Day Two

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It was a long day filled with more family and more delicious food. We started out visiting my cousins Kas and Bryan. It was nice to be able to catch up with them and see how much each of their kids have grown. It's just wrong when they do that. The kids can't possibly be old enough to serve in the military. But they are and I'm proud of and grateful to each of them who chose that route. Bryan was working out of his home office during our visit, but was able to break away now and then to join in the conversation (and to grill up the chicken). His wife, Dina, was out of town, so we'll have to catch up with her another time. Kas hasn't changed a bit. Still has a great sense of humor, but it's now laced with a twang from living in Tennessee. She's busy keeping up with her own kids. I can't believe her oldest is 21. My how time flies. After too short a visit and a wonderful lunch we headed to the other side of Portland to visit with a couple of Mike's cousins.

We met up with Des at his car lot. He showed us around the lot, showroom and offices. He's got a handful of beautiful classic cars along side all the shiny newer ones. On the tour he filled us in on what else he's got going on in his business life. He's a busy guy. We followed him out of the city into the country where he lives. His brother, Scott, met us there a short time later as well as several other friends of theirs and friends of Des's kids. Des and Scott had recently returned from a trip to Alaska with armloads of salmon they'd caught. Scott did a great job grilling it on Des's barbecue over some mesquite chips. That was after he and Mike put out the fire that flared up from the caked-on grease getting too hot. Des, dude, clean your grill once in a while. Again, not nearly enough time to be able to just hang out and relax, but there was talk of maybe some sort of a reunion in the future???

Tomorrow may be a later start than we would like. I'm the one doing the blogging and it's after 11:30. Mike's already changed our itinerary. We're heading toward Crater Lake tomorrow. Much nicer vistas than I-5. That means I'll need to make the changes to the route I've planned on a road trip planner website I've been using. Then we'll have to take a close look at it so we'll have a basic idea how to get there. I'm sure when we get down in that area there will be a sign or two, plus we'll have the guy with the British accent on the phone to direct us. How did our parents ever manage?!?

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Comments

[Tee]

Crater Lake
I *LOVED* the blue of Crater Lake, never seen that kind of blue before or after! Please share what you two thought of it and if you were able to take the boat ride in it or not.