My brain's been freezing up, I just spent a full five minutes trying to remember what I did yesterday. I remember now: Mom, Mer, Grandpa & I went up to Cloud Cap. It wasn't exactly... a long hike, but, it was windy enough to blow one about a bit more than one would like. We went up the ridge for the views, and turned back after being wind whipped. We couldn't find a way out of the wind though. The alternative lower trail still grew too windy for us. We saw a marmot (thanks to Nook the cocker spaniel, who scared off a little chipmunk and riled up a marmot enough to stand on a rock and make warning squeaks to all the other rodents). I'm not much of a hiker unless I'm in the right mood (and the right mood comes along about once a month). Yesterday I wasn't in said mood. I basically ambled about eating corn nuts until we decided to turn back, at which point I broke into a run down the mountainside.

Glad we went though, it was fun with Grandpa. We stopped at the Crag Rats cabin to munch on chocolate bars, but our peace was soon disturbed as about ten vans let loose their cargo of gawking tourists to stagger around the cabin and take pictures.

Today: I cleaned with Mom in the morning, and stopped by to see Dad. We talked for a while, and Dad was the first to ask "So, what do you think of Peter?" Anyway, Dad's going to see if he'd like to go to the jazz music tomorrow night with us.

Also went to see Grammy and Grandpa; we all had root beer floats and talked, looked at pictures of Debi's new baby (a little girl). Grammy's got lots of scrapbooking supplies up in her attic, I'm thinking of compiling a scrapbook this winter and entitling it: The First Twenty Years, Five of Which I Have Little to No Recollection Of. But I have birthday cards & newspaper clippings enough to serve as fire starter for the rest of my life. So yeah, got to find something to do with those things besides burning them.

Mom & I went to the Dalles for a bit of shopping this afternoon. Needed a backpack. Took me an hour of holding up one backpack by another to decide. I changed my mind at least ten times. Settled on a purplish (yeah, who would have guessed that?) Columbia one after seeing a cheaper backpack's busted zipper. I decided to pay the extra five for a "lifetime warranty" that doesn't actually cover anything if you read the fine print. But it was still only $20 (wow, economies gone to hell are great for buyers). Oh! And music lovers will be glad to hear I have finally replaced my dollar store fade-in-fade-out headphones for a new pair that also has a lifetime warranty against nothing (well, maybe not "nothing," but damn close to it: the Koss company gets to decide if it's something they'll repair or give a refund for, and you have to include $6 with your shipment of the damaged headphones (oh, excuse me, stereophones), making the cost of getting them repaired (between shipping costs and the $6) about the same price as a new pair. Clever little Koss company...)

Sorry for that lengthy aside...

To Lindsay & Kathleen: we had salmon for dinner (not farm raised) -- Has L. sent K. the picture of our Prospect dinner? =)