First Time For Everything!

Hello! Now that I have learned how to post pictures into this blog I thought I'd share a few of the "firsts" I achieved on my recent journey to the Pacific NorthWest. I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoyed doing them :D



First Time in a Lava Cave:

This was Fantastic!! It was so cold inside the cave, like about 42F, and very dark! As you can see, a lantern was needed to traverse your way through ;)

View From The Seattle Spaceneedle:

This was a wonderful view!! It was as you can see a bit hazy and gray but still I found the views just awesome! I cant wait to see more of this wonderful city!


First Views of Deception Pass in Washington:

This picture speaks for itself! I had the BEST day seeing this beautiful place :)

First Time Hearing/Seeing Jaycatt Play Seasons:



The song is the sweetest melody!! But seeing Jaycatt play it in person was sweeter than anything!! He even taught me how to play some of it! Yay!!


First Time Seeing the Difference Between A " Hill " And A "Mountain" :



I kept seeing the "hills" and thinking they were as large as a mountain, but it was seeing the MOUNTAIN! I truly saw the difference! :)

First View Of Eugene:

What an Awesome View huh? This was taken from the top of a place called Spencers Butte * I think thats its name* and it gave the most amazing view of the city below! Thanks Jaycatt for taking me up here !

10 Day Blessing Part 3

Hello! Yep its me again.. with more from my wonderful journey to the PST time zone!
For this entry I'm condensing several days events into one summarized entry to save space...ummm... looks at you shyly...well....ok ok ok... its to save typing for me:))

July 4th-

After Frogg had finished his live show there was only time enough for Jay and I to hop in the car and head out to run a quick errand at his workplace and then off to the cookout being held at his Fathers home. It was at this cookout I was most fortunate enough to meet Jaycatts real life sister Littleturtle Davis, what a marvelous and great lady she is! I liked her right away very friendly and sweet!
she wasn't expected to be at the cookout so getting the chance to meet her afterall was a nice treat:) I also was privilaged to meet Jay's Dad and his dear friend Nancy and her husband. Very nice people with the kindest of hearts. We all enjoyed a most delicious meal of marinated chicken, Jay's fennel pasta salad, and "damn rolls" courtesy of Nancy, oh and the tastiest cookies ever!! Jays oatmeal, chocolate chip walnut! After dinner we filtered out onto the brand new deck to watch the fireworks show.

Fireworks show:
An AMAZING SHOW! Unlike any I have ever seen in my life!!! From the balcony which was high in the hill the view was from one giant hill * looked more like a mountain to me * on the left to a giant hill on the right I had a panoramic view of all the fireworks shows going off in the city! I was so blessed to see it and forever grateful to Jaycatt and his Dad for the opportunity!! Thanks again Kitty!

July 5th- Thursday this day brought another fine day of bright sunshine and blue skies, a visit to the ROSE GARDEN which was a most stunning and beautiful place, the aroma that greets you as you walk into this garden .. a bouquet of rose scents envelope your senses.. the vivid colors of vast rows of blooming roses was an amazing sight to be seen and most happily enjoyed! Jay showed me a Fred Meyers store.. it was interesting as it was very close to the "meijers" we have back home.. we picked up a few odds and ends needed for the coming days and I treated Jay to lunch at a place called IZZYS. A nice meal buffett style. condensing this day up to say it was filled with many nice moments of good conversation with Kitty, a nice time to share conversation without the constraints of the internet. Megg Demina arrives on this day!! YAYYY!

July 6th-
Belive it or not but TWO women and TWO men managed to get around and ready ON TIME for our set out goal time. We are heading for a place called Silver Falls today. Our first stop was at a quick mart to get some drinks for our journey, its Megg's first time in America and so Frogg picked up a sandwhich with some swiss cheese on it for her to get a taste :)) A quick stop at the gas station for a fill up and our happy delight at Jaycatts fine performance of "cleaning the windshield" hehehe we drove to Silverton to see the falls! We started at the North falls, a bit of a steep decline down.. we traverse the trail that took us to the most beautiful waterfall, tall and flowing such a stunning sight!! Stopping several times to take pics and oblivious to me ...video... * looks at Jaycatt!!! * ... I loved this place and thought it an amazing view! We got to walk on a trail that even took us behind the flow of the fall the "mountain" hill was so overgrown head room was headed with caution, jagged rock face loomed near as the path widened or narrowed. From this waterfall we went back "uphill" to the main lodge.. now going down didnt seem that much of a difficulty at all ..however the steep inclines and *sighs* ..stairs going back up had my knees speaking to me in the most unlady like manners! hehehe We hiked up to the main lodge where we enjoyed first of all, for me at least, a much grateful rest, and secondly a little cafe held many options for the four of us for lunch treat.

