What's that burning smell?

While in the middle of putting together that last blog post, I said to George, "Do you smell a burning smell? Like an electrical/plastic burning kind of smell???" He sniffed the air a bit and didn't notice anything. I leaned down toward the computer and it was definitely coming from there...and then George said, "Oh, NOW I smell it." And maybe another minute passed before the computer shut itself off.

So that computer is now out of commission and George is slowly transferring all my data & photos & everything to another computer. (Thank you George!!! It is so nice to be married to someone who has technical smarts.)

That means my efforts to finish blogging last summer's trip will likely be delayed until we get home from this summer's trip. Boo.

And I have other stuff on that computer that I would really like to have access to before we leave on our trip but I'm afraid that's simply not possible. Boo-hoo.

In other news, it's about to get really, really sunny & hot here for a the next week (as is most of the Western part of the country) and I am SO excited! Finally we'll have some swimming weather and I might just have a little bit of a tan before we go on vacation!

Really, back to blogging. And hiking!

Yesterday we did the awesomely fabulous and gorgeous hike right here in lovely Oregon. We go to Multnomah Falls from time to time (and if that's all we were doing we would definitely have avoided it yesterday...it's a major tourist spot and it was just as busy as we expected it might be!) but we have never done the full 6 mile loop hike which takes you up behind the falls and past many other beautiful falls. And we totally loved this hike. It's a moderately difficult hike in that there is a lot of up & down (and mostly up for the first half...mostly down for the 2nd half so it can be hard on your knees in particular!) but we would highly recommend it to those who are willing and able to handle a 6 mile hike!

I recently read a book that kinda changed my perspective a bit on the natural world around us--maybe "changed" is the wrong word...more like "enhanced" my perspective--it's a book about a man who experienced multiple near-death experiences and he talks about how every living (and even non-living, like rocks) creation of God has joy in fulfilling the measure of its creation and how you can get that spiritual connection when you are out experiencing it as with a hike... I have always always loved being out in places such as these--my favorite parts of Europe in fact are out away from the big cities and into the countryside--and I certainly took time yesterday to really revel in the beauty of God's creations here.

This is a truly marvelously beautiful place. I am so grateful to live here and get to experience it regularly with my family.

(Sorry for those who saw all of these on FB already...I hate to be redundant like this.)

We started by parking at Multnomah Falls (with an awesome parking spot...more on that later) and from there we hiked a small half-mile trail back to the Wahkeena Falls trailhead. This lovely "weeping rock" was on the way there.

Then we followed the trail up to Wahkeena Falls...so lovely:

Soon after that comes a viewpoint of the Columbia River Gorge called Lemmon Viewpoint.

Then, I don't know what this creek is called but we walked alongside it for a good long while and every bit of it was so picturesquely beautiful. We had a lot of company along the trail as you can see there.

We were happy to find an available bench big enough for all of us next to Fairy Falls where we broke out our lunches.

Aaron found this interesting wildflower. We didn't photograph the back side of it but that was funky too with 5 red horn-like protrusions.

So pretty. And my Zac is so cute. Love this little boy!

We came around a bend in the trail and suddenly this view appeared before us. Amazing. And a little nerve-wracking that we were SO high up! That's looking east down I-84 along the Gorge.

Here we stopped again for a quick snack. Lovely straight trees.

We sold our baby backpack so now Zac has no choice but to walk (or be carried on George's shoulders). He did a great job! 6 miles is way long for little feet & legs!

This part was so amazingly beautiful...the trail winds down where you see it there on the right and then switches back next to the creek there on the left.

This is Ecola Falls, also known as Hidden Falls, for good reason! You almost couldn't see it until you passed it.

Then this is Weisendanger Falls...

Boys & George & Falls. (Grumpy Benno is hiding behind Aaron).

And one more of Weisendanger (sorry so many...I loved this one!)

Next came Dutchman Falls (all of these are along the same little cascading creek that ends up as Multnomah Falls....so, so pretty!)

Dutchman again.

And then we finally arrived at Multnomah Falls at the top! (And suddenly there were TONS of people around too. So glad we ended here rather than started.) Doesn't this make you dizzy?

Do you see our red minivan way down there in the first row on the right??? We were so blessed that despite the heavy traffic & crowds, just as we approached that spot, the car there pulled out! We were afraid we'd have to park miles away!

Coming down...Aaron & Multnomah Falls

The boys & I on the bridge at Multnomah. I wish they would smile normally!

And at last we made it to the bottom. It doesn't look so crowded in this shot but there were people EVERYWHERE. Busy day at Multnomah Falls. It really was a perfect day so I don't blame the crowds at all for being there!

We finished off the day with a stop at Burgerville on our way home. We were all pretty wiped out after the hike--in fact we all slept pretty late on Sunday morning and we were almost late for church!

This world is such a beautiful place. I know it was all put here by our loving Creator and I am thankful for every bit of it!

July 11th: Bookbinder, Cabinet-maker

{Ack! I had better finish blogging this trip before an entire year passes since it happened...we're just about to the same dates already, yikes!}

So where were we??? Oh yeah, still in Colonial Williamsburg the first day on July 11th...after the milliner and all that, now we checked out the bookbinder...

I did a bookbinding class at BYU which was one of my favorite classes ever. It was so fun to make books. I love the Grandin Press building in Palmyra, NY, precisely because I love bookbinding so much. Interestingly, most books in the colonial era were printed without hard covers as shown below...it was just too expensive for most people to afford with a cover.

 Then we wandered on a little further to the cabinet-maker's shop. This place was fascinating to us. I am just amazed that they can take these intricate drawings and make them appear out of wood. What amazing skill!

Seriously, look at these intricate drawings!

 In that same room was a harpsichord (which the cabinet-makers would make) and Christopher played some of his piano pieces there for us.

Such beautiful furniture in there! And George was drooling over all those wonderful tools and workbenches. He really loves woodworking.