Timberline Lodge

Tuesday - After the morning test session, we drove to Zig Zag Falls trailhead. It was a short hike to the falls from the parking lot. 

We then drove up to almost 6000’ to the Timberline Lodge. It was a WPA project in the late 1930s. 

We had lunch at the restaurant, and probably had the best table in the whole place. This was the view from our table. 

It’s hard to believe that the lodge took less than 18 months to build. Including all of the carvings, artwork, and furniture. It was dedicated by Franklin Roosevelt.

Still the Same Place…

Saturday - Two test sessions today, including an early morning one. There was a small farmers market at the RV park, and they had the normal stuff. Overpriced veggies and artsy items. We picked up a couple of squash. We then had lunch at the little deli/restaurant next to the office. The Italian sub was good, though I would’ve expected some sort of salami or spicy deli meat. 

This place got a lot more crowded on the weekend. I’m not even going to bother checking out the hot tub today. 

Sunday - This afternoon, we drove about 12 miles east as Bridget wanted to see proof that Mt. Hood still existed. Being Sunday, there were a lot of cars on the road. There are a lot fewer RVs in the campground compared to yesterday. 

Monday - Yesterday, we saw smoke, which prompted a search for fires. There are quite a few, with the closest one being Hood Meadows. 

StarLink is still useful here even with all of the trees. Here are the obstructions as seen by the antenna. It is looking through a hole in the canopy. It still works fine for streaming due to buffering within the app. But I’m not offering to lead as real-time apps such as Zoom or voice would have random outages. 

We drove back to the town of Sandy to pick up some groceries. We had to be a little careful as we will be heading into Canada in about a week. So no raw poultry, eggs, citrus fruit, or some vegetables. I'll look up more specifics later on in the week. Unfortunately, the restricted items seem to change depending on who is asking.

Welches, OR -TT

Thursday - I set up the clam for the first time on this trip. It’s not windy but there is some in the forecast. I still need to add guy lines. I also set up the JPC-12 and checked my radio email. Propagation is pretty poor but I could still reach the RMS in northeastern Oregon. An indication of the poor propagation is the speed of 18bps. 

Quite the temperature change from yesterday but no complaints from me. 

Not quite the same as the Blackstone but a whole lot lighter. The results are similar. I still prefer the Blackstone. This is sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, parsnips, and green beans. With some balsamic vinegar. It came out decent, though the sweet potatoes could have been cooked longer.

Friday - A morning test session followed by warmer daytime temperatures. The A/C got turned on mid-afternoon while watching the Starship launch on YouTube. It’s still an hour away but it’s  entertaining enough. 

Welches, OR - TT

Wednesday - We are back on the road again. The class C had the oil changed this morning and now has a full tank of propane. We still had 3/8 of a tank but the gas station had propane. So it was convenient. 

We are at a newly listed TT park near Mt. Hood. The elevation is only 1100’ so it’s still hot and it is kind of smoky from all of the fires around Oregon. The site is large Ang backs up to the woods. It’s pretty nice.

And, the hot tub and pool are open! Not that you needed it with todays 90° (°F) temperatures. But I felt a need to try it out anyway.