Frogg and Megg each tried the Garden Burger.. I'm not all that sure precise on what was in it but I did rather enjoy the phrase describing it as "Garden on a bun" :D
Jaycatt had a double burger and oh my goodness did it look deliciously yummy!! and I opted to indulge in the tuna salad and added two small snicker doodle cookies on because I just cant be "that " good :D From the lodge we hiked/walked over to the Upper North Falls, to enjoy. This fall had a larger flow of water than the first, and a feature we all liked was the "cave " like area of the path that went behind the falls. Many pictures were taken here :) I'm continually amazed at the beauty that is in this state and how lucky each of its residents are to claim this as "home"

We hiked back to the start again and took a small detour down to the stream that flowed.. stream, brook, river.. the calm before the fall of the ledge storm.. Jaycatt wedged his camera in a nearby spot and set the timmer and ran just in time to jump in view to capture a nice group shot of the four of us. I also having seen a man in the area with tripod and very large camera lens's asked him to snap a shot with my camera too capturing a second shot of our happy group :) After the hike back out we hopped in the car and headed off to the Oregon Garden!

Our weather continues to bless beautifully on this day, crisp blue skies, sunshine, and a day thats warm but now sweltering! We pay our $10 admission fee, it seems a bit steep but includes tram ride tour that travels the 21 different gardens on display. We enjoyed the garden greatly but one of my best memories will forever be walking in the "weird things" garden when I spotted a rock that said " a map".. recalling the lyrics of the Candy Mtn. melody song.. " I found a map".. this was an especially funny discovery.. a little later on as we meandered our way through the beauty of the gardens.. we came across a bench which had a large carved mountain as its back, we again joked about Candy Mtn. and took pics. it was about then the idea was had to collect pics from the lyrics of the song to run at the show for SL later that evening :D Once back at the gift shop, Jaycatt purchased a small siamese kitty and Megg a tiny Frogg and we were headed back the long ride back home, I confess I dozed off for a good portion of this ride so any silly antics or memories are forever kept to themselves :D

MORE LATER thanks for reading

Todays Poem:

Waterfalls and Gardens
great beauty we behold
creating special memories
and stories to be told

sunshine beams happily
smiles constant shine
spending time with special friends
all day feels so fine

the day it passed so quickly
but ne'er from the fun to part
relive it anytime I like
from the memory in my heart

Second Look

Have you ever taken a second look at anything? Theres two kinds of second looks I think.. the first kind is more of a double take.. you see something thats so odd, or unique you quickly look back at it a second time to convince yourself its real. A outrageous outfit.. a dog ridding a skateboard... a halloween costume where the person holds their head. All examples of one kind of second look.

The second kind is the take another look at something... or see it again with a fresh perspective. So often we get so accustumed to the way things are around us it becomes very easy to take things for granted.. until along comes circumstances that warrant us looking again .. and its amazing the new views seen on old sights.

The first example that comes to mind is the age old cliche.. stop and smell the roses... so many of us to and fro with busy thoughts in our minds.. the days agenda ...the morning meeting, what to make for dinner... how many notice the smile from the counterperson who made your morning coffee, or the kindness of nice manners from the attendent you paid for gas.... do we notice the rich green color on the tree growing along the road.. or the wild flowers beaming bright with blooms?

If a homeless person bumps you and holds out a hand, are you annoyed and keep walking or do you take that second look and see a person, needing a hand and drop some money? When I got the blessing to visit the pacific northwest I saw sights and views more beautiful than I could have ever dreamed.. it made me start to wonder about my own "home" and its views and the things here I see daily but simply look right through. A sky line I'd complained was too flat and held no views .. makes the most beautiful canvas for sunrise's and sunsets.. the empty field I once thought of as nothing there.. holds court to the most beautiful wildflowers that stretch up to greet the sunshine! and on a more personal note I took a second look at me .. where I had been feeling woeful at the upcoming decade number of age Im soon to reach.. I was thinking my role.. my importance in life was nearing completion.. a lost feeling overcame me and I couldnt see what was there .. but taking a second look.. I see a rich life worth celebrating, and a new beginning of great adventures..

So in closing of this deep and aimless ramble.. if you find yourself looking upon something and seeing nothing...........take a second look... you'll be amazed the things you will find when the right point of view :)

Thank you for reading.

