Rambling Wanderer

    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.