Portland

 Jason, Alaina and I just got back from a week in Portland for the Triple Crown Softball world series.  This is a week long softball tournament from players ages 12-18.   There were fewer teams this year compared to last year in Alaina's age bracket, but a lot of older teams.   

The team did not do as well as they wanted to (they came in 3rd in the Gold Bracket), but Alaina had a good tournament, including her first triple--her coach had her hit instead of slap during the tournament, which was fun for her.

The beginning of the week was hot (100!), but luckily the second half of the week cooled down.

There was some downtime during the tournament too--the girls spent one day swimming in a tributary of the Colombia river.

On that day, Jason and I took a hike near Mt. Hood called the Tom Dick and Harry hike.   It was a beautiful hike to the top of a small mountain (Tom) with views of Mt Hood, Mt. Rainer, Mt. Adams, and Mt. St. Helens.   It was really quite scenic, and only about an hour away from Portland.  Unfortunately, on the way way down the mountain, Jason slammed his foot into a rock as he was walking downhill, and ended up breaking his big toe!   Yuck.

  

We also enjoyed some good food in Portland, including out favorites Grassa, Pine State Biscuits and Lardo.   And, a walk around the Portland Rose garden--always beautiful.

Anyway, it was a bit of a let down to the softball season, which has not been too great.   But onward.