Mt. Hood

So for Christmas my parents gave Kim and I (give yourself ten points if you realized it should be 'me and Kim' instead of 'Kim and I') a gift certificate to the Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. We tried to use it a couple of times during the year but it never worked out due to the apparent policy at the Timberline Lodge of being booked full 4 months out. So instead we used it as a brief rest in between Tacoma and Walla Walla. We spent an afternoon in Portland, and by Portland I mean Powell's book store. Neither of us had ever been to Powell's before but it is overwhelming. It's a 3 story, full city block of new and used books. We spent maybe 3 hours there and barely scratched the surface of what's available. My favorite book (which I didn't buy because I read the whole thing while standing there) was called "What White People Like" It included such entries as 'not owning a tv', 'adopting foreign children', 'Arrested Development', and 'pretending to be Canadian while in Europe'. I didn't find casserole or fondue but maybe I just missed those.
After Powell's we headed up to the lodge and had a great 3 days. We went hiking, read a lot, ate good food, relaxed, and learned the word 'hygrometer' from a dial in the sauna. The mountain looks like it used to have huge glaciers, but like Mt. Adams, now is mostly dirt in late summer. The lodge was built in the 30's by the WPA and is beautiful. Everything is wood and there are huge beams in every room. In many places it looks like whole trees were used. Thanks for the great present M&D!