Top of the World

Okay, we weren't exactly at the top of the world, only 7000 feet. We spent the weekend at Mt. Hood-golfing, playing croquet, hiking and even writing.

On Saturday we rode the Magic Mile chair lift at Timberline. I enjoyed the clear blue sky, fresh air and view. The kids learned what being above tree line meant and watched the die-hard skiers and snowboarders on Palmer Glacier. The oldest two learned to ski this past winter and wanted to ski themselves. We convinced them the snow would be better if we came back this winter.

Instead of taking the lift down, my adventurous-former-mountain-climbing hubby wanted to hike down. I reminded him that we had three kids with us. So? he replied. This shouldn't have surprised me considering he wanted to take three children under the age of six on an overnight backpacking trip a year ago. I convinced him that car camping with a cooler full of steaks and beer made much more sense than packing it in and carrying it out. But this time I figured the worse that could happen was if Mt. Hood decided to blow it's top and riding the lift or walking down wouldn't make any difference so we hiked down. My youngest, 2 1/2, was more interested in stopping every five feet and playing with the dirt and rocks or trying to pick wildflowers along the trail. She managed about half the trail and was carried the rest of the way down. No incidents or injuries or eruptions. Thank goodness.

On the writing front, I am getting the proposal done. Being on Mt. Hood did help, since my hero Chase, is a risk-taking adrenaline junkie. I received an email from my editor today asking about it. I now have a deadline. YAY! I can't do any writing without some sort of end date hanging over me. It's pathetic, but it's just how my brain works. And now I must write.