Out of Montana

Meg at Lookout Pass

Today was Meg and my last day in Montana. We went to Lookout Pass ski area and had a great day with good snow and plenty of sunshine. We are in Ritzville, WA tonight on our way to Fossil, OR to spend New Years at Wilson Ranches Retreat.

The Big Game

My knees are killing me, but it was worth it. Thanks Meg for the video and photos!

Trout Slayer for Fleming

In Missoula

In front of the parents

We made it to Missoula safe and sound. The passes were dry. The worst roads were between Hood River and The Dalles. It was fun to find some snow on the ground here and it fell lazily throughout the day. I started showing Meggie a bit of Missoula. I think she likes what she has seen so far.

Heading to Missoula

The route

Meg and I are heading out Friday morning for Missoula. There we will spend Christmas (hopefully white) with my parents, find a ski area or two (I really want to try Lost Trail again), and try to avoid bodily injury in the annual football game. Expect pictures!

Dark

Meg and I were enjoying a pleasant evening at home last night when *pop* the power goes out at 10:15. We had a crazy amount of rain and wind in Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington. Winds were way over 100mph up on Mt. Hood, and winds were close to 90mph on the Columbia River. About 250,000 PGE customers lost power and may take them until early next week to restore it. I still have power here at work, so can't complain too much. All of Tillamook and Clatsop county are with out power. That would be rough!

More news coverage from the Oregonian

UPDATE: Power was back on at my house around 5:00pm on Friday. Still thousand without power in the area. A weather scientist called this a "once in a decade" storm for the area.

Disneyland

Stylish bug eyes

While the last trip was for the kids, this one was for the adults. It felt a bit like a family trip in my early teens where my sister and I worked to make best use of parades and other "people sucking" activities to maximize the number of times we hit the big rides.

It is always fun to travel with the Mills and this time was no exception. The last time we went to Disneyland (almost a decade ago) was by car. I think we all preferred the plane.

It was great to be there with Meg. Not only did she provide some extreme secondary entertainment on some of the rides (video to follow) and a potty stop partner for Yvette, but made a great ride buddy and looked awesome doing it. She talks a bit about the trip here, but more just complains about me not having the photos up...


Getting ready for the Extreme Dumbo Ride of Doom


Yvette and Meg got their fash-on

More photos here.

Winter is Here

Meg totally crushing a Stem Christie

The snow has come, and with it the ski season. Sunday was our first time on the slopes this season with a trip to Ski Bowl. The temperature was good, the snow was decent, and my legs did just fine for the full day. Not a bad way to start the new season.

Mmmmmm Beeeeer

Meg two-fisting the night away

This post is really just to make Josh jealous. On Friday, Meg and I went with a couple of friends to the Holiday Ale Festival. They had a ton of special holiday ales not only from Oregon, but from all over the West and Europe as well. Beers ranged from 6.4% to 14%. How much do you see of those in SLC, Flem?


Meg and I


Meg and Liz(She likes the Griz. Boo)


Too much Christmas cheer


Trying to make a fool of myself


A keepsake to cherish for a lifetime

Back into the Racket

Last night Meg and I signed up for a membership at the Club Sport fitness club. It is a great facility that has been updated from when I belonged in 2001-2002. I hope Meg and I get good use out of it. The Mills belong too, so hopefully there will be a guilt issue if we don't!

Green Power

While paying my electric bill yesterday, I looked at PGE's renewable power option pamphlet for the umpteenth time. The pamphlet never really gave a good indication on how to switch to green power, so I never went any further. Well, I finally checked out their renewable website. A few clicks later I found it would only cost me about $5 a month to get all of my power from wind, geothermal, and low-impact hydro. I signed up.

More information on renewable power in the Northwest