Hood River Cherry Festival

Last weekend we took a road trip to Hood River. If you have never been there, you are missing out on some unbelievable scenery. The Columbia River Gorge is just gorgeous. This is our second trip there, but the kids' first trip. It takes about 3 hours, which includes pit stops. Harry finally had a weekend day off and I have been dying to go to Hood River for the cherry festival. If you take a trip there but miss the cherries, don't worry. The peach and nectarine season is just beginning and the pear and apple seasons follow close behind! I did a little research before we left, but didn't map out our route on purpose. I like to just drive the countryside and just cruise around. Harry of course, likes to have a mapped out route, so this drove him crazy. We picked up a Hood River Fruit Loop map (and a pound of Rainier cherries to eat along the way!) at the Farmer's Market in Hood River. You can also download a copy at Hood River Fruit Loop. We tried to find Alice's Orchard, which is a U-pick orchard. After finally figuring out the roads, we got to Alice's at 11:30a. By then Emma was ready to be out of her car seat and running around. We got our buckets from the stand then headed out to the cherry orchard. Once we showed Emma what to do, she got busy! She even had sound effects when she plucked each cherry off the tree. It was hilarious! Emma and I picked Rainier cherries while Sheena concentrated on the Vann cherries. Bings were also available. The Rainiers cost $2 a lb. and the Vanns/Bings were $1 a lb. What a deal! A quick lunch at McDonald's followed then back onto the Fruit Loop. Along the way we stopped at Panorama Point and took a few photos of Mount Hood. We stopped at a couple more places, The Fruit Company (where we took a tour through their pear and apple orchards) and Rassmussen Farms (where I bought some fresh peaches). Can't wait to pick cherries again next year! Gotta love Oregon!

On the way back, we stopped at the Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery. There is a giant sturgeon to view as well as trout to feed. The best time to go I believe is end of September or early October. Then you'll get to see the huge salmon! Emma had fun feeding the trout.

I have been busy last week and this week organizing and planning for my 20th high school reunion. I can't believe it's been that long. I organized the last one in '97. I am hoping that things go smoothly since I'm across the ocean this time around. Looking back now, I wish I had updated addresses a few years after the 10th as now I'm having problems finding people! I still have about 25 missing classmates to find that we didn't find for the 10th reunion. I also can't believe that it's almost 3 times more expensive at some of the locations I've checked for the banquet!

I have a couple of stamping events this month. You can check them out on my website if you are interested! The brand new 06-07 catalog and idea book was released July 1st. An online version is on my website. I have been drooling and falling asleep with the catalog for the past 2 weeks now. I can't make up my mind what I want to BUY for myself. But I promised myself I wouldn't buy anything until I sold a bunch of my retired stamp sets. And I am proud to say I have sold a bunch of them on Ebay of all places. I have 2 more listed and maybe after that I'll place an order for some new stamps!

I'll write more this weekend, hopefully!