We're spending our last night on the road in Redding, CA in the Presidential Suite. We decided to celebrate our big room and the ability to watch an A's game live by ordering room service and relaxing before we're forced to get back to the real world tomorrow (sigh...).
We left the Columbia River Gorge on Wednesday and drove to Mount Hood. We stayed at a condominium complex about 20 minutes away from the mountain and had our largest accommodations yet. The boys each had their own beds and there was a washer and dryer in the unit (it's pretty sad that I was excited at this but after three weeks on the road and the occasional coin laundry, this was a such a bonus!)
On Wednesday we had lunch at the Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood and took a bit of a hike up the mountain. It's very bizarre landscape up there at the tree line on the side of a volcano. Barren, but also very pretty. Later that night we had a barbecue at Jordan and Lisa's condo.
Thursday was Ed's 75th birthday (the reason for the London family portion of the trip). We took a hike up to Mirror Lake. And when I say up, I mean up! The elevation was significant but the kids did great on the walk. After we got back we stopped at a nearby ski area and everyone rode the sleds down the hill. It was great fun! Most of us did it twice!
That night we had a big birthday dinner for Ed at the steakhouse on the property and we all had a great time!
Update: Our car is no longer demanding service and I have (sort of) fixed my phone. I can get it fully charged but the charge only lasts for a couple of hours. Hopefully I'll just need to swap out the battery when I get home. With all the traveling and moving between hotels that we've been doing we've been very lucky not to have lost or broken anything. Well, almost anything. Last night Daniel went into the bushes to retrieve a baseball and somehow lost his (not cheap!) sandal and none of us could find it. Oh well! He Jay did manage to find the $3 baseball at least. Whew!
