Greetings from the west...: March 2008

Sunday before St Patrick's Day, we went skiing at Willamette Pass. Chris dons his traditional headgear!

Mt Bachelor peaks above the clouds in the distance

Happy Spring!!

For our 3 year anniversary, Chris and I went skiing at Mt Bachelor. The trip took a down turn when at mid-day while taking a break, my skies disappeared from the rack. Thinking that maybe I had had a brain blip and misplaced my skies, Chris and I looked around for an hour. We left the resort sure that my skies had been stolen, which really confused us as there were plenty of fancy new skies and boards around ripe for the taking and they had chosen my retired rental skies. After some impressive detective work, we deduced the next day that some twit went home with my old beater skies believing they were his $900 dollar rental skies, which he left behind at the resort! The skies weren't the same size, color, or style and he even skied on them for the rest of the day and didn't notice! Thankfully, when the he tried to return my skies, the ski shop alerted him to his blunder and sent my skies back that next week. When he inquired "What did she do the rest of the day?" the clerk responded "Well, what do you think?! Obviously she couldn't keep skiing!"

During this trip, we stayed in a yurt near Bend, which was very comfortable.

Middle and North Sisters

Mt Jefferson

A couple of weeks later, I had the opportunity to attend an AZA training course called "Conservation Education: Effective Program Design." As an added bonus, this course was held at the Oglebay Zoo in Wheeling WV, my home town!! So I got to stay with my parents. Furthermore, this class happened to correspond with my mom's birthday. I flew in to Pittsburgh on