New York, New York, New York

8:32 AM Edit This 0 Comments »
February 17
    We got our itinerary last night at the Philly meeting.......So excited! We are going to be doing so many things it will be hard to catch our breath, but wow is it going to be a great time. I am so looking forward to it.

We're off to the Cowboy Gathering

8:30 AM Edit This 0 Comments »
8:26 am
    Well the day has come that Debi and I are going to Ellensburg to the Spirit of the West Cowboy Gathering with my photography and cowboy decor. It will be the first time I have done anything like this, so it will be interesting to see how things go.
    I'm all packed, the Exterra is beyond packed, and I just got a text from Debi, it sounds like she too is packed up and ready to go.
    It takes about four hours to get to Ellensburg and with all the snow over the pass it will take a lot longer, so I probably should head out. I will post more soon.

2011 Elgin Stampeder's Crab Feed

1:37 PM Edit This 0 Comments »
   What a night!!!
   The Elgin Stampeder's Annual Crab Feed should be on every one's "bucket list".
   Not only do the Stampeders feed roughly 800 people all the crab they can eat, but they do it in such a way that it keeps people coming back year after year.
   Dozens of volunteers help turn what could be a hectic event, into a smooth running operation.
   It takes months of preparation to pull off the event. From advertising to clean-up, the volunteers go about their responsibility with a welcoming smile on their face.
   Fresh crab meat is brought in from the west coast, coleslaw, potato salad and garlic bread round out the meal, which is served family style.
   Now don't think for one minute that you will have to contend with an empty bowl of crab in front of you at any time during the night, because the volunteer servers constantly supply a fresh bowl when one starts running low.
   It is no small feat to get 800 or so people in and out with full stomachs in four short hours, but year after year it is done with great style. No one feels rushed, everyone has time to get their fill and so many promise to return the following year.
   This year I was lucky enough to take the money at the front door with two friends of mine, Debi and Kathy. It is amazing the stories you hear from people who come to eat crab. One gentleman told us he was 80, I said, "I bet you have a few stories to tell." His reply was, "I used to run around with Odies Payne, if that tells you anything." (Odies Payne is an Elgin legend, a good legend of course, although I've heard stories he was a bit wild in his day.)
   So, if you ever find yourself in Elgin, Oregon around the beginning of February, find out when the Elgin Stampeder's Annual Crab Feed is, and plan on attending.
   Like "The Elgin Stampede" on Facebook to see more pictures, learn more about the crab feed and all of the other great events that are put on each and every year at the Elgin Stampede Grounds.
 

Spring Trips

11:22 PM Edit This 0 Comments »
   My Albuquerque Visitors Guide arrived in the mail today. I searched for a place to stay in Depoe Bay, without any luck however. The program for the Cowboy Gathering in Ellensburg, with my name in it, was posted on Facebook today, and we had our Philly trip meeting tonight. What an exciting time in my life. I just love it when I have trips planned. It always gives me so much to look forward to.
    I have so much to do to get ready for each one of these events, each one will have such a different feel, not only because of the location, but because of the people who will share these trips with me.
    My first trip will be the Cowboy Gathering in Ellensburg, Washington. Debi and I will be going and setting up a booth of my photography at the art show. We will be there for three nights and will hopefully sell everything we take with us....we'll see. It is going to be a great girls weekend and I can hardly wait!
    I will be home from the Cowboy Gathering for one day and Mark and I will be heading off to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Neither one of us has been to New Mexico, so we are both excited. We will be attending a trailer manufacturing convention, so our days will be filled with trailer classes and trade shows. We are, however, staying an extra day, so we can just explore the city and the surrounding area.
    A couple weeks after we get back from Albuquerque, Mark, Hannah, and I will be heading over to Depoe Bay to meet up with Mark's family for the weekend. Mark hasn't seen his cousins for several years, so it will be nice to get together and have some good times with these good people. Of course I love the coast, so it will be a bonus to be able to spend some time exploring Depoe Bay.
    Mark and I still haven't decided where we will be going on our anniversary...17 years now, wow! Last year we went to Wallowa Lake and it was so nice to not drive very far, so I think we will find some place close this year too. I was looking on http://www.vrbo.com/ and they had some nice places in Walla Walla. That might be fun. Walla Walla is so close that we don't really spend a lot of time there, we just go do what we need to do and then go home. If we were there for a couple days who knows what we could find. Walla Walla, I think that's our anniversary destination, now I just need to convince Mark, and he's pretty easy going, so he will probably think Walla Walla will be just fine.
    I wonder if I will be traveled out before spring even starts.
    Nahhhh!!
    Now its the big one, or should I say "THE BIG ONE"!!!
    Hannah and I, along with Tracy, Dennis, Aria, Lena, will head off for Portland to meet up with the rest of our Philly Trip group, board a plane and head across the country to Philadelphia. It is going to be amazing. I can hardly wait. We have such an awesome group of people going and we are going to create some great memories, forge new friendships and remember our trip forever.
    Wow, that is a lot to cram into just two short months, but I am ready for the challenge....I think I'm becoming a travel writer. Hmmmmmm, cool!

