend.  She’s an editor for a food magazine so has the inside info on tasty spots – in fact the owner of one of them let Jay use his bike for the race.  She also arranged for us to stay for a couple of days at a wine-maker’s home in the Willamette Valley after the race.  (It’s pronounced Willamette – dammit -  my host in Boulder gave me that helpful hint).

Saturday we drooled over the offerings at the Portland Farmer’s Market and picked up some fixings to make a Sunday evening celebration dinner. Then it was off to the 600’ Multnomah Falls.

Chandra “volunteered” to take Jay to the triathlon check-in at 6 am on Sunday morning. He had a rough time with the swimming portion of the race – said he felt nauseous half way through and wasn’t sure he’d be able to finish.  Recovered tho and made up time in the bicycle and running portions and finished respectably, We were all at the finish with cameras flashing and a beer waiting. 

Off to Willamette on Sunday afternoon. We first met at a winery and my crack navigator, Erika, found a lovely back-road drive thru..  Back at the house, all pitched in to make a beautifully- presented and delicious salad and pasta dinner.  Should have taken pictures, it was so lovely.  Janey had an early Monday flight back to NY and Tim & Jen joined Jay, Chandra and Erika for some winery visits before their early evening flight back to San Diego.  Jay, Chandra, Erika & I were the lucky beneficiaries of the leftovers.  (I didn’t think I liked beets!)

When Jay, Chandra & Erika left for the Portland airport on Tuesday morning, Patience & I got on the road for our next adventure –a drive along the Oregon coast.