Here are a few more shots of our Bend trip and Doug's party. He bought all his decor items at Party City and asked me to put it all up. Talk about cheesy luau decorum. That's Doug though...he pulls cheesy off well. I did get to add a touch of class with a smattering of orchids in small vases.

We made 2 1/2 gals. of Mai Tai and served it out of a punch bowl. We found a great recipe. We had three tables full playing Texas Hold'em. I watched Bruce hang around for awhile and I figured he would scoot out and go back to our room. Instead, I saw him make a second trip back to the Mai Tai and then take a place at one of the poker tables. As far as I know he has not played before. At 1:15 a.m. I came back to give him our room key to let himself in later. He sauntered in around 2 a.m. He did so well that I wished they had played for money instead of for fun!

From dogs, to airplane, to president.

We have of the last couple years, used a mobile pet groomer instead of taking the dogs in and having them caged up for the day while they wait their turn to be shorn. It is so much less stressful on them. Dakota was faced with a dilemma this last go around, she was tied to the inside of the truck (which she is not happy about) and her lead would not allow the distance of a jump out of the truck to escape the horrors housed therein. But she is so beautiful when it is all over.



This weekend we flew to Bend for an optometric conference for continuing ed and the inauguration of Bruce's business partner as the president of the Oregon Optometric Assosciation. It was the first year the guys invited their staff to come along. Of course you will see more pictures of the flight over than of the events of the conference! It was a very smooth flight with the exception of Bruce's landing. Man, it is hard to judge how high off the runway you are when you flare, or stall the airplane to land. We are both guilty of flaring with two feet to drop to the runway.


Hey, Rae Ann and Robin, recognize this lake? Marion Lake. They were ages 3 and 4 when they had their first backpacking experience into this lake. They carried their necessities of a dolly and a blankey in their packs.

Mt. Jefferson.

The town of Sisters below the Three Sister mountains.


Doug and Bruce's support staff.

The flight home has no pictures (which was Becky's leg) because it was so bumpy (winds were out of the southwest at 25 knots, and we were flying west, northwest) and it was all I could do to keep a steady heading and altitude. The clouds were lower than the mountain tops so I tried to maintain 6,000 ft. and fly the valleys through the pass. Why is it that I always get the difficult legs?

Breaking it in.

Robin and I broke the Mini in with a trip to the beach. We kept the roof down on the way to the beach (even though it was in the 50's...a bit cool!) and then when we arrived back in Portland (it was in the 60's, just right) we made a detour through Washington Park on the way home. The roads are perfect for sports cars; tightly cornered roads meandering through a canopy of trees. Lets just say I need a little practice in my down shifting skills. There can be some hazards when motoring with the top down...

It's funny, when you drive a convertible you are so much more accessible to people and conversations. People walking by just feel free to chat (mainly about cars and performance) because there is no foreseeable wall between us.

The day we picked the car up we headed to the Canby fair grounds to visit some friends that had a booth at a plant fair/sale (top down of course). Bruce was behind me while I waited for ten cars to come through the gate before I could squeeze in. Three of them stopped beside me and made a comment about my car. Bruce later asked what they had said and I replied that they were stating that they liked the Mini. From his perspective it looked as though they were yelling at me about entering through this chosen gate. They were just being nice!

Mini!

I had a great weekend. First we flew into Starks Twin Oaks air field for their monthly pancake breakfast, picked up a Mini Cooper (BMW) and flew (our plane, not the Mini)to the Coast in the evening and walked the dog. We also flew to Independence for lunch on Sunday. A girl can't ask for much more!
The Mini was a gift from my husband because I am getting older. We picked the one I wanted in Dec. '06 and waited for five months for it to be built and shipped. Bruce added a ton of packages to it without my knowing. It is a blast to drive!