Madeline and Roman's visit

Wednesday, January 12th, Robbie wasn't feeling well.  He tested positive for covid.  This put a halt to many of our planned activities.  He quarantined in his room, Ice moved to another bedroom. We wore our masks more when we were together.  Nathan decided not to come over. Ice left on Saturday the 15th at midnight.  She tested negative in Chicago.  None of the rest of us have gotten sick.  Madeline and Roman had planned to come to visit that weekend.  They postponed it to the following weekend.  They missed seeing Ice, but at least we were healthy by then.

Madeline and Roman drove down with Ivan on Friday the 21st.  They went straight to their Airbnb.  It was the same one they stayed at before.  

                                           

We drove to their side of town for lunch.  It took us a while to pick a place to have lunch: no outdoor seating, not in the sun (it was cold), only vegan options ... on and on.  We ended out at a food court that had several choices.  I had a sandwich that was probably one of the most delicious sandwiches ever - maple bacon, caramelized onions, chevre cheese - yummy. We ended out eating at the front steps of the Airbnb.  

After lunch, we went to Alberta Park.  It is a very close park.  It was cold.  I had not dressed warmly enough.

Nathan and Robbie

When it was time for Ivan's nap, we left and headed back home.  Robbie was cooking dinner. Ivan and Cider meet.  It didn't take long for Cider to think that he was in charge.  We ended out having to move Cider to the back room.  

 He was making his famous fajitas.  It was quite the feast.  I missed most of it because I was on a Zoom call. Luckily, they saved some for me. 

Sweet potatoes, black beans, tortillas, pepper/mushroom, guacamole, steak, plus salsa, sour cream, and cheese.  Wow, what a feast.  

Sunday, Madeline and Roman came to our place.  We headed to the BG Food Cartel for lunch.  We all picked something different for our lunches.  I tried the ramen.  It was very tasty.  It was a gorgeous day. 

Robbie, Madeline, Ivan, Roman, Nathan, and George

Ivan is much more mobile this visit.

Ivan and Madeline

Then we went to the library and the park near the library.

Quite a selection of hard books.

Madeline, Robbie, and Ivan

One last slide ride before heading home for Ivan's nap.

Nathan and I made pasta for the parmesan black truffle pasta.  It was supposed to be flambeed but the cognac absorbed too quickly with the fresh pasta so it didn't light. Oh well.  It still tasted good.  

Madeline and Ivan were back after Ivan's nap.  Roman wasn't feeling well so he stayed back at the Airbnb.  

Asparagus with manchego cheese

George made the salmon

My plate: the purple cabbage salad, Madeline made.

Nathan had fun building the Brio train tracks.

Columbia Gorge Excursion

We left the house at 9:15 am to head up to the Columbia Gorge.  Nathan had checked out some waterfalls to go to, then Hood River for lunch, and then to Cathedral Ridge for wine tasting.  We had a 3 pm reservation for that.

It was a gorgeous day.

Mt St. Helens

The first stop was to be the Vista House at Crown Point.  We found out that it was closed for some construction.  So our first stop was a gas station for the restrooms.  We still drove up there.  it was extremely windy.  I mean EXTREMELY!! We found out later that we were there during the peak gust speed of 70 mph!!! My pictures were all blurry because I could not hold still.

The next stop was Latourell Falls.  That was very nice. At least it was no longer as windy.

The Shepherd's Dell.  This waterfall trail has usually been closed the other times I have been by.

The next stop was Multnomah Falls.  Well, it was supposed to be.  First, Highway 30 was closed, so we had to turn back to Corbett and continue on 84.  The next Multnomah Falls parking lot was full so we could not get off.  Bummer.  So we had to change our plan somewhat.  We went straight to Hood River for lunch.  We had picked The Riverside.  I also called Cathedral Ridge to bump up our time to 2 pm instead of 3 pm.  That actually worked better.  

So much snow.  I had not expected this.

We crossed the Bridge of the Gods into Washington

Washington

Bridge of the Gods to the right

Another $2 to get back into Oregon.

It was not surprising that the outdoor seating area of the Riverside Restaurant was closed.

View from the restaurant.

See the ducks

We had a nice meal.  We had another road closure on our way to Cathedral Ridge.  Luckily, the alternate route was not much longer.

We could each pick which wines we wanted to taste and then they kept offering us more.  They were all so good.  We each bought some wine. 

Mt Adams

One the way back Multnomah Falls parking lot was open so we stopped.  

Note the moon and the jet stream

Multnomah Falls Lodge

Multnomah Falls

Droplets of water looked like jewels

    

moon over the falls

Nearly home.

We just had leftovers for dinner.  We had so many choices.

I think Cider missed us.

Game time for Nathan