In The Dalles, OR

I've been to The Dalles one time a long long long time ago. Needless to say I don't remember it as I was probably under 10. I remember the name as not too many towns start with "the." My mother used to talk about The Dalles because she thought it was pretty.

That was then, and this is now. I find the scenery along the river to be pretty. It's teeming with wildlife and traffic and it's fun to watch it go past the boat. However, The Dalles is not all that scenic. It's an old town that has seen better days--then, to add to that--it survived a fire a couple of years ago and I don't think it has recovered completely. Having "survived" the Camp Fire in Paradise, CA I understand that it takes time for the scars of a fire to heal. 

We took the loop tour of the town, which took about 35 minutes. It's not very big. We could have stopped at a couple of museums on the loop tour but then we'd have to walk and neither of us are great a long distance walking right now so we passed the museums. Nevertheless it was a good little loop that gave us a flavor the town.

We spent the morning listening to the resident lecturer talk about the Lewis and Clark Voyage of Discovery. I'm a huge Lewis and Clark fan, so I found the lecture most interesting. In the afternoon, the lecturer brought some "artifacts" from the era of the expedition. He had a replica of a 2-inch Thomas Jefferson medal that was given by L and C to the Indian Chiefs as they sailed up the Missouri river. About 230 Thomas Jefferson medals were forged in 1804 and only 6 have been recovered--no one knows what happened to the rest so I was excited to see a copy. L&C wrote in their journals when they gave out a medal, but they never stated who received the medal. One of many mysteries of the expedition. 

Another good day on the American Harmony. We listened to a future cruises presentation and think there are few more river cruises we'd like to take--and we were told that I could get my recliner chair too. That is good news.

We're skipping entrainment tonight--we tired from doing nothing so we'll go to bed and get up early. The ship starts to wake up at 630 and if you want a nice breakfast in the Sky Lounge you gotta be there early. We are on the boat all day tomorrow so we'll see some pretty scenery as we cruise up river toward Pendleton, OR.

In Kalama

We stopped in Kalama today. A tiny town with a pretty port. It was supposed to rain...but it did not. We were going to go on the shorex to Mt. St. Helens but we skipped it as my back was hurting too much. On a positive note I told housekeeping that the bed was really bothering my back and guess what? They delivered a reclining chair to our room. I'm a very happy camper. This is one more example why I really like American Cruise Lines. They listen to their customers and try to make things right. It's hard to argue with RIGHT.

So instead of seeing Mt. St. Helens, which we had seen not too long after she blew her top, we stayed on board and I went to a bookmark class. There's usually lots of stuff to do but today they were expecting four bus loads of folks going to MSH and not much was planned. There were not many people on board, so we had the yacht to ourselves. I always like that feeling. The cookies arrived on time, and we enjoyed the sunny but cool day. We are still upriver from where we embarked the boat which seems kind of strange. We took 1 step forward and 3 steps back. The Dalles is our stop tomorrow and we will finally sail past Stevenson where we got on the river. 

The food is great. I had some sea bass with a yummy risotto for dinner. A long time ago I learned to stick to easy desserts, so I had the best dessert possible...a dish of ice cream. 

From dinner we went to the lounge and saw a fun one-man show who did a reprise of many Broadway songs. He was a quick change artist too, so each song had him in a new costume. I thoroughly enjoyed the show. 

The day is winding down now, I have the alarm set of 6:30 so I can catch breakfast in the Sky Lounge (my favorite place) then there's a 9:30 event; and at one-ish we'll take a drive thru the Dalles. It's a very nice cruise.

Astoria

Astoria, a town on the Oregon coast, named after John Jacob Astor, is a painted village of Victoria homes sprinkled across the hillsides. Our guide said the town was older than San Francisco, but when I looked that up in the august source called "wikipedia" I read that San Francisco was founded in 1776 and Astoria in 1811. You can figure out the "right" answer.

The town was founded by Scandinavians--folks who liked cold weather, rain, wind, gray skies, lots of trees, the ocean and fish--lots of fish. In the old days, we were told, there were 55 canneries in town processing tons of salmon. Back in the 1850s the salmon grew to be 7 feet long and weighed accordingly. The canneries made lots of money and built the town. The salmon are no longer 7 feet long and not as plentiful, due to overfishing (much like the "Grand Banks" on the east coast which is overfished too). 

For me, the highlight was seeing the location where Lewis and Clark exclaimed "OH JOY!" When finally seeing the ocean after their long trek across the North American continent. They were not near the ocean exactly, about 11 miles from it, but it was the first place they saw breakers hitting the shore. I can only imagine their excitement at seeing those waves. They camped in Astoria during a cold muddy wet winter before heading back east. Their original plan was to catch a boat that would take them around the tip of South American and sail to DC...but the boat never came along. 

