I did something weird today. It was something normal for some people, but definitely weird for me. I woke up early...voluntarily.
And I mean early. Before the sun.
Why?
Well, we had planned to go to the Mt. Hood Scenic Railway today and that was going to require us to get up a little earlier than usual anyway and I had been eyeballing this picture that I thought would look best right around sunrise.
So I actually set an alarm I didn't have to to do something I thought might be cool. Of course, it could have been cloudy or foggy and ruined it all for me, but it wasn't. It was cold though.
So, here it is.
 |
| At least one version of it. |
I took several shots, not sure which is my favorite yet. The above is the leader at the moment.
I took a couple more, because it is boring when you are waiting for the sun to rise. One or two even came out.
 |
| Morning looks cool, maybe I should do...Nah. |
 |
| Farmers get to work early |
 |
| Mountains are big, the sky is bigger. |
Then it was home for coffee, blessed coffee, before we walked the dog and set out for the town of Hood River.
When we arrived we found something very amusing. The train cars are old Holland America train cars from their Alaska train tours. They have painted over logos everywhere. Pretty funny.
I'll be honest, the train ride was long and boring. They played taped narration that was about five minutes off from what we were seeing out the window and it was accompanied by some of the worst music I have heard in some time. The kids seemed to have fun though.
 |
| Happy kids, just starting out. |
 |
| Still enjoying the scenery |
 |
| It is pretty. |
 |
| Yep, thumbs up for the train. |
 |
| Trying to capture passing scenery. |
 |
| And now they are just interested in their toys. |
Then, after an hour or so, the train stops at a tiny little town called Parkdale. Oddly enough, Sarah and I remembered stopping there once for a sandwich as we were driving around a couple of years ago. Small town, but pretty with a great view of Mt. Hood and a cute little park. I took way too many pictures of Mt. Hood, but I will spare you from all of them.
 |
| The park had this cute/weird metal sculpture. |
 |
| Max had to pick its nose. |
|
 |
| Family portraits. |
 |
| We can tell the better photographer |
 |
| Back door of the caboose, sounds dirty, isn't. |
 |
| Every tourist train depot town needs an ice cream parlor |
 |
| Genetically forbidden from looking at the camera |
 |
| That America font looks familiar |
OK, now the mountain.
Only a couple. Meet Mt. Hood.
