Hanford Reactor Tour

 In April we Drove to the Ricland Washington Area for an amazing tour of the Hanford Atomic Reactor.  The Reactor is now controlled by the Department of Energy and the National Park Service.  The tours last about 4 hours and are free but you need an advance reservation.

This is the outside of Reactor Number 2.  Inside this reactor was made the Plutonium that went into the first atomic bomb ever tested in New Mexico.  It also provided the Plutonium for the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki Japan.

Parked beside the Reactor is the train that delivered to Fuel rods to the facility. 

The two pictures above are the front of the reactor where the fuel rods are.  Each rod has it's own water cooling system.  The reactor was built close to the Columbia River to provide the needed water.

Marlene and I in the Control Room.  I tried to get it started, but they seemed to be perturbed at that idea.

Urban Walk #5 - Portland State University to Goose Hollow Loop

 This walk was a bit shorter than the other urban hikes we have done. It started out in the hills of SW Portland and took us through residential areas that we never knew existed. More stairs and hidden urban staircases to offer short cuts to the higher landscapes of Portland. Below is an antique gate house that once served a Portland reservoir that was abandoned because the water supply was insufficient to sustain its use in the late 19th century.

 Yes, I did mention the stairs on this hike, there were stair cases and more stair cases.

 And even more staircases...though my Fitbit said we only did 59 flights, it felt like a bunch more!

 Oh, did I mention there were many staircases on this hike?

 Top of this staircase did disclose a beautiful view of Portland.

 Wow, it actually appears we were able to walk down a few of these flights of stairs!

I look pretty happy that I am almost to the street below...Great hike of about 4 miles, we treated ourselves to lunch, then head home to put our feet up!

The Final Days

Our one week vacation has almost come to an end. Friday was my 62nd Birthday, and Marlene got me a fantastic cake to celebrate. One of the best we've ever had I believe. It was a me me me kind of day: Presents in the morning, a Movie in the afternoon, ( Ironman 2) a little shopping for new shirts and tennis shoes, and then dinner at Tads Chicken and Dumplings. Then home for cake.

Today we celebrated memorial day with Molly, Rob, Kids and Maxine. The kids tried out their bikes in front of the house, and we grilled burgers in the back. It actually warmed up a bit and the rain took a break!

It was a great week, sorry to see it end.

Martin's Trip to DC

I went on a quick 2 day trip this week to Washington DC for one my regular NASWA committee meetings (National Association of State Workforce Agencies) I hadn't been to DC for over 30 years. I didn't have much time to see anything, however I did use a couple hours at the end of the first day to take a very long walk. My Pedometer said I did over 22,000 steps when I was done that day, which is about 9 1/2 miles! My main goal was the Vietnam Veterans memorial. It wasn't in existence the last time I was here, and I really wanted to see it. However it was located about 3 miles from where my hotel was, so in order to walk there I ended up walking past lots of other points of interest.

It was National Police Week while I was in town. There were thousands of rowdy police officers from all across the country every where you went. The picture above is of hundreds of police motorcycles. These were LAPD cycles from Las Angeles.

The White House. You can still walk by the front, however no vehicles are allowed.

The Lincoln Monument. This was at the far end of my walk that day, but worth seeing again.

This is the Vietnam Women's memorial. It is one of the newest memorials on the mall, and very moving. The artist concentrated on the facial expressions of the characters.

This is at the base of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Many items and messages are left there by visitors.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It's still one of the most popular memorials for visitors.

Part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The Second World War Memorial. Very big and very impressive. Hard to take a picture that does it justice.

The Washington Monument

The Castle. The original Smithsonian building. Now one of many up and down the entire length of the mall. I didn't have time to visit any of them. I want to come back with Marlene and spend several days exploring it all.

I did rush in to the National Art Galley for about 15 minutes and took this shot of an iconic Rembrandt painting.

This picture is rather dark, but it is the inside of the National Art Gallery. You can make out the huge columns inside the atrium.

The Capitol is very impressive, no matter how many pictures you have seen of it, seeing it in person is still amazing

Someone passing by offered to take my picture and I accepted.

The trip just whetted my appetite for more. Have to go back with Marlene.

Bountiful Christmas

What a great day, after an early morning outside run the dogs actually let us sleep to 8am! I was shocked when I opened my eyes and looked at the clock radio. They were exhausted from all the hubbub surrounding Christmas Eve, so now they are sacked out enjoying the leisurely Christmas. They did wake up enough to play with their Christmas toys and I have enclosed a movie of Heartman playing with his. My husband loves his watch and I was gobsmacked by the framed picture of Heartman and Sailor and the water color and ink drawing we purchased in St John, New Brunswick. Now we face getting our new wireless Blu Ray set up so we can stream some movies from Netflicks and be lazy. More fabulous Christmas goodies will surely follow on this bountiful Christmas day...

Enterprise and Joseph OR

Well, Martin, Molly, the dogs and I piled into the van and headed for Eastern Oregon. It was a beautiful drive and we saw a little of every kind of weather. At 4100 feet in the Blue Mountains we even saw sleet. We are hoping to avoid bad weather when we head for home. Martin's mom is so excited to have us here. We have been able to spend lots of time with her and explore the area around Joseph and Enterprise. Molly is staying with her grandmother and Martin and I are staying at Barking Mad Farm in Enterprise. A great bed and breakfast who even accepts our huge guys. Diana the proprietor with her husband Hunter is an accomplished photographer and we had the wolfhounds pictures taken while we were here. Poor Guido didn't make the cut but we did get some good photos of him as well. The dogs are enjoying the 8 fenced in acres at the B&B as well as the half acre at grandma's. We are going out to eat at a Mexican Restaurant tonight in Enterprise. Spent the afternoon in Joseph and around Wallowa Lake. Above the post is Martin and Sailor enjoying the roadtrip; Guido in the field at Barking Mad Farm; Martin, Sailor and Guido at Barking Mad; Martin and I at the Wallowa County Courthouse; Martin and his mom at Lake Wallowa; and Molly and her grandmother in Joseph. Tomorrow back on the road!

New York, New York

Our first day in New York City...and our lead picture at the top of this group is another one of me in front of a giant plate of food! In this case it happens to be a huge deli sandwich from the Carnegie Deli, across the street from Carnegie Hall. The Deli has been in this location since the 20's and specializes in huge deli sandwiches and other items including Cheese cake which we also had...Actually Marlene and I split both the sandwich and the cheese cake, and it was still almost more than we could handle. The next picture is of Time Square at night. Our hotel is just a couple blocks from where this picture was taken. Times square is fun to walk around in but it is packed with people at every hour of the day. Today we also took a bus tour of the city and ended up in Central Park, where we took a stroll and took the next two pictures, and the last one as well, which shows the Empire State Building as well as the 0riginal Macy's store. We have another full day in the city tomorrow, and are looking forward to going back and seeing some the things we just passed by today....now for a good nights rest.