After our shorex we came inside and warmed up. I don't think it got above 45 degrees today. For a "desert rat" that's pretty cold. We warmed up, ate lunch; found fresh cookies, napped a bit, looked at the scenery and did not do much of anything. It was a good day. We went to dinner and then to the port talk for tomorrow and saw the entertainment. I thought of Eddie during entertainment as our fellow played the piano and trumpet at the same time...at one point he even covered the keyboard and played an elaborate song. I've never scene that trick before. Eddie can you give that a try?

American Cruise Lines continues to provide a great cruising experience. The food is good and plentiful--and happens at the drop of a hat. If you are sitting in a lounge, someone will come by and offer you something to eat. That person will even save cookies for you if you are away on a shorex. Tonight she said that there will be cookies on the shorex as she did not want folks to not get their fresh cookies. 

We explored the ship a bit. We found the free laundry (with detergent no less) on deck 2. We also found the fitness room at the back of the ship with machines to wear away all  the food that we are eating. On a side note--you can order a 1/2 portion of food--and that's a good thing. 

Tomorrow we head to Kalama, named after a Hawaiian person, and IF the weather is good, we'll take the shorex to Mt. St. Helens. There's a 95% chance of rain, and that means there's a 95% chance that the DrsC will not go outside. Don't worry though, there are ton of things to do inside the ship too.

On the American Harmony

We are onboard the American Harmony, our floating home, for then next week. Our first stop today was Multnomah Falls, which was beautiful. The long cascade of water dropping dramatically down the gorge is mesmerizing. There's something about waterfalls that makes you want to watch them over and over again, and Multnomah was no exception. Because it's early spring, the waterfall was flowing full stream ahead.

From there we were supposed to bus to Stevenson, WA and board our boat...but our bus died. The other 3 buses made it without a hitch, but not ours. A call for help brought out a replacement bus within an hour and we were on our way. The pax in the bus took the delay well--can you believe no one complained? I was proud of us for taking the disappointment so well. We arrived at our ship about 45 minutes late but we still had time to eat a full lunch; learn how to use our life jackets (tho it will not save our lives). We also met the crew and the wonderful folks who make all the food.

At 4 there was a lecture on the Bonneville Dam on the 90 foot lock which we missed...we went to the lounge in the back of the ship and looked at the gorgeous scenery instead. We stayed there till dinner time and went to the formal dining room and had another delicious meal. I'm ordering 1/2 portions as there's just too much food. Now don't get me wrong...I'm still ordering full portions of dessert. Tonight I had a cute little creation of chocolate and raspberry that was to die for. One person at our table ordered the same dessert with ice cream and frankly I don't know how he ate it all as it was r-i-c-h. The servers give you want you want. There was an open bar after dinner--then entertainment....sadly we missed the entertainment as we were just too tired. Everyday at 10 and 3 there are fresh cookies. Throughout the day there are goodies to eat. If one goes hungry on this cruise, it's not the fault of the boat.

Tonight we are cruising downriver to the Astoria, OR which is on the ocean. We will spend most of the tomorrow exploring Astoria before sailing back up river. 

It's been fun so far. Lots of neat people to meet. Lots of well travelled folks with stories to tell, All is good on the Columbia river. 

In Portland

 We made it to our destination, Portland, early. The flight from our little 3-gate regional airport (I was told it was a 1 gate airport but there are 3--and TSA was working and there were NO delays) was perfect. Our tiny airport was efficient and nice. We were told to arrive 2 hours before our flight time, but we did not need to. There were NO waiting in lines and the TSA Pre-check worked without a problem. We boarded on time and flew to SLC. Again, no problems there. Last flight was to Portland and again, no problems. Upon landing, we were greeted by personnel from American Cruise Lines, our favorite domestic river cruise company, and taken directly to the shuttle to Embassy Suites. All worked like clockwork. I might never fly out of Las Vegas again where the hassle is great; the distance is far and the parking is ridiculously expensive. The regional airport has $7.00/day parking and I got a space right in front of the doors. It hardly gets any better!

The flights were uneventful...the way we like them. I saw Zootopia 2 on the flight to Portland which was a fun diversion and it ended right before we landed--so it had perfect timing. As we were getting ready to land I looked out the window and saw 3 volcanoes. Two were perfect "Fuji" type cones but the third was not--the third was Mt. St. Helens which of course blew her top in 1980. The other two were Mt. Hood and Mt, Rainier (in Washington) I think. I've asked several locals what the names of the 3 volcanoes were outside of Portland and NO ONE knew all three. There was agreement on Hood and St. Helens...but a big question mark as to the third. The Internet has not been much help either. SO if you know the names of the 3 volcanoes outside of Portland, please tell me.

