Olywood Blvd.: 2009

Monday, December 28, 2009

Christmas

What a wonderful Christmas Eve. Thank you everyone.
This is truly my favorite thing--to gather with my family.

Daniel got his Snuggie!

Megan's "Engagement"picture

Daniel shared his talents.

Matt got his first mustache and immediately channeled a 70's motorcycle cop.

Jace got a, well, a whateveritis. (Robby got one too!)

Grandma Genny got quite a surprise from all the grandkids.

A closer look.
It's truly a woven throw. Laura had the idea and all the grandkids chipped in.

The original collage.

The boys got crazy toys--remote-controlled tarantulas.

Diggy read the Christmas story from the Bible.

And Charlie's family send this amazing fruit bouquet!
(We miss you all!)

Happy New Year Everyone!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

And then we went to see the Boise Temple (even though it was closed). There are six spires and they are all free-standing obelisks: not actually connected to the temple building. Its face is all a dark marble.

We made lots of stops along the way.

Bonneville Dam, where we watched (through the observation windows) the salmon swimming up the fish ladders. Since there hadn't been any rain lately, the Columbia River was very low and there were barges and boats stuck on sand bars. We didn't do any boating there.

In Portland, we went to the Temple. They had record-breaking heat, just for us: 97 degrees! We got lost in the neighborhood and new it was close by. After retracing our steps back to the freeway, we finally got on the right road. This temple is also faced with marble, but this marble is very white.

The first two days on the coast were foggy, but we still saw harbor seals, stellar sea lions, lighthouses, the Coast Aquarium, gray whales, and spectacular views. This is near Depoe Bay. I think the pullout was called Rodeo Point. It's where we saw our first gray whale and harbor seal.

A stop along the coast on our way to the Devil's Punch Bowl.

More fog. There is acutally a lighthouse right at the tip of that spit of land.

This is a typical view from the Oregon Coast Highway. I have to admit that when the road had these vistas, the driving was definitely an e-ticket!

This is the view from the deck of the B&B, near Yachats.

The Devil's Churn.

Newport Harbor from The Embarcadero, where we had lunch.

One of McCollough's bridges. This one is over the entrance to Newport Harbor.

Critters in the tide pools in front of the B&B.

Our last night on the coast brought a beautiful, clear sunset. (This is also from the B&B.)

Looking north from the B&B.

Looking south from the B&B. You can see another of McCullough's bridges in the mist.

Saying good-bye to the Oregon Coast.

Then, following the advice of some local people, we changed our route and traveled back through the middle of Oregon on Highway-20: a long and desolate drive. It didn't save us any time and I would never drive it again.

The sights were all amazing, even if it did take 2070 miles to see them all. It's great to be home and Mom is the most wonderful traveling companion!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

The Race

Five ships set sail for the First Annual Olywood Regatta on July 4th 2009.
All returned safely to port.
No sailors were lost at sea.
No parts were left behind.
And the fish were mildly amused.

Scoping out the competition!

While the homemade ice cream churned back at Olywood, all the skippers and skippees converged on Smith and Morehouse Reservoir.

The variety of original boats was amazing. I have video proof and new video-editing software. Now I just need to figure out what to do with it to make it cohesive.

Beware everyone, I have already started designing next year's winning entry!

The Official Results
1. USS Minnow: Bryan & Whitney -- Grand Champions "We built an actual boat."
2. USS Betsy Ross: Emily, Chad, Hayden, & Tyson -- 2nd Place "Procrastination is the birth child."
3. (tie?) USS Titanic: Laura & Jace "We spent 1/5th of our budget on pink paint!"
3. (tie?) USS Bruce: Matt, Daniel, Megan, & Royal "This is not a life-saving device."
4. USS Fred: John & Barbara -- Turtle Award "However far out you go, you have to come back."

I'm sure our Grand Champions are proudly and prominently displaying the awesome trophy. I even think they will make the traveling trophy bigger and/or better for the Second Annual event.

See you next year on the 4th!