Entries by TATIANA

My 4th of July was spent in Portland. I am still here. Anyhow.....I hope that everybody had a fun and festive 4th.
I don't really celebrate 4th of July that much but we started out with a nice dinner and some beverages.



Then it was fireworks time. Walked on a train track to get a seat across from the Waverley Country Club on the Willamette River.





It's a trolley track, of course the trolley came and went but not while we were walking across the bridge (I was a bit scared because I am scared of heights).



This is what the trolley looks like in daylight.



Fireworks.





And that was it. Happy 4th of July!

I am in Portland for the week. It is 4th of July today and we got some champagne in the fridge for later and I will probably see some fireworks this evening. I have a few places I want to go to, some people to see and something to purchase while I am here. Started off my day at the Bipartisan Cafe with a latte.
Sweden has advanced to the quarterfinals in the World Cup. Nobody has missed that the World Cup is in full swing over in Russia right now, right? Anyhow, I am excited and a bit scared for this Saturday - Sweden against England. HEJA SVERIGE!
Now I am going to take the dogs out.

Today I FINALLY got myself some reusable pads, these are called GladRags and are made in Portland. I have been thinking about getting some cloth pads for a looooooong time. I am like that sometimes, I think about something that I should do/get/say but then I don't for a while, sometimes for a long while. Procrastination I guess. I got fed up with the regular disposable pads, they irritate my skin. I got a pad rash a while back and this I loudly announced to anyone that was or wasn't interested. You want to hear abut my PAD RASH!!!? At least I was laughing about my pad rash. Pad rashes kind of hurt.....ouch my poor skin. Hopefully no more pad rashes from now on (and yes I was using "good" pads by Seventh Generation when I got my rash).



My next step might be to get a menstrual cup, I am thinking about it. I don't like to use tampons, I use those as little as possible....only when absolutely necessary. So it might be time to exchange the tampons for a menstrual cup.
That was today's big excitement - getting a cloth pad. A $10.99 investment. Below are some menstrual cups, they come in different sizes. To figure out what size would be best for you there are quizzes you can take like this one for example
www.putacupinit.com/quiz/

Have you ever been to Crater Lake? If not you should plan a trip to see this breathtakingly beautiful place. Crater Lake had many names, the Klamath tribe of Native Americans named it Giiwaas (some write Giiwas) which means spiritual place and they still regard it a spiritual site which I can totally understand.
I went there last week and I want to go back and explore it some more. Go hiking more, perhaps spend the night. There are different options if you want to spend the night at Crater Lake.





Chhaya came with.





One of the trails takes you down to the lake. I highly recommend walking down to the lake, it is not that difficult at all. People swim down there (so bring something to wear if you want to take a dip) and you get a completely different view of the area. The water was not that cold although I only dipped my feet into it. The lake is amazingly blue, clear and deep. Deepest lake in the United States.











A spirit.



A beautiful day came to an end....I love this place. I have to come back. I am extremely grateful for the places I have been to. Nature is wonderful.

So many hikes to go on and so many waterfalls to see....yesterday I went to Salt Creek Falls. 286 feet, not the tallest waterfall in Oregon though. That title belongs to Multnomah Falls and I haven't see that one....yet.
But first some fruit and water for the trip. I like this mineral water, it is called Gerolsteiner and is bottled in Germany.



Salt Creek Falls is located not too far from Willamette Pass off Highway 58.



Chhaya and Senna came with of course. Here is Chhaya.







And here is Senna.



Me and Senna tried to hike down to the base off the waterfall and we got close but the last 100 feet are damaged due to a rock slide so I decided to turn around since I suspect I would had slid on my behind all the way down had I attempted to go any further......maybe another time. If you have a couple of walking sticks with you going down should not be a problem.



Pretty colors painted the sky on the drive home.

The full moon is out tonight.....this month it is called the Strawberry Moon. I wanted a good look at it so me and Chhaya drove out to Dee Wright Observatory. But....it was too cloudy this evening. I did not get to see a colorful sunset and the moon peeked out when rising, then quickly went into hiding behind the clouds. I did get a good look at it on the drive home though.