Bend

 

We made several trips to Bend this fall. First we bought a commercial building downtown, then a lot south of town in Deschutes River Woods with a manufactured house on it that we rented out to Susan's mom.  

In November we drove down to California to move Susan's mom out of her apartment in Fresno and into the house in Deschutes River Woods. We also sold our house in Tigard, and rented a house in Beaverton to live in while the kids finish school. 

This month a contractor started building a pole barn on the lot in Bend to hold the stuff we couldn't fit in the rental. Right now it's all in storage. 

This weekend Jennifer took part in the annual ABATE Toy Run to benefit the kids at the Portland Shriners Hospital.

Food & Wine

Wednesday morning Susan and Jenn spent a few hours at Downtown Disney, which is now known as Disney Springs, then checked out the Food & Wine stuff at Epcot, including watching a set by Air Supply at the American Gardens. They finished the night at Magic Kingdom.

Thursday they spent the morning in Animal Kingdom. Just before the bridge from Discovery Island to the former Camp Minnie-Mickey Disney is building a new restaurant. Susan and Jenn met characters and rode the Safari ride and Dinosaur. In the evening they went back to Epcot. 

Friday morning they went back to the Magic Kingdom and had lunch at Be Our Guest. They also caught the new Festival of Fantasy parade at Magic Kingdom.  

They finished the trip with an evening at Epcot. They flew home yesterday. 

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween

Last Friday Susan and Jenn flew out to Disneyworld for Jenn's fall break. They arrived Friday night and checked into the Pop Century resort. They spent Saturday at the Magic Kingdom.

Sunday they went to Hollywood Studios, where they checked out the new Star Wars store located where the old tram tour used to end, as well as Epcot. Disney recently announced they will be adding a Toy Story Land and a Star Wars Land where the backlot tour was. Susan and Jenn spent a lot of time in the park meeting characters, but did ride a few attractions.

Monday they dressed like Pooh and Piglet, and met Tigger and Pooh in both Epcot's UK pavilion and at the Pooh ride in the Magic Kingdom.

Tuesday they had lunch at the San Angel Inn inside the Mexico pavilion at Epcot, then attended the Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom. Besides meeting characters and getting candy, they watched a special parade and fireworks.

Fall at University of Portland

The kids have been pretty busy in their last year of college. Jennifer has been working part time at the office for the School of Business, and both have been serving as Student Body Senators for the School of Business. They've also been busy running the Business Fraternity. Jennifer decided to live on campus this year.  

She hasn't had much time for Rainbow, but last weekend she was an installing officer for Mount Scott Assembly in Portland.

This afternoon she served as an installing officer for Cherry Assembly. She also helped with the decorations. It was a Harry Potter theme. 

Dapper Day at Disneyland

On Wednesday morning, Susan, Jenn, and I flew down to Orange County to spend a few days at the Disneyland Resort. It was a bit of a last minute trip so we stayed at the Ramada across Harbor Boulevard from the parks. Disneyland was still celebrating it's 60th Anniversary.

Of course, being the fall, Halloween Decorations were also up, and the Haunted Mansion had been converted to the Haunted Mansion Holiday. We kicked around the parks Wednesday evening and Thursday. Jennifer met lots of characters, and we watched World of Color and the Disneyland Forever fireworks, as well as the Paint the Night parade. 

Over in California Adventure, Disney had rethemed the Condor Flats area into part of the Grizzly Peak area. 

Friday was Dapper Day, and Jennifer visited with other young adults attending. There was also stuff at the Disneyland convention center for the event. We ate lunch at Ariel’s Grotto, and Jennifer took photos with princesses as they came by our table. Saturday morning we visited both parks, then flew back home Saturday evening.

More Juneau

Monday morning we visited the Alaskan Brewery. We were able to use the local bus system to get around a fair amount.

Monday afternoon and most of Tuesday Alaska's GWA drove us around, showing us some things outside the city like a cool old church, a labyrinth, and that the old Masonic Lodge is now used for State offices.

We also looked for bears. It only takes a little more than an hour to drive from the end of road north of Juneau to one on the south. The only ways into Juneau are via air or sea. She also drove us around Douglas Island a bit, as the island is connected to the mainland via bridge.

