Thanksgiving at Camp Westwind

One of the really great things about marrying into the Rondthaler family is Thanksgiving at Camp Westwind on the Oregon Coast.  It is a little north of Lincoln City and from the beach you get an iconic view of Cascade Head....shown in the photograph above.  I have always cherished the fact that, when you walk on the beach where I took this picture, you will know anyone you see.  At Thanksgiving, our group "owns" that beach.

Of course, Thanksgiving is all about the food....and the Black Mountain Thanksgiving does not disappoint--especially in the pie department.  There are a lot of people, because there are several families involved.  The annual celebration evolved from a group who went to Black Mountain College in North Carolina.  Gradually, as they moved to Oregon, they formed a group that decided that Thanksgiving was THE holiday to celebrate and they would celebrate together. That was about 1950---they have done it ever since, without missing a year.  Now, their children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren are there.

There were four turkeys,and almost 80 people for the Thanksgiving dinner.  I loved catching up on the news of Howard's daughters and their families.  Here's a picture of his beautiful and very loving daughters:

Mary Rondthaler, Elizabeth Rondthaler Jolley, and Catherine Rondthaler

This is how it looked right before Thanksgiving dinner:

Hiking at Timberline

Good Times on Saturday!   I hiked at timberline on Mt Hood.  Our hiking group gathered at Timberline Lodge.  If you look closely in the upper left-hand in the above picture of the Lodge, you can see the moon--a little white dot in this picture.  The Timberline Trail (part of the Pacific Crest Trail) leaves from Timberline Lodge and goes 2.2. miles to Zigzag Overlook, where there's an amazing view of Mt. Hood:

We could also see Mt. Jefferson in the distance:

The trees were not nearly that dark.  I had to make adjustments in my photo so that Mt. Jefferson would show up.  

It was beautiful and fun to be with friends from Good Times!  We were a little surprised to see snowdrifts covering the trail in several places.  The elevation is about 7000' and the hike is rated "easy."  It would have been easy-er without those snow patches!  The temperature was great.  We hiked back the same way we came in, for a total of 4.4 miles.   Lunch at Timberline Lodge was our reward before heading back to Portland.