Why we live in the Pacific Northwest!

So today was one of those "Chamber of Commerce" days. In some respects, these days are like the CoC days of Los Angeles: The wind comes from the East and the sky turns amazingly blue and you can see the mountains!

This first pic was taken from in front of our condo. This is looking north beyond the Baptist church. You might notice Mt. Adams looming in the distance. This is why we love living in the Pacific Northwest!

I couldn't get a clear, direct shot of Mt. Hood from our complex. (From upstairs inside, we can see the tip of the mountain which is fun in its own way.) But that gave me all the excuse I needed (and more) to take a little drive up to Panorama Point, just SE of Hood River, where I got the pic below.

Again I say: This is why we love living in the Pacific Northwest!

This video below was taken at the same point. Yes, that is bw at the beginning. If you have the sound working, you can hear some of my narration. To any Northwesterners watching/listening the mountain that appears is (once again) Mt. Hood. I say that because the wind happened to drown out my narration just at the point when I tell the name of the mountain.

Well, on review, I realized that the previous vid did not really show the valley below. So I tried it again (the following vid). But I'm still not sure how well you can see it. But nestled in the valley below lies our lovely community of Hood River. And hidden between the hills runs the Columbia River as it heads into the Gorge.

This is why we love living in the Pacific Northwest!

So we drove a little further up the highway. I was looking for a spot where I could shoot both mountains simply with a turn of the camera. Although there are many places along the way, I did not see them in time. Finally, on the way back down the mountain, I found the spot near the little town of O'Dell. So the vid below is not done to show you the vehicles whizzing past us. Rather it is to show the gorgeous mountains both north and south of our little valley.

This is why we love living in the Pacific Northwest!

Last Spring, I was on a tour of Seattle. Now Seattle is lovely city and region. We in Portland and Oregon in general have kind of a love/hate relationship with the Emerald City. We maintain a lively rivalry with her. Residents of each city claiming that our own city is the more beautiful and scenic. But if anyone from outside our region is heard criticizing the other, we close ranks. It's kind of like in a family: I can criticize Seattle all you want; but if you don't live in the area, don't you dare. Know what I mean?

So on this tour, these ladies sitting behind me started ragging on Seattle. Two of the ladies were from the Denver area; the other from Chicago. They just hated the cloudy skies. As we sailed over the Puget Sound we encountered a little mist in the air. They couldn't imagine anyone living in such conditions. I kept my mouth shut; my father taught me to be nice to ladies. But inside I was fuming: The Denver airport had already been shut down twice for snow that winter. And Chicago? Give me a break!

This is why we love living in the Pacific Northwest!

ttfn