Oregon Wedding Trip

Spectacular view of Mt. Hood from Trillium Lake.
 
June 4th was the long-awaited wedding of our son Ian to his girlfriend of 8 years, Michelle.  It was at Silver Falls State  Park in Oregon and a large portion of my family made the trip.  It was really special to me that both my brothers were there, Larry's whole family drove up from Arizona and Mike flew in with Mom.  My aunt came from Michigan, and my mother-in -law from here in our area.Of course, younger son Sam/Zac/Satchmo was best man and he traveled from the Yosemite area with Ryan Evans, who was also a groomsman.  We had so much fun.  Of course our trip got off to an annoying start when our flight out Tuesday evening was cancelled due to bad weather in Chicago.  So we had to stay overnight in Columbus and take a 5:45 am flight out the next day, putting us in Portland around 11 am.  We were due downtown at around noon to get wristbands for our soccer game that evening, so we were kind of rushed for time.  But it all worked out.  The soccer game was a great experience.  The Timbers won    1 - 0 despite being down a man the whole second half.,

The next day, we shopped for the food for the rehearsal dinner we were preparing the following day at the wedding venue.  There were to be about 30 people and we were doing  pizzas on the grill, salad and dessert.  Son Sam was in charge of the shopping list and we got to pay the bill.  Then we traveled to the house we were renting for the next 3 days, about an hour or so from Portland. 

Friday we were at the Old Ranch (wedding venue) a little after noon with all the food so the prep could begin.  It was a long day, but the dinner that evening went quite well.  Sam/Zac/Satchmo, Sam and I prepared and cooked 15 pizzas!  The chef (S/Z/S) even got a standing ovation from the guests.   His sauce was declared the best some people had ever had.  It was pretty darn good.

So that meant most of my stress was over.  Saturday, Sam and I got up  and drove the the park and did their 8.7 mile "Trail of Ten Falls" .  It was a really nice fairly easy hike and we did it in about 3 hours and then went into the town of Silverton for lunch together.  Then it was back to the rental house to shower and change and head back to the park for  photos and the wedding.  

 

 

The groom and his groomsmen

The wedding was held at the "Old Ranch" which consisted of a huge old barn with a circular fireplace in the center.  The actual ceremony was outside under a tree and then dinner and dancing was in the barn. 

 It was very hot for Oregon, in the 90's. 

vows

 

 

 
 There were bunk beds in the loft of the barn and many of the members of the wedding party stayed there overnight, though  we headed back to our rental by around midnight.  It was a great day.

On Sunday, we needed to get back to Portland because my aunt and mother-in-law had early flights out Monday morning.  We stayed at a hotel at the airport and after we saw them off in morning, Mom, brother Mike, Sam and I headed off to stay in the Mt Hood area for a couple of nights.  We visited the Timberline Resort on Mt Hood, where we saw people snowboarding and checked out the historic hotel.  We did not get to sit and have a drink however, as they were shooting a TV show episode in the bar and it was closed.  It was a neat building though, with interesting history.

That evening the 4 of us took a 2 mile hike around Trillium lake which was very nice and had lovely scenery.  On Tuesday morning, Mike and Sam and I headed off to do a 7 mile hike which included part of the Pacific Crest Trail in the Mt Hood Wilderness.  We ended up hiking 2 extra miles, because we got on a wrong trail.  We were lucky it was only 2 extra miles.

It was the Twin Lakes Trail Loop and the lakes were very secluded and beautiful.  The upper Twin Lake had spectacular views of Mt Hood, though it kind of faded out in the background of my photos.

 The following day, Sam and I had an early flight out of Portland and we arrived home Wednesday evening around 8 pm.  It was a long event-filled trip and it was just a wonderful time.  

Now that I am back home, it has been time to catch up on the garden and the mowing and everything else that got neglected for over a week.  

The cicadas had stopped emerging and shedding their shells.  They are now just making a horrendous racket all day long and they are flying everywhere.  I was even "attacked" by them when I tried to use the weed-eater and I ended up shutting the weed eater off and running from it!  I am told the cicadas are attracted to the engine noise.  Hopefully they will finish out their life cycle in the next couple of weeks and we can live without them for another 17 years.

Grover and I are off to the Cincinnati area this weekend for a trial.  We will be staying with my mom from Friday until Monday morning and trialing Saturday and Sunday mornings.  I have arranged to meet with 4 of my high school friends for a dinner out on Sunday evening.  It has been a couple of years since we last got together, though some of them came and watched Grover and I when we attended this same trial last June.  We have not been to a trial in 2 months, so we'll see how we do.  We have been practicing a lot, though not in the last 2 weeks.  Hoping for a couple of Qs!