Multnomah Falls

8:40 PM Edit This 0 Comments »
    Last fall my good friend Loni asked if we could meet at Multnomah Falls so I could take her daughter's senior pictures. This plan had been in the works for several years, so Hannah and I packed our bags and headed to Portland, where we shopped for school clothes at Clackamas Town Centre. We also went out to dinner at the California Pizza Company, which was absolutely delicious. The service was great and we felt like we were in the big city. Unfortunatly my stomach also felt like we were in the big city, since we had just spent 45 minutes crawling through traffic and my small town nerves were on edge.
    After dinner Hannah and I made our way to our hotel, the Monarch Hotel. By now my nerves were starting to settle down a bit, until the lady at the Monarch could not find my reservation, which I had made through Expedia. By this time my butterflies had returned and they were the size of monarch butterflies! Luckily our itinerary was saved on the Expedia website, so I was able to print it off and show the front desk lady we really did have a room reserved.
    In spite of our rough beginning, our night at the Monarch was very pleasant. The rooms were clean and the beds were comfortable. Hannah and I settled in and had a great nights sleep. We were looking forward to meeting up with Loni the following day.
    Hannah and I had the next morning to do whatever we pleased, since Loni would be coming from Olympia, and wouldn't be at the falls until noon. We filled our day at Micheals Craft Store and then had a great lunch at Olive Garden in Gresham.
    I knew if we went by way of the old highway to Multnomah Falls instead of traveling down I-84 we would see different unique places we could stop and take pictures of Loni's daughter, Lauren and Lauren's friend Nikki. Of course this took us a little longer then we anticipated, so we were a little late.
    Of course Lauren and Nikki had plenty of stories to tell about their trip from Olympia to Multnomah Falls. Loni is....well, she is kind of known for her driving skills, or lack there of. Actually, I'm not sure if I am describing her driving correctly, because thinking back, I have never been in an accident with her, but I have been in numerous close calls where I thought I was going to die and didn't, so maybe the girl can drive. I guess I should say she drives a bit like a NASCAR driver would when he was 19 years old and thought he was invincible.
    I remember one night while visiting Loni, we decided to go out to a restaurant and visit. We drove through Olympia and began going through some residential areas where there were roundabouts. For those of you who have never experienced roundabouts, you pull into them and go to the right, unless, of course, you are Loni Andretti! "I hate going around these things, so sometimes I just take a short cut," Loni said as she takes a left hand turn into the roundabout. That was the first of three times that night where she went the wrong way in the roundabout. But there again I survived, so like I say, maybe the girl can drive. Needless to say, I avoid getting into any vehicle when she is behind the wheel. I like to watch NASCAR, but I'm not a big fan of feeling like I am right in the heat of it.
     
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