Election Day
It seems like people woke up this election day and got rid of a lot of corrupt, yes-men (and probably women too). The war in Iraq was certainly the biggest impetus (and it did not help to have GW say he would keep Rummy in power). But the fact that these people in Congress, elected to serve us, seem to spend more time on re-election and petty stuff is infuriating. Not that the new wave will be any different but we can hope that they can now get back to real issues like negotiating for lower prices on perscription drugs, Social Security reform and Iraq. GW also needs to stop being so devisive and start working with Democrats instead of against them! Okay the last is too much to hope for. And anyway it is all up to Karl Rove.
Halloween
We went dancing. And partly due to George's costume - which he danced in all evening - and partly thanks to his fan club at dancing, we won $50 for best costume. And maybe it was the purple hair!
More fall hikes
This fall has been full of vivid colors and good weather. These pictures are of two hikes I did. The first two pictures are of the hike to Thorp Mtn in the central Cascades north of Cle ELum. This is the third time I had done the hike. It is a difficult hike and we may have made it harder by going on a little known trail starting up a creek bed. The weather at home was terrible that day and I came pretty close to canceling the hike but it turned out that we had better weather in the mtns than in the desert. The views (as always) were wonderful.
The next hike was last week and although we all thought we would have very cold weather, I found myself taking off my long underwear at the trailhead and hiking in shorts. This hike was south of Heppner, Oregon in the Umatilla forest. We were surrounded by hunters hence, the presence of lots of orange vests. The air was hazy with smoke but it still was a crisp, sunny fall day. The hike was 10 miles with about 1600 ft elevation gain.
Last weekend we had snow in the mountains so perhaps our hiking will be around home for the rest of the year.