So far the trip is going well. It's fun to be on "vacation." I don't have to worry about anything as it will all be done for us. The next few days are going to be very relaxing cruising up the river to Clarkston, WA.

Tomorrow starts early with our luggage collected at 7 AM. We go to breakfast at the hotel and at 9 we have an excursion to Multnomah Falls before we board the boat in Stevenson, WA. We are ready! Nighty-night.

Cruising Down the River

My family has an ancient phonograph recording of 3-year-old me singing "Cruising' Down the River on a Sunday Afternoon." I mention this because starting tomorrow we are going to be cruising down the Columbia River. Every time we go on a river cruise I think of that old song.

We'll get up early, drive to the airport and fly away, hopefully without much TSA ado. We are flying from a small regional airport with only 1 gate, so I'm hoping it will not be congested. I called the airport and I was told they were open. 

Watch this space. I might be able to post pictures of the river, but right now, my picture-posting capability has been hindered by the owner of the blog (that's Google btw). If I can post pictures I will...if not, I'll try to describe what is going on. 

Talk to you soon!

Scarpetta

For the last couple of nights we've binge-watched a "new" program on Prime called "Scarpetta." Because we saw it, you don't need to. It's not worth your time.

The program is loosely based on the best selling books written by Patricia Cornwall. Her main character is Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a forensic scientist and Chief Medical Officer for the State of Virginia. The novels are great fun to read. I have enjoyed all of them over the years, so when a series was announced I was hopeful it would be as good as the books. Alas, the books are way better. 

Nicole Kidman plays Kay Scarpetta and Jamie Lee Curtis plays Scarpetta's sister Dot. In the books the two do not get along. In the series the sisters truly dislike one another. The bickering and arguing is done well but it's painful to watch. Dot has a daughter who lives with her auntie Kay and she has a strained relationship with her mother, Dot. As the story progresses, there are flashbacks relating to crimes from the past. They star a 25 years younger Kay Scrapetta and Dot. The flashbacks are difficult to understand and not necessarily linear. Different people play Kay and Dot, which helps determine if the story is set in the past or the present. Of course there's a crime. Of course there are autopsies and medical reports. The supporting characters play their roles well but there are gaps in the story.

After 8 complicated episodes, the season was finally over. All I can say is the story was not woven together well. Both of us had a hard time following the story. What started out as a series of promise turned otherwise. In my humble opinion, don't waste your time. BTW the only reason we watched the whole season is we kept hoping the story would get better. As you can tell, it did not improve. 

Costco

The other day a new Costco opened nearby. On Sunday we took a drive to see it. Sure enough--a brand new BIG Costco. When we arrived at the front door there were 3 electric carts waiting for us...we gladly took possession of 2 of them. For the next hour or more we rolled up and down the wide aisles and took in what this new store has to offer. It was fun in so many different ways. First and foremost--I was inside the store. I've not been to a store in a quite awhile as I don't have the energy to do so. Yesterday, we rolled up and down the aisles and had a blast. Thank goodness for electric carts as they made that little miracle happen. YAY.

Costco was too crowded to have roller car races (we did that one time at the Santa Maria Costco) but we saw and I conquered. We left the giant warehouse and bought fuel and then we continued to our next destination. I was tired...and happy at what I had accomplished. At the second stop, I stayed in the truck while the other DrC went inside. At the third stop, we went to lunch. 

Lunch perked me up a bit and then we had to get home...and that's the second surprise of the day--the other DrC drove. He's not driven much in the last couple of years but yesterday he drove the 40+ miles home. We accomplished 2 milestones yesterday. I went to a store and he drove. Hooray. 

That might not sound like a big deal, but for us, right now, that's BIG. Ever so slowly, I'm getting back to normal. The eye doctor thinks I might have a TIA in my eye. He said that it will take time. I need to be patient and grant myself the gift of time. I'm trying--it's hard. Remember, we're all in this together.

Good News

Yesterday I went to the eye doctor for yet another check up and this time the news was fantastic. I have "normal" vision. The double vision is GONE. It went away on February 10 and has not returned. What a blessing. The doc said the "event" caused swelling of the cranial nerves and now the swelling is gone. I was concerned because I need to renew my driver's license this year--I wanted to know if I could pass the test...so I took the test and I could. This summer I'll renew my license.

Because I have visual acuity I've started making critters again. I've made five kitties as they are the easiest. Unfortunately I cannot post picture of my five kitties as the blog won't let me...in fact the blog is giving me a "hard time" right now. SO--I'm hoping it will publish a text only message with the good news. I CAN SEE.