On our last night we spent some time with members of the local Rainbow Assembly. We flew home yesterday. We loved our trips to Alaska and hope to go back some day. 

Whale Watching

On Sunday we did a day tour I booked through Viator. The tour company picked us up near the cruise docks and took us up to the Mendenhall Glacier, where we checked out the visitor center and hiked out to the glacier. While it's not a National Park Site, but rather part of the National Forest system, it did have a Junior Ranger program, which Jennifer completed.

Next the tour bus took us Auke Bay Harbor, where we boarded a boat so we could see whales.

We saw several, as well as eagles. We also enjoyed seeing all the mountains surrounding the Juneau area. After our tour we met up with the GWA of Alaska again and had dinner nearby.

Juneau

On Friday, we returned to Alaska, this time flying up to Juneau to spend a few days checking out the city and the surrounding area. Our hotel was north of town by the airport. Saturday morning we took the public bus to downtown and walked around.

We then walked south of town to where the cruise ships docked and looked around the shops. We took the tram up to Mount Roberts to admire the view below. There's a visitor center on top with a small shop, cafe, and museum, as well as a nature trail. The island across from the harbor is Douglas Island.

In the afternoon Alaska's Grand Worthy Advisor drove us around, showing us some things outside the city like the fish hatchery and the university campus.

Paris

  

After we got back from Alaska, Bryan flew to Paris. He met a friend and they spent a few days seeing some of the sights of Paris.

 

In addition to seeing some of the city, they also went out to Versailles and Disneyland.

This weekend, Jennifer and a friend headed down to Disneyland to celebrate her birthday. They enjoyed meeting characters, their favorite attractions, and seeing the decorations for Disneyland’s 60th anniversary.

They also enjoyed the new fireworks show, Disneyland Forever, and the new parade, Paint the Night.

Alaska Part 3: Kenai Fjords

On Sunday, our last full day in Alaska, we drove out to Seward to visit Kenai Fjords National Park. On the way we stopped and hiked out to Exit Glacier.  

When we got to Seward we looked around, had some lunch, and stopped at the Kenai Fjords visitor center, where the kids earned their Junior Ranger badges.

We then headed back to Anchorage. It's about two and a half hours from Seward to Anchorage. We enjoyed seeing wildlife, including moose, on our drives around Alaska. That night we flew home.

Alaska Part 2: Denali

At around four hours one way, the drive to and from Denali was long but beautiful. We enjoyed seeing the Alaska countryside and the small towns along the way.

We weren't able to see McKinley when we arrived at the park, as it was too overcast, as it often is in the summer, but we enjoyed looking around the visitor's center and driving into the park.  

We had dinner at the cafe next to the visitor center.

We stayed the night outside the park, then headed back in Friday morning to see a presentation on the sled dogs, and so the kids could earn their Junior Ranger Badges. If I had it to do over, I would have spent two nights near Denali; one wasn't enough.

Alaska Part 1: Anchorage

On Tuesday we flew up to Anchorage, Alaska. We spent Wednesday looking around the city, driving up into the hills above the town and around the campus of the University.

We also checked out the Costco, the mall, and downtown, where we had dinner at Benihana's and celebrated Jennifer's birthday.

 

Thursday morning we headed up to Denali National Park, stopping at the Ulu Knife Factory on the way.

When we got back to Anchorage Friday evening, we had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe downtown.

Today we ate lunch at the Moose's Tooth Pub and Pizzeria, which was really good, and spent some time at the Alaska Zoo. We met members of the local Rainbow Assembly for dinner.

Rainbow activities

Last weekend, Jennifer spent a day at Oaks Park in southeast Portland with members of Cherry Assembly.

This weekend we went up to Yakima for Washington's Grand Assembly.  We took a couple of girls from Cherry Assembly with us, and since it was 7/11 on the drive up, made a few stops.

 

While there Jennifer enjoyed visiting with some of the Rainbow Grand Officers from California, as well as Washington.

Around Portland

 

This week we had friends from Wisconsin come out for a visit. We took them around Portland, and out to Multnomah Falls.

 

We also went up to Vista House, located above the Columbia Gorge.

  

There's not much up there, but the views are great. 

 

Finally, we took them to Voodoo Doughnuts.