On Top Mt. Hood

So I was going through some of my posts and I realized I haven't given Mount Hood much love.  Granted I haven't spent a lot of time there, but I did spend one lovely afternoon in search of it.  I say it that way because it was a bit of an adventure, my travels usually are.  We left Portland probably around 11 and at times it was clear and sunshiny, but other times it was raining and foggy.  While you could see it at times; the mountain was hidden.

  

Once we got to the top, there it was the peak of Mt. Hood!  The fog had cleared and we could enjoy a gorgeous view!  Timberline Lodge is atop Mt. Hood.  As well as a ski area.  Were were there in October, and there was quite a bit of snow up there, but the hill was not open.  We walked through the guest areas for the ski hill.  There were some great pictures and drawings of the skiing process (about the only way I can describe them) and a great statue of Smokey the Bear with skis!

Then we had to enter the Timberline Lodge.  You might recognize it from the Shinning, they used it as the outside of the hotel.  It was an amazing building inside too.  Very classy, but rustic and very fun inside.  It kinda reminded me of much large much fancier Snow White and the 7 Dwarf house!  Odd I know, but it worked! 

On the way back down we stopped at several little streams and tiny cascading waterfalls.  I am sure they get much larger during the spring snow melt.  They were adorable!!!!

On to Tombstone

 So of all the places I wanted to visit while I toured the southwest Tombstone was on at the top of the list.  I'm a history kinda girl and it is chalk full of it.  Sadly I got sick around that time.  Yeah it was stupid on my part, some super dehydration.  I was nauseous for most of the day.  Little queasy at tombstone (at first I attributed it to the negitive energy of Tombstone) but it only got worse as the day went on, actually that was the reason the trip was cut short. But that is neither here nor there at this point.





So Tina and I left Tuscon early in the day and headed south, on a path that would take us really close to the Mexican border. To another town that I wanted to see, but slept through (I did go back later with the parents though).  Arizona is kinda pretty.  They have mountains, cacti, and animals.  I enjoyed the drive.  We got to Tombstone early and natually found the museum.  It was the old courthouse. 






They had an overview of the OK Corral, and the Earp brothers.  I am not a huge fan of Wyatt Earp as he was kinda a jerk.  But Doc Holliday intrigues me.  Upstairs the courthouse was set up just as it was in the 1800's.  So it was kinda neat to see.  Outside you could go see Tombstone as it was... well kinda.  Part of the town is the tourist feature.  One street mainly done in dirt and all fixed up pretty. 





They have the OK Corral where they talk about the empty lot that the gunfight took place in.  They lay out the time line and the events leading up to it.  Pretty nifty actually.  Then you have old timey stores and business on both sides of the dusty old street.  Then you show up at Big Nose Kate's Saloon (assuming it was later named after her as a nod to Tombstone history).  Where you learn a little about Kate.  She was Doc's girlfriend (may or may not have been a prostitute- no one really knows), and he felt she was his intellectual equal.  She ran a boarding house, might have run a brothel, and often gets confused with Tombstones' Rowdy Kate.









At the far end of the street is the Birdcage Theater.  Legend has it that 26 people were killed there as it was the meanest, rowdiest places in Tombstone and there is still 120ish bullet holes in the joint.

In a Canyon

New Mexico.  I have mixed feelings about New Mexico.  I had a great trip there once, I went to Chaco Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, Roswell and a bunch of places.  It was great.  But the 1st visit, I had let myself get pretty dehydrated, and was sick as a dog. (BTW where does that phrase come from anyways?)  So I didn't get anywhere.  Spent the day at a hotel being miserable and the vacation was over at that point.  Wasn't interested to seeing anything at that point.

So I went to the desert with my parents after my 1st Snow Lodge.  I was looking for warmth, and didn't find it.  Well, there was that day in Roswell.  But that was about it.  The wind.... the wind in New Mexico is crazy and cold.  Even though it was windy, Chaco Canyon was pretty hot.  But because of the wind, it wasn't unbearable.  I am not a hot weather climate kinda of girl, but I can deal in the short term.

A Great Kiva

Chaco Canyon is a mystery.  At least that is what they told me.  It is chalk full of Ancestral Puebloan Great Houses.  And they are all aligned with each other, even though they are miles apart.  Not only that, they are aligned with the solstices, the solar and lunar cycles.  It is crazy!  No one is quite certain as to what purpose Chaco was created for, was it a ceremonial area, was it something else?  Much like the amount of licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop, the world may never know.

 

I love this part of the south west, the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde, Chimney Rock, Hovenweep, they are all so amazing and beautiful.  You can feel the history at these sites.  The emotional imprint (if you believe in that sort of thing) is intense.  The place really speaks for itself. 

Oh and I don't have a picture, but the stars were amazing.  And I have been in many of the few remaining dark spots, but I don't know if I've ever seen a more amazing display.