Head to the Hood

Before leaving Boulder City, we had a good breakfast at Southwest Diner.

A throwback to earlier years, the place was decorated with a lot of nostalgia. Julie struck up a conversation with a couple of local veterans and not only were they friendly, they were funny and welcoming to their town. Aside from dinner across the street, this place should be on your stop list. Good food (lots of it), and an upbeat vibe.

We traveled through hundreds of miles in the Nevada desert and foothills. It's flat and boring, as it all looks the same.

There are few places to stop, gas up and eat. One such place was a couple of gas stations, restaurant, deli, strip club (Alien Cat House), and the star attraction, the Area 51 Alien Center & Gift shop.

You know we went in, poked around and were compelled to buy a couple of tee shirts that announces we were there. Who knew?

But to be honest, we didn't know where we were (Amargosa Valley), but got some petrol did not go in the Cat House and kept on trucking.

We ended our day in Winnemucca, Nevada, where we were last year.

Although just for an over night stay. We weren't there long enough to notice much because we were about 2/3 of the way to West Seattle. Beat and weary from the road, rest was on our dance card. We had dinner at a local steak house, that was okay - not the best, but certainly not the worst.

On the way to Madras, Oregon we stopped at Cranes Hot Springs, where we camped last year. We had lunch and reminisced about the few days we spent there. The day was warm and brilliant and we wished for a few moments we could stop and spend a few days... Maybe in the future.

Our next day ended in Madras, Oregon. We stayed at the Bunk House at Cross Roads.

While only a few years old, it has a very rich feel. Rooms are generously sized and well appointed. The bed was very comfortable. For dinner that night, we had a pizza to go and a bottle of Conundrum Red Blend. Pizza was okay, the wine better. On the 3rd floor there is a large patio that overlooks part of the town and the major route that would take us the final leg. They offer a complimentary breakfast that has hot and cold choices, muffins, juices, very good coffee and once again, we found ourselves on the patio. Cool morning air a daylight view and (start of a mini rant), some jerkweed at the end that setup his office.

I recently read there's a new term for this, where an individual watches a video, uses the speaker phone and is unconcerned that there are people around. Same with calls or music. Part of it rubs me the wrong way. In all the years I was on the road, I would rarely bring a laptop in the dining room and if I did, it was to write or receive emails.The invaision of dining areas by people who are yapping (loudly I might add), to the point we knew what their business was about and being that rude that it might disturb others who wanted to read a book while having morning coffee. There was no quiet breakfast. I stopped short of throwing him, his phone and two laptops over the rail. But our car was below us in the parking lot. The heat of the day was rising and I'm not sure blood washed off easily.

The route we took had us skirt the southern side of Mt Hood. The roads are excellent, albeit steep and with sweeping switchbacks. It's a major state road incredibly maintained and it seemed to us few people were interested in speeding. As we left Madras, the landscape was a mix of farmlands and desert landscape. Nearing the summit roads the landscape changes to towering green forests of spruce and cypress trees. For miles we traveled on what seemed the spine of a ridge until we hit the major interesctions that take you to to the top, hiking trail campgrounds, lodges, etc. And the road we were on had plenty of that as well. Just beautiful scenery and the pictures Julie took don't do it justice. A note of caution... All of the areas we drove through have severe dry conditions. Fire season is upon the west and there's no shortage of wildfires.

Touch down!

We arrived in West Seattle in late afternoon and were excited to see my daughter, son in law and our granddaughter. First, it was wonderful to know that they were all in excllent health, living the life of new parents and Maeve Maddox is a firecracker of a 9 month old. She is crawling, standing and lets you know when she likes or dislikes something. Our first night there was a dinner of fresh Sushi and some wine. We retired to their ADU, which Julie and I helped build last fall. A shoutout to Kerry, Karen, Bob and Eddie, because the finished product is fabulous. There's more to do, but the major stuff is done and it's great. We were honored to be the first to use the ADU and we were very comfortable

At the request of her parents and concern for her safety, this image (blurred), was taken at the local park where you cannot fully appreciate the facial expressions and happiness. It was a very good day. We love this family and especially this little girl!

We spent a few more days before we packed up for the flight to Boston, where more family and good times await. See you soon...