For my birthday

(oh, my B-Day was almost a month ago)

For my birthday in March, we grabbed my friend A and took him to Hood River with us for Western Air and Auto’s Second Weekend. We had been there before, and learned about their Second Weekend. On the second weekend of every month, WAAAM and its volunteers get vehicles and airplanes out of the museum and give them some exercise.

(Western Air and Auto Museum has a collection from The Golden Era of Transportation, and most all of their vehicles and airplanes work – they run and fly)

Hood River is about an hour east of Portland.

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Ever rode in a motorcycle’s sidecar?

This guy was giving rides, and K*, my friend from Japan, volunteered me to go for a ride.

I remember years ago, we were down in Big Bear, visiting my friend Jhni, and both of them volunteered me to go para-sailing on the lake. THAT time, I laughed and didn’t go do it, but this time, I went for a ride.

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Yahoo!

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So, the guy says "hold on! I’m gonna fly the sidecar!"

wow

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Ok, well, umm, that was fun….

They also had a 1910 Ford Model T "station wagon". It was actually a "station hack" – a car to go to the railroad station and pick up and drop off people – the original station wagon.

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We spent most of the afternoon at WAAAM – sideshows are in the process of being made.

From Hood River, we drove west towards Portland, and stopped at Multnomah Falls for my Birthday dinner.

K* had offered to take me to "The Acropolis", about a mile from home, which is or was listed as "the best steak deal in Portland". For less than 7 bucks, you can get a steak dinner, baked potato, and a salad. It’s a good deal… except that The Acropolis is a strip club. Portland has more strip clubs per-capita than any other American city, but I didn’t want to think that for my 50th birthday that I went and watched naked women dance on stage while I cut into my steak.

We went to Multnomah Falls Lodge instead.

My friend A and me:

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I’m probably telling A something about the Gorge….

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It was a very good day. A left the dinner table at one point – "I’m going to the restroom" he said. He did, I guess, but he also stopped at the front desk and ordered birthday cake for me. so when we were done with dinner (Prime Rib for me, yummmm) and were thinking about NO dessert, all of a sudden, pretty waitresses bought us all a piece of cake, with candles on mine.

It was a pretty good birthday too.

(not at all like the 1998 birthday. That was a less than memorable night, and a month and a half later, I almost died in a car crash. I NEVER expected to see 50)

 

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