weather

It'll be a Camp soon

~ randyaa ~ 2 Comments

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailMy father hasn’t been able to spend the time he wanted working on the addition to their camp. The past two weekends I’ve spent there finishing winter weather preparations with a whole bunch of help.  Thanks Jerry, Don, Alan, Tony & Amy.

It’s been a long time coming but we’ve now got a finished roof, weather sealed outer walls and windows and doors installed. I’d say we’re well on our way. The soffit should go up soon and then all that’s left is the doorknobs/locks and possibly some wire mesh under the camp to keep the critters out.

I might even get motivated enough to just continue working this fall so come this winter it’s at least partially usable space.

Anybody got a good propane space heater?

 

Snowpocolypse – or How I'll Enjoy the Weekend

~ randyaa ~ Leave a comment

63.5″ is a lot of snow. I don’t care where you are or where you’re from.  It’s not unheard of in the north country but for the southern areas which are getting slammed right now, it’s a ton.  Some of these cities only see 12″ of snow for a whole season, others only see a few inches occasionally.  to get almost 70″ in one week… wow.   The biggest problem is their lack of equipment.

Take a look at the satellite aftermath of the storm:

eastcoast_satellite_image-small

Looks like a scene from The Day After Tomorrow.

Either way, I’m headed right into the middle of snow country this weekend.  Spending a long weekend at camp snowmobiling and otherwise enjoying the winter weather and beautiful scenery.

60″ sounds like nothing but fun to me.  If you live in this area of the country, you need to have outdoor winter hobbies.

I’ll see you from the top of littl blue!

Back to Portland

~ randyaa ~ Leave a comment

The DesertOur trek from Glacier National Park back to Portland was rather uneventful, and yet satisfying.  We drove all the way through, only stopping in Coeur D’Alene for lunch (which was a completely unexpected yet beautiful city in Idaho).  Again, somewhere in Montana we hit a giant hailstorm of bugs.  We seemed to literally drive through a wall of them with some as big as your fist.

As we drove through the dry areas, we watched the outside temperature gauge in the car reach as high as 106ºF.  Rachel wanted to know what that feels like, so at 70Mph we opened the windows and stuck our arms out.  It felt just like a blow dryer, and closed went the windows.

Dust DevilAlong the way we saw a ton of dust devils, which is kind of neat as I don’t remember ever seeing them this large before.  They look like mini tornadoes, and they seemed to tear across the skyline with a fury.

After crossing into Oregon we followed the Columbia River along I84, a large section of which we had taken before.  As the sun set, we were provided beautiful views of Mt Hood clear as day right over the river.  The most beautiful sight however was as we were passing Multnomah Falls and the sunlight was peaking through some clouds so only the falls were lit up.  It almost made us turn around, but we pushed on.

Mt Hood over the Columbia River

We arrived at George and Stacie’s with just enough time to show them some pictures and then head to bed.

Even just driving through, the scenery out here is beautiful and fulfilling.

Columbia River Gorge (east end)

~ randyaa ~ Leave a comment

Our original plan for Sunday morning was to head to the west side of Mount St Helens.  However; after checking the weather report, it seemed like it might be a bit useless.  Overcast throughout the entire region for the whole day.  No matter, one of the greatest things about this area of the country is if you head an hour in any direction you’ll hit a different climate zone.  So that’s exactly what we did.  When we went out to the Columbia Gorge last we were a bit rushed and didn’t get a chance to check everything out that we wanted to.   This time we took I84 straight out the gorge and didn’t take any detours until we passed route 35 (the farthest out we made it last time).

Rowena Crest Panorama

We happened upon a few good viewpoints along the way (such as those at Ruthton Park) but our luck severely turned when we chatted briefly with a Ranger at the Twin Tunnels Trail.  She told us a little history about the road we were on and how the rest of it was closed to all but bikers and hikers (with a permit).  She then told us about an excellent viewpoint, called the Rowena Crest, coming up along the Historic Columbia River Highway and gave us directions.

Rowena CrestThe Rowena Crest is one of the best overlooks of the Gorge that we’ve seen.  To get there you start heading east and it gets drier and drier the farther out you go.  This makes for some dramatically different scenery.  This was perfect for today as it was overcast and damp in Portland.  Once we reached the Rowena crest, we spent a little while walking around the trails and getting shots of the curvy roads we’d have to take.  Then we headed back to Portland to visit with the Hamalainens and the new Heath family for one last get together before everyone headed home.  We only stayed for a short while before heading on to our next stop, Bend Oregon.

What little we saw of Bend was very pretty.  However; Bend was really only a halfway point for us to make the drive to Crater Lake tomorrow shorter.

Biking in Downtown

~ randyaa ~ Leave a comment

No matter what people tell you there is a lot to do in downtown Rochester. There are lots of museums, parks and weekend activities. Last Saturday Rachel actually had off so we went downtown on the bus and took our bikes along for the ride. The idea was to ride around and see some things we normally take for granted in Rochester. This was the first time with the bikes on the bus and every time we hit a bump I peaked my head up over the seat thinking I’d get to witness them shattering all over 490. Luckily they made it in one piece.

Our first stop was the Center at High falls where we got an awesome 10 minute taxi cab tour of the city including the now closed silver stadium! The Center also hosts a photography gallery on the 2nd floor which we took in and learned that Rochester’s main street completely flooded in 1865. From there we headed out across the footbridge to take in High Falls itself and then we were off for lunch.

While eating inside, the Hail started and WOW! I went outside to grab a few pictures and got nailed with one in the leg. It left a mark! Don’t worry, as always in Rochester Ny, If you don’t like the weather just wait 10 minutes, it’ll change. It did, but not much. We decided to play it safe and hop the next bus.

This trip was short, but not for lack of things to do. Next trip we’re heading to the Eastman House, Memorial Art Gallery, Susan B Anthony Park, among several others. We’ll also be making the trek up to the lake along the river if we have enough time. If not, we’ll catch it next time!

Utilizing the bus and our bikes to make these trips is very satisfying. I only wish they ran on Sundays too.

Windy City

~ randyaa ~ Leave a comment

The wind in Rochester was incredible today. I’m not sure how high it got up to but it knocked over some newspaper stands just as I left work and I was greeted with flying newspapers.

Flying Newspaper

The Red Front

~ randyaa ~ 3 Comments

Front Moving in From the NorthLast week on the way into work I noticed a front moving in from the north. It spread from one end of the horizon to the other and was bright orange. Unfortunately the skyline of Rochester limits visibility quite a bit. As soon as I got to work I headed to the First Federal building. It’s the highest building in Rochester and I figured It would be a great vantage point. I was able to get to the 19th floor easy enough, however once I was there both ends of the elevator hallway were key coded and I could go no further. It’s too bad the restaurant at the top is closed, it would have been a perfect place to take the picture from.

I was able to get this shot over the river. For those of you who don’t know the First Federal building is the tall one on the left with the circular top (which used to be a rotating restaurant).