First visit to Disneyland! Day One, Post No. 15

We got on the train and rode around to the stop near It's a Small World. To tell you the truth, I cannot remember why we did that--just weren't ready to head back to the motel yet. Am I ever glad that we did! Look at these lights! And I'm also very glad that we were at Disneyland in mid-January because the holiday decor was still out at It's a Small World. Yea! We walked back through the park, taking in several well-lit attractions. This one is in Tomorrowland, the Astro Orbiter. I loved to watch it turn as its elements also turned and went up, then down. I doubt I'd be able to ride it, even with my motion sickness acupressure bracelets--going too many directions at once. I paused in the middle of the street to take this photo of Sleepy Beauty's Castle. It's a shame that Walt and Mickey are blurry! We stopped here to eat supper, the Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe. Once we'd enjoyed our sandwiches, it dawned on us that we'd be there still for the fireworks! Our partial view, from a comfortable chair, made us happy Disneyland enjoyers!

Primary Color Red #1

July 4, 2010, mostly red fireworks reflected on the Willamette River, downtown Portland. The Hawthorne Bridge is on the left of the fireworks barge--a ramp coming off the Marquam Bridge to the right.


One more fireworks shot, mostly the primary color red. Needless to say, I had a blast on the river with friends on the 4th of July. How's that for a pun? Actually I heard one blast after another, reverberating around the downtown buildings and the river.

Setting sun sparks KOIN Tower windows as I wait for the 4th of July fireworks

From my friends' boat on the Willamette River, I noticed the KOIN Tower windows, glowing wondrously. I clicked the D50 a few times, hoping to get at least one photo that would do justice to the sight. I like this one best because it not only shows the windows but also give you a good idea of the size of the crowd at the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival there in Tom McCall Waterfront Park as well as the number of boats visible in the narrow space captured by the camera.

The building is 509 feet tall, Oregon's third tallest building. The building was originally named Fountain Plaza, but it quickly came to be known as the KOIN Center, or KOIN Tower, reflecting the name of its highest-profile occupant, KOIN television. The building was controversial while being constructed because its location blocked the view of Mount Hood that had long been seen by drivers emerging from the Vista Ridge Tunnel under Portland's West Hills going eastbound on U.S. Route 26. The Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is the largest blues fest west of the Mississippi and the second largest on in the USA.

Going south on the Willamette, towards the 4th of July fireworks

The Fremont Bridge takes my breath away. Looking south at the bridge.










Looking north at the bridge.

Waiting for the Fireworks No. 1

I got to ride on some friends' boat on the Willamette River for our July 4 fireworks in downtown Portland--all they asked was that I take photos of everything else, but not them--camera-shy folks. I quickly agreed and had a blast!


When the breeze blew, it was just this cool in the shade.


Elvis is on the river.

Although this is the first post on this topic, the posts will not be in chronological order. You know how much I like to do that, but I thought, "Hey! What's wrong with random now and then?" Enjoy!

Sunday, July 6, 2008 ... 4th Fireworks and Food, in reverse order of how it really happened, and a bit more Duncan

Right before 10 p.m., after we'd eaten all sorts of great food and either thrown the Aerobie or watched it being thrown and/or sat around talking and enjoying the beautiful day and being together, we walked two blocks up to stand in an empty parking lot to see the tip tops of the fireworks being shot off 22 blocks west, down on the Willamette River. The guys walked Grandma slowly and carefully and brought along this desk chair. Leland pushed her back down the slight decline when the show was over. Ready, set, go! Making memories!

I took a few photos which are not at all representative of the actual show. However, I thought--what the hay!--I'll post them. At the bottom of most of the photos is the top of a one-story apartment building or a really good Mexican restaurant, Nuestra Cocina.









Here's the only firework we had, compliments of Kimberly and Tom. She picked it up after its performance (see the next two photos) and held it for this photo.

Loud squeals, rapidly changing colors--both marked the path of the little paper truck firework. It's visible between these two bursts of green light.

Look closely and you can see the tiny paper truck, fire shooting out the grill

Asparagus ready for the grill

Seeming to come, almost, from Lamont's thumb, olive oil drizzles onto an onion slice. If you look closely, you can just see the bottle to the left of his hand.

Fresh Walla Walla sweet onions and slices of potatoes, grillin'

This huge pan holds the slabs of ribs that had first been smoked about four hours before going into the pan and being covered with industrial plastic wrap. Lamont told me that they then went into a warm oven for at least an hour. As far as spices go, the only one I know about for sure is Peruvian hot peppers--I got a blast with one bite that lasted through several swallows of sweet iced tea!

Leland got the slabs of ribs out of the pan one at a time and sliced them into two-bone pieces. I believe he sliced the flank steaks, too.

Yummy, sweet, yummy fresh grilled corn.

Fresh asparagus on the grill. I know for sure it got sprinkled with salt and chili flake, plus drizzled and tossed with olive oil--not sure about anything else except that, as Mama told Aunt Baker on the phone this afternoon, it was really, really good.

Lamont's paper platter; Kailey made the Fred Meyer run for all of the paper goods, plastic goods, etc.

Michelle and Vincent enjoyed their 4th of July dinner. After a couple of bites, Vincent said to Lamont, "Hey man, it's a shame none of this is edible!" Vincent came back again and again for ribs. Mama observed, "Vincent really likes that meat." I did, too. The guys made us a fine, fine meal.

Here's Grandma! She graciously stopped chewing for the photo, ha, ha!

Lindsay made this lovely cake from a recipe of her mom's. She iced it with marscarpone cheese, topped with fresh cherries and powdered sugar. Both of us got a kick out of the fact that as I focused in on the cake, I got the sprinkling of the sugar!

Duncan gets to look and not touch because he's on a special diet. Brixx, the rottweiler, will be over later on with her folks and claim this great big bone as her own.

Duncan and Scooner appear to have a meeting of the minds

Friday, July 4, 2008 ... Fireworks

Happy 4th of July!


Leland's girlfriend Kailey took these at the Rose Festival in June, from the Hawthorne Bridge looking north. She graciously e-mailed them to me, and I saved them for the 4th of July! Thanks, Kailey.

I just might make it to the fireworks on the Willamette tonight, with my tripod. We'll see--if I eat too much of the guys' good grilled meat and veggies, I might opt to go home and watch the fireworks from Vancouver, WA, on the TV. They're expecting thousands and thousands of people downtown to see them, and much the same number in Vancouver at theirs.