So there I was, wandering around my yard visualizing the rest of my day: Go out to Post Canyon for a
little GPS mapping, come home and enjoy the luscious Genuine Hermiston Watermelon (certified
organic!) I'd just toted home from Sat Market, perhaps a beer or two...my reverie was interrupted by
the Mr. "I have to go to Spokane." I responded with a string of Quaint Naval Phrasology which
basically boiled down to "Uh, what? You mean like today? Now?" "Yes. Why don't you call Penny and
see if she'll ride with you tomorrow, and you can come with me."
Several hours later we pulled into Penny's Special Overnight Campground. Yes, we were truck camping,
but it was still "real" camping, because we heard coyotes & owl, and a deer came through in the
morning. 🙂
Sunday morning, I hooked up the Mr's caffeine IV and we headed out to a delicious brekkie at the
Cannon St Grill. Their quiche is not to be missed, especially the eggplant & artichoke heart quiche.
I came to regret choosing the quiche later, but it was delicious at the time. (Note to self: go for
the "fruit plate" next time.) The potatoes were divine, and the Mr said he is headed back up there
next weekend for another of their omelets. I'm all about the food.
The Mr bundled off on his business, Penny and I hit the golf course. OK, I'm lying. It was just the
golf course parking lot used for some trailheads on Beacon Hill. I had my first wipeout in the
freakin' parking lot, thinking I'd be all cool & [censored] & jump the curb. It was a lot squarer than I
expected, and I noticed this just as I was going for the compress portion of the jump, and my brain
overrode what I was doing with some message like "STOP! You will never make it up that!" Well no
duh, not when I'm stopping in the middle of the move like that.
The ride started off uphill to the power station, through a series of delicious banked turns. Penny
had mentioned doing a loop, and I was secretly wishing we had gone down this section instead of up
it. After the power station, we headed down the ridge through some excellent switchbacks. The
terrain seemed about as dry as what I'm used to, but the sand was larger-grained than what we have
here on Hood. There were a few rutted-out sections, some of which I skipped. I don't like riding
with my tire caught in a ditch, unable to pedal. Penny warned me about an upcoming section of trail
with a sharp right turn and a strategically placed tree. I commented, "I will probably run into it."
The question now for the philosophers: Had I not said that, would I have hit it anyway, or did
saying so influence my actions?
We stopped to play at a wonderful rocky area and I spent a fair amount of time learning to use my
camera to take movies, and riding a steep section of rock that looks a lot less scary in the
pictures. Our time about up, we headed back to the car. About this time the quiche started arguing
with me about whether it was going to stay inside and read quietly like a nice little quiche, or was
going to try to play outside. Hrm. I made it back to the power station without hurling, though I did
have to push my bike a fair amount. After a quick cool-off in the shade, we headed back down through
the section of banked turns we had come in on. Hee hee hee, I *love* that stuff. 😄
The drive home was hot, but beautiful, the last miles lit by an orange crescent moon on the shoulder
of Mt Hood.
I will close with this overheard comment (completely unrelated, but funny) from one of the golfers:
"Some days you pay a lot of money to play this sport."
Thank you, and good night.
gabrielle