Another Adventure

For a wedding present last year, Tom's kids gave us an overnight stay at McMenamins Edgefield Hotel in Troutdale, OR. We finally put it to use. Waiting for good weather certainly paid off, as it was perfect while we were there! As you can see in the pictures, the trees were in bloom and the sky was blue. The Edgefield property itself is quite amazing - there are 10
restaurants/bars/tasting rooms, along with a spa and a 32-hole par 3 golf course. There is
a winery, a distillery and a brewery. What more could you want? A pool hall? Oh yes, there is one of those as well. And a movie theater. Edgefield is a 74-acre estate built in 1911 as the Multnomah County Poor Farm. The door of each of the 100 guestrooms is painted with the name of the former occupant, and on the inside of the room, there is a brief history of the person as well as a painting of him/her. We were in Lucky Staehly's room, which happened to have also been known in his day as The Make-Out Room. ! How appropriate for nearly newly weds. We sampled some of their fine beer, and later a bottle of their fine wine, while sitting in rocking chairs on the balcony. Ah yes, it was a truly fine get-away.

We had seen some commercials on TV about the Tulip Festival in Woodburn, OR, so decided while we were in the area, we'd pay a visit. It was amazing! There are 40 acres of tulips of all

colors and varieties. Pictures do not do it justice. They were at their peak when we were there.

After visiting the tulip farm, we visited Tom's son Chris, wife Carla and their son Sam...and

went to watch Sam's LaCross game that night.

On the way back to Bend, it was an amazingly clear day, and I could not resist taking a picture of Mount Hood in all it's glory!

On the Mend in Bend

We are back home in Bend now, trying to get caught up on mail, taxes, etc! When we left Wickenburg, we headed for northeast Arizona and Monument Valley. Since the back roads are closed to private vehicles, and we wanted to see as much as possible, we took a tour with a Navajo guide. We visited a Hogan with a Navajo lady demonstrating rug weaving. When we started out, we were concerned about blowing dust, but before we knew it, we were fighting blowing snow!!! We were sitting in the back of a pick-up truck outfitted with bench seats, but not much in the way of protection from the weather. Once it began to snow hard, visibility was next to zero, and he cut the tour short to get us back. It is another beautiful part of Arizona (and Utah). Arizona is a very diverse state where you can go from desert cactus to ponderosa pines in under one hour.

We had a wonderful stay and will return to sunny Arizona next winter!