Blog Friends Meet-Up

My blog friend from ClickyNeedles and her husband live in England but have been spending time in Chicago for his work over the last few years. This last week they took a train from there to Portland so we planned to meet. We picked them up from their hotel in downtown Portland and whisked them off for a driving tour of the Columbia River Gorge. We drove out on the interstate freeway and left it at Troutdale and drove up the Sandy River Gorge, pulled through and showed them our farm then off to Portland Women's Forum State Scenic Viewpoint. Smile! *click* :-)

Dayle and Mr. CN sat in the back and had a grand old time chatting. CN was up front with me and I just loved visiting with her! She has the most charming accent and an infectious laugh. How fun to put a face and voice to a friend I've had through our blogs for ten years!! They are from on top of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire near Stroud. Next stop was Vista House where the wind gusts were whipping through.

Then on through the forests and curvy roads to Latourell Falls, Wahkeena Falls and then on to Multnomah Falls. Dayle walked up to the viewing plaza with our guests and snapped a few photos.

CN said it's a lot bigger than it appears in the photos!

Mr. Clicky, as she refers to him, is an engineer so when we offered to show him Bonneville Dam he was interested. They went down to view the fish ladder from underwater but not one Salmon made a showing. :-)

They were impressed with size of the navigation lock as the ones they are used to are smaller for canal boats and such in England.

Next stop was Cascade Locks where I drove around the Cascade Locks Marine Park, I showed them the neat historic houses and CN loved seeing the quilt squares on on 3 buildings and snapped some photos. Then down to the old locks and boat ramp where we were charmed to see a big flock of Coots swimming by.

We showed them the yacht basin where we used to keep our sailboat and I told them of the time we'd taken our boat for an overnight stay in a cove upriver and when we tried to come back the motor decided not to work. So, we raised the sails and after a few attempts we made it out of the cove and headed to the marina. When we made it there everyone on the dock was amazing to see us coming in under full sail. Me at the helm and Dayle on deck duty, he dropped sail at just the right moment and we pulled in and he stepped off the boat and tied it up. WHEW!

I asked our guests.. do you like ice cream? CN said.. "Who doesn't like ice cream!" lol! So, we pulled in here and each ordered a cone.

CN ordered a flavor-burst cone of black cherry and she reported that it was delicious! I got my customary chocolate waffle cone. Dayle got a "baby size" cone and Mr. CN got a vanilla, small size.

I drove us to the little viewpoint park under the Bridge of the Gods where we all enjoyed watching the sun play over the river while we enjoyed our cones.

Then it was time to drive back to their hotel, I snapped this photo of a statue of an elk near their hotel. Portland really is a beautiful city.

Mr. Clicky snapped a photo of us with my phone. What a wonderful time we had with our friends! I must say I was so enjoyed getting to know them better. They gifted us with a box of Blue Star donuts they'd picked up and I gave CN a pair of my vintage faux tortoise shell knitting needles from my collection, a heart ornament that I crocheted and a poster of Multnomah Falls. They head back to England soon so I hope that trip is easy and safe for them.