Todays Poem:

Darkness fills the empty night
there is nothing I can see
but wait upon a second look
fireflies play with glee

Horizon lines lay straight and low
no views to catch the eye
suddenly fill with vivid hues
such beauty there to spy

Aggressive drivers on the freeway
merge before lane ends..
slowing down to let me in
the kindness of unknown friends

Rush to go to and fro
so many things to do
but in your haste time dont waste
stop and take a second view

Amazing is the sights to see
things for granted that we took
treasured now once again
the blessings of a second look.

10 Day Blessing ( Part two )

Hello! Got the popcorn, preferred beverage, candy stash? Great then your all set for part two of the adventure.. here goes:

Helping me to find the baggage carousel I need, we wait for my bag to circle round the conveyor belt, I swear I think it was the last bag off the plane! Ugh!! Going through a oddly built revolving door Jay and I leave the airport and following Jays route he takes us on a footbridge of sorts, we can see the steady flow of drop off and pick up traffic below us and lush beautiful green vines overhang the side of the parking garage. Beautiful sight, especially with the bright sun beating down to spotlight it all.

Bless his heart, Jaycatt having heard from Patrick that I'd yet to eat that day so sweetly and thoughtfully brought along a ice chest filled with deli sandwhiches and ice cold drinks!! A heavenly meal both in taste and the company I enjoyed it with :)
A two hour drive from Portland to Eugene passed very quickly with great conversation, and my excitement at the awesome view, a very pleasant trip back to Jays house.

We arrive at Jays house, oh my goodness gracious he has a beautiful home! Id seen this house inside and out several times already in skype, photos and shared videos Jay had sent, but somehow being there in person.. it was all new! I dragged my suitcase in the house into the hallway and past the kitchen and started up the stairs to where Jay was kindly letting me crash for my stay when there standing at the top of the stairs I see a second familar face.. It was Frogg :) He was a really nice guy and so friendly to me, bless his heart.

Jay shows me the room I will be staying in for my visit, I am in what they call their music room, its a big room, with a view of Jays neighbors house, my futon is quite comfy and I like it! Its pretty cool to see the piano's and guitars in this room and know this is the place they create all that awesome music I have heard in Second Life. Once I unpacked a bit and Jay toured me around his place we found ourselves back up in the music room where Jaycatt treated me to a special moment I will never forget! He played "Seasons" for me! It was amazing, I just sat there stunned at how fast his fingers fly over the keys on each note! and whats even more amazing is he took some time to teach me a bit of the song so I could play it too! How very cool is that? We also sang Rainbow Connection together, just for fun and that it was indeed! I loved it!

Jay and I left the house to make a store run for some odds and ends, but before getting to the store Jay took me round the town a bit, we went to Spencers Butte a large overlook of the city high on a "hill" cough cough and oh my goodness gracious! what a view it was!! I was amazed :) We took some piccies there too! From there we went to a beautiful little place called Auton Park. This park was beautiful! A large place, had a pond in the middle, ducks and geese wandered all around in masses and the sunshine just made it feel very nice and peaceful, well except for the "landmines" you had to watch your step for courtesy of all the geese around. We saw a solar system the park designers had done on scale, the sun was at the park and the remainder of the planets spread out in scaled distance around the town. We took a stroll up the Peter Defazio Bridge, a nice spiral starting point and across a very cool looking pedestrian bridge.. I have a feeling my jaw will be dropping a lot on this trip lol Jay tells me that Peter Defazio is a much liked congressman and the bridge bears his namesake out of the fondness the residence have for the man and the job he does. We saw these unique looking bikes, 2-4 people could ride at once, they resembled cars more than bikes but interesting enough to warrant a check of the price to ride.. PHFFT! $20 per person..per hour!! I dont think so ! After the park we went to the store and stocked up on some odds and ends, ingredients for Jay to make his famous " Burgers extrodinare" and some yougurts, and etc. Back at Jays place a nice relaxing time while Jay cooked. We watched the movie Over the Hedge as we had dinner, I'd not yet seen it and it was a awesome to share it with Jaycatt and Frogg watched too :D Wonderful end to a long but happy day!

