Portland, Day #3

We survived St. Helens!

The trek up to the park was exceedingly scenic: St. Helens even obliged us with a puff of steam just at the point where we were best positioned for photos.

The lava tube walk was awesome... 1.75 miles of alternating walking, climbing, falling stumbling and occasionally even jogging in a cave averaging the dimensions of a subway tunnel. Thanks to the nuclear-powered flash of my digital camera, I have over 100 photos of the hike through the tunnel, the surface hike back to the car and various scenic spots along the drive there & back. All will be posted when I'm back in DC in another 9 days or so.

We largely vegetated at home the rest of the afternoon and evening. The heat has been horrid: mid 90s F although with low humidity. I've done my best to stay out of direct sunlight with some success so I'm not sunburnt but the heat does cripple my ability to think or move effectively.

Portland, Day #3

We survived St. Helens!

The trek up to the park was exceedingly scenic: St. Helens even obliged us with a puff of steam just at the point where we were best positioned for photos.

The lava tube walk was awesome... 1.75 miles of alternating walking, climbing, falling stumbling and occasionally even jogging in a cave averaging the dimensions of a subway tunnel. Thanks to the nuclear-powered flash of my digital camera, I have over 100 photos of the hike through the tunnel, the surface hike back to the car and various scenic spots along the drive there & back. All will be posted when I'm back in DC in another 9 days or so.

We largely vegetated at home the rest of the afternoon and evening. The heat has been horrid: mid 90s F although with low humidity. I've done my best to stay out of direct sunlight with some success so I'm not sunburnt but the heat does cripple my ability to think or move effectively.

Travel!

This morning, we're departing Portland, OR, flying off to Anaheim for the IAGSDC square dance convention.  We'll be landing around 1:30 PM PST at LAX and taking the Disney shuttle to the Marriott.  Whee!

Travel!

This morning, we're departing Portland, OR, flying off to Anaheim for the IAGSDC square dance convention.  We'll be landing around 1:30 PM PST at LAX and taking the Disney shuttle to the Marriott.  Whee!

Anaheim, Day #1

Our arrival in Anaheim was largely uneventful, thank god.  As planned, we landed on Sunday around 1:30 PM and grabbed the Disney Express Shuttle bus over to our hotel, the Cortona.  rlegters & tdjohnsn were already checked in and resting.  Our pack reassembled, we set out to explore our territory for the coming week.

The Cortona is just around the corner from the convention hotel, the Anaheim Marriott.  There are plenty of food outlets in the area so we won't starve during our duration.  The Marriott itself seemed rather nice, but the weekend's occupants were a little scary...

There was some preteen dance event at the hotel... lots of 8-12 year old little girls dressed in tight clothes, fancy shoes and plastered with really bad make-up jobs.  Really heavy make-up.  Severely.  True, it's intentionally designed to look better from a distance (eg. from an audience looking to the stage) than it would up close, but it was still really scary.  What right-minded parent not only tarts up their kids like pre-teen whores, but actively shows them off in public?

I think the event was called "Dance Rave 2006".  We renamed it "Young Hookers of America."  Personally, I blame uber-ho Brittany Spears for this.

We were largely beat so after dinner, we all retreated to our hotel room for an early night.  We had to be up for caller school at 8 AM while still pushing four bodies through the shower and obtaining breakfast so morning would come ubearably early.

Anaheim, Day #1

Our arrival in Anaheim was largely uneventful, thank god.  As planned, we landed on Sunday around 1:30 PM and grabbed the Disney Express Shuttle bus over to our hotel, the Cortona.  rlegters & tdjohnsn were already checked in and resting.  Our pack reassembled, we set out to explore our territory for the coming week.

The Cortona is just around the corner from the convention hotel, the Anaheim Marriott.  There are plenty of food outlets in the area so we won't starve during our duration.  The Marriott itself seemed rather nice, but the weekend's occupants were a little scary...

There was some preteen dance event at the hotel... lots of 8-12 year old little girls dressed in tight clothes, fancy shoes and plastered with really bad make-up jobs.  Really heavy make-up.  Severely.  True, it's intentionally designed to look better from a distance (eg. from an audience looking to the stage) than it would up close, but it was still really scary.  What right-minded parent not only tarts up their kids like pre-teen whores, but actively shows them off in public?

I think the event was called "Dance Rave 2006".  We renamed it "Young Hookers of America."  Personally, I blame uber-ho Brittany Spears for this.

We were largely beat so after dinner, we all retreated to our hotel room for an early night.  We had to be up for caller school at 8 AM while still pushing four bodies through the shower and obtaining breakfast so morning would come ubearably early.