High Fives in the Cascades

Aha! Proof!

I'll be honest. . .this week was quite possibly one of my roughest since moving to Oregon. Work was crazy (including my first lay off), soccer was total crap, a speeding ticket and it appeared that winter had officially arrived. The week didn't turn for the better until Friday, sunny, quite fabulous Friday. I was ready for the week to come to an end and the weekend to start. I was a little worried that i was going to spend my weekend either drinking or sleeping off a hangover but instead i kept it cool and filled it with fun activities instead (and a few whiskies on the rocks).

Friday night i joined a friend for happy hour and drinks downtown before heading to "Mortified." Our dinning choice was closed for a private party so we wandered aimlessly around downtown until something jumped out at us. Sushi it was. This wasn't you normal, sake serving, octopus and rice munching sushi joint. This place had a train! Yes. . .a model train choo chooed itself around the bar with flat-bed cargo carts filled with plates of deliciously fresh sushi. Not really the classiest of places, seeing as it was between a methadone clinic and a brake shop. But. . .it you stuck with the floral or tan plates you could walk away with an "authentic" Japanese meal for two at a cost lower than most burrito carts in the city. After dining on some tan and floral plates we strolled over to meet some more friends for "Mortified." "Mortified" is a live, poetry reading like comedy routine/troop that entertains the crowd by reading snippets from their personal writings and journals, dear diary type stuff. I wasn't that excited for much more than the company when i got the invite, thinking it was going to be a coffee house, open mic, snap your fingers type of gig. What actually ensued was nothing but shear laughter over other people's apparent adolescent terror. The spectrum of topics was broad but in the end everyone was basically reading about adolescent torment. Good times had by all.

Saturday it was back to the trails. A friend, her dog and i headed into the Gorge for a casual walk through the woods. We were "blessed" with some of the nicest November weather i've seen. The hike was simple and easy on the ol' psoas. I have never been to the Gorge on as clear of a day. Usually, on a good day, you'll get some misty glimpses of Mt. Hood and Adams but this trip i was gifted with views of five Cascade mountains. Mt. Saint Helens, Mt, Adams, Mt. Rainier, Mt Hood and Mt. Jefferson. I feel pretty lucky to find myself out on this perfect day. . .in November of all months (November tends to be one of the wettest months in Oregon). I took a lot of pictures. . .bear with me.

The trail up Larch Mountain.

A black and white shot of St. Helens, Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier

Mt. Rainier

St. Helens, Mt. Adams and Mt Rainier (in color)

Helens and Adams

Here you can see Adams and Rainier. The shadow is Larch Mountain. Helens was in the viewfinder but didn't show up in the picture.

Mt. Rainier

Mt. Saint Helens

Helens in the absence of color.

Majestic Mt. Hood

And again.

And without color.

The fifth and final member of the Cascade family, Mt. Jefferson. It's the little peak just right of the tree.

It was a great weekend to be an Oregonian. The icing on the cake was an early morning of splitting wood, raking leaves and a round of Frisbee golf. The weekend proved to be just the ticket to forgetting about an exceptionally shitty week.