July 4th, 2007- HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!! And as a side note in this journal a Happy Birthday Wish to our Second Life Friend, Semaj Kasei too on this day :D

Up about 7 a.m. PST* for me its really 10 a.m.*, I found Jaycatt in the kitchen tidying up from last nights delicious dinner. Not anticipating anyone to be awake it was a most pleasant surprise to find Kitty there :D We chatted awhile and enjoyed a nice visit, He was also talking to his sweetie Xankarth on the laptop as well. After a bit, I went up to shower and get ready for the days delights. Once ready to we said our "moanin"'s to Frogg and set off again to the store to gather up special list of ingredients Jay needs to prepare a special pasta salad and the baking projects he has as well. Jays planning to make a Fennel Pasta Salad, pumpkin bars, and some very yummy sounding cookies! Lots of good stuff, I can't wait to sample!
Back home a small fortune for Jay later and he's dived in with both feet to get started, I am using the cooking time to update this journal, and chat with Jay. The house smells wonderful as he cooks, the fennel pasta salad has the most delicious aroma. While Jay prepares his tasty treasures I got a terriffic treasure of a different kind too, Frogg bless his heart, kindly gives me some awesome advice on my struggles to learn the guitar, his ideas were most kind and helpful then, he played a few of his songs! how cool was that!! He even blessed me so by playing "Josies Smiling" a song of his I've long since held as my favorite Frogg Marlowe tune!
A awesome afternoon, but not over yet as jays still cooking, I bounce down to chat or help out if I can. His cookies were in the oven and making the house smell so yummy, we took the time to step out into Jays backyard where his beautiful landscaping was blooming beautifully! We took some photo ops! As the afternoon went on Jay and I sat down to watch a movie called "Best In Show" it was a comedy made to look like a documentary about a dog show. It wasnt long after the movie ended that we went upstairs to the music room to watch Frogg do his live show for Second Life. Seeing a live show .. LIVE.. its an expierence I can only describe as AWESOME! and as a extra special treat, Jaycatt got to join Frogg on the last 3 songs they played! So I got to see them both play! I was in a very happy paradise!! A wonderful privliage, and great pleasure to see! I loved it !!!

More to come later............

Todays Poem:(possible ive shared this before but its fitting for this post )

Music Man

With pic in hand
this guitar man
stands upon a stage
to play us all his melodies
and words of written page.

There sits a soul intent on a goal
facing ebony and ivory keys
and tickles them delightfully
in tunes that truly please

Music flows across the air
mesmerized we all just stare
it takes us to minds eye places
leaves us sitting with smilng faces

His words of song , touch the heart
His notes of rhythm play
So blessed be all who listened
to the music men today.

10 Day Blessing ( Part One )

Hello! Wow! Its been a while since I have posted on this blog, and albeit I know thats not particularly nothing new for me .. I actually have a good reason for the absence this time... I was on vacation! Not just any vacation but 10 days of blessings in Paradise! Oh I had the most marvelous time! I kept a journal of my advenutures and the many delights that I encountered upon this journey and I will post bits and pieces here to share.

This will be over time of course as thats a heck of a lot of typing!

Tuesday- DAY ONE
Day one of my long awaited summer trip to Oregon and Washington. Up at 5 a.m. EST and departing my hometown, enroute to the airport to catch my flight, traffic at that early hour is light and uneventful. My second time to fly in my life I'm not without my nerves and jitters but hope they will soon pass just as they did last time

Checking in at the Northwest Airlines Counter I receive my boarding tickets and the news that my flight is already on a two hour departure delay ...*sigh*.. Good thing I brought along a thick book. Small town airports are often quiet but at six thirty in the morning , the chatterbox in me longs for some friendly folk.. Id even settle for awake grumpy ones ha ha ha ha After a two hour passing of time by reading the "Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy" book Jaycatt had sent to me for Christmas last year, and a phone call to Patrick to chat and explain about the flight delay, we were finally cleared for boarding! YAY!!

This plane was larger than the one I'd flown on during my Australia trip *first leg* It was a Boeing 757, 2 seats in the row wide, I was in seat 10D a window seat! How lucky was that , but just as before.. my seat was on the wing.. I am becoming fast aquainted with the take off and landing workings of plane wings and flying.haha

I was sharing my row with a very sweet old lady who bless her heart, tolerated my rambles of conversation beautifully and even chatted a few lines back herself * when she could get a word in edgewise * :D We flew to MN, the view was great, the thick puffy cloud blanket that had been the constant view now thinned and as we descended further, disapaited entirely revealing a patchwork landscape of green fields, blue swimming pools and a maze of many roadways. Some confusion on my part with my ticket, I was thinking my depart time from MN was about 1 p.m. I tried to call Jaycatt again to let him know my progress however kept getting a recording it was out of service, a second check in with Patrick finds bless his heart that he himself contacted Jaycatt on my beyhalf! So my worry to inform Jay is removed, thanks Patrick hon! Your so great!!

