Waterfalls... Play Ball!

I crossed back into Hood River early in the morning and headed to the nearest Starbucks in search of a quiet place to write my journal entry and formulate the day's plan. I determined I would stop in the town of Cascade Locks, situated along the river, do a quick hike, and then visit a few waterfalls before driving to Seattle, located 200 miles to the north. I stopped along the Columbia in Hood River again to get some pictures of the windsurfers and kiteboarders. The wind was certainly strong enough for them, but they were nowhere to be seen. I spotted only one lone kiteboarder standing on the beach with his gear looking out to the river.

Matt called just as I was leaving Hood River. It just so happened that he had two tickets to a 1:35 Seattle Mariners game. And of course they were playing my favorite Minnesota Twins! Even the Twins' ace, Johan Santana, was pitching. It seemed as though the stars had aligned. I could not pass up this opportunity to hang with Matt, see Safeco field, and see my team play away and outdoors for the first time!

I heavily abbreviated my Columbia River Gorge plans. I stopped in Cascade Locks and visited the post office where Steve would have signed his name in the Pacific Crest Trail through-hiker logbook. Alas, the book was kept in an office in Portland during the winter months according to the postal clerk behind the counter. He was surprised that the book had not been returned to the post office yet. I admired the "Bridge of the Gods" over the Columbia connecting Oregon and Washington and hiked a few paces up the Eagle Creek trail. I hopped back on Interstate 84 and headed west again. I exited the interstate to run along the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Highway which runs parallel to the interstate towards Portland. I popped out of the car to snap a few pics of gorgeous Multnomah Falls which, at 642 feet, is the second highest non-seasonal waterfall in the United States. I would have liked to visit Bridal Veil Falls, but the clock was ticking and Matt and I had planned to see at least half of the Twins-Mariners game.

Conrad ran the last few miles west along Interstate 84 and then surged north out of Portland on Interstate 5. Appropriately, it seemed to me, it began to rain. I knew I would arrive late to the game, so I dialed in 1000 on the A.M. radio and listened to the first few innings while I passed through Olympia, Washington's capitol, Tacoma and on into Seattle.

I arrived in Seattle during the third inning. Matt was waiting for me, tickets in hand, outside of the stadium. It was great to see him! I hadn't see him since 2004, the last time I was in Seattle. We bought a couple brews and settled into our great seats behind home plate and watched as Johan went to work on the hapless Seattle batters. We talked about our lives and a little about our sea kayaking trip a couple of weeks away. We watched the last inning of the game from the bar/patio in center field and kept right on talking until the ushers directed us out at the end of the game. (Twins win 7-3!)

In our separate cars, we braved downtown rush-hour traffic amidst construction, on our way back to Matt and Dawn's house. Dawn was waiting for us. I toured their beautiful new house in the Wallingford neighborhood and met their cute puppy. We supped at a local dive bar on some delicious fish and chips. Matt and Dawn's friends, Kook and Ethan, joined us. The five of us will be heading to the Broken Islands, located on the Pacific side of Vancouver Island, in two weeks for about 4 days of sea kayaking. I am probably the greenest member of the group with 3 kayaking trips under my belt. It would be quite an undertaking to prepare, I imagined, when I learned that there was no fresh water available on the islands. We would need to pack it all in. But Dawn, the "den mother" of the group, seemed to have everything dialed in. She would do the grocery shopping. The rest of them seemed comfortable knowing how to find appropriate maps and directions. In the next few days, I would need to find an outfitter at our starting point in order to reserve a kayak.

I said good-bye to the group and made my way several miles to the west (in Ballard) to find Scott and Jill. Jill and I go way back. We went to junior and senior high school together. Scott, also from Minnesota, is Jill's best guy. They met in college and moved out to Seattle several years earlier. (I helped them pack when they left Minnesota, but I can't quite remember what year that was now! Time flies!) I arrived at their house at dusk as they were in the basement putting some final touches on a remodeling job they had been working on. I stayed with them last time I was in Seattle, but so much had changed around their house! They had been very busy. They updated the entire basement and added a bedroom. Jill, currently studying horticulture and having worked previously in landscaping, had apparently been very busy outside of the house as well. Many beautiful flowers were blooming. They gave me a tour of their reconstructed basement, we caught up a little bit, and talked about our plans to hike Washington's Glacier Peak region over the weekend. Because it was a "school night", it was early to bed for all of us.

Beditme aggravation: I took a lot of pictures today, but once again I realized that my dumb flash card wasn't in the camera. I took it out at Starbucks. I may start wearing a ribbon on my shutter finger as a reminder.

It had been a long, but great day, for me. After two weeks of periods of solitude (but not loneliness), I was happy to see all of my friends!