We disembarked in MN at Gate C, A quick check of info monitors showed my next leg of trip departing from gate F. I had a bit of a walk ahead of me but plenty of time.. there were many stretches of conveyors that would propel you quickly, there were golf carts driven by employees like taxi cabs to ferry you to various gates, and good heavens!!! even a monorail tram to cart you to various destinations.. however thinking I'd lots of time to kill till my flight time I opted to walk and pretend it was my usual treadmill time, a second look at the info monitors as I strolled my way along showed instead of the 1:15 p.m. depart time I was now departing at 11:25, I quickly calculated the time difference to realize I had 20 min to get to gate F 14 and I was currently at gate D! I hustled and arrived at the gate just in time to hear final boarding call.. I shudder to think if id stopped to eat and use restroom as had been my thoughts, I'd have missed my flight!

It's been amusing to see many of the same people from my hometown flight * first leg* on this flight to Portland, and whats more amusing is they have all been assigned seats very near my own..Its like a little travel group of familiar faces of people... I dont even know .. Strange eh? Speaking of seats, mine is 23C, A isle seat and I can assuredly say a definite position of pros and cons on this subject.
Pros:
I can put my leg out in the isle ot stretch on the long flight, its proven very handy to be on the isle for when I finally got brave enough to walk the long isle of the plane to a very much needed restroom.. ( I shall put here, only a notation of the slight squeal that was heard from the restroom while I was in there peeing and we hit some bad turbulence ) Beverages served are complimentary so I enjoyed a nice cold tomato juice! Food sadly though is pay to enjoy. $5.00 gets you a box of snacks, everything from Goldfish crackers to stick sausage and various other "munchies", you could get trailmix or pringles for $2.00. Exact change was stressed as the preferred payment and I having nothing smaller than a ten dollar bill, simply made the most of my tomato juice :)

Getting back to the pros and cons of isle seating a DEFINITE Con: My poor elbow has been hit, bumped, slammed, nudged, budged, or collided into more times than I care to count * whimpers* Its now 2:55 p.m. EST and were not too far from PORTLAND! Portland Yay! Where I will get to FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY meet Jaycatt! Its been such a long trip in planning, I'm very excited to at long last meet him. WHY Oh why is it always the last few moments of a trip that seem to take forever!

P O R T L A N D!!! At 12:50 p.m. EST we landed in Portland, Oregon! I would be remiss to go a line further without describing the awesome view I saw as we entered closer this destination! The pilot informed us to look out the right of the plane to view Mt. Rainer and Mt. St. Helens side by side in the distance on the horizon.. they were snow capped and beautiful, with wonderful puffs of clouds playing all around them, then just as Im getting lost in the view of seeing my first mountain in person the pilot breaks over the intercom to say " And in about 30 seconds on your left a up close and personal view of Mt Hood" I turned to direct my gaze to the left and found myself making a bit of a spectacle of myself when I quite in shock exclaimed " OH MY GOD!! Look at that! " . you know one of those overly helpful bits of advice just in case any of the creaning passengers gawking to get a peek out the window missed the lound pilots annoucement to look *makes sarcastic face* .. umm yeah ..well anyway..
Mt Hood, stood majestic, snow capped, and so close I could see detail on the rocks! An Amazing sight, I was instantly in awe. A self professed rambler I could only just sit there with my jaw dropped open, eyes blinking and yep... for once.. speechless!

Disembarking at the Portland Airport, its beautiful weather, the skys clear and blue and the suns shinning, its in the mid 70's range temp wise. I entered the airport my mind thinking "Im here ! whew! Im done! I made it!" but reality pokes my brain and says " ummm you still have to find baggage claim and jaycatt "

I started my way down the isle following the signs to baggage claim, seeing a exit sign one way and baggage claim the other I opted to explore the exit path just to see if it was also option. Midway down this path, I see a familiar and much wonderful face! Smiling and walking toward me ...its JAYCATT!!! A long awaite and massive hug is given! and received :)), smiles will be a permenent facial expression for me for days now! He looks GREAT!


More to follow later ....... Thank you so much for reading :)

Todays Poem:

Hurry scurry take a flight
views to see are quite a sight
patchwork landscape, mountain scene
make eyes sparkle and smiles gleem

meeting people, friendly faces
traveling like me to far away places
Seeing sights that are so pretty
the best so far the sight of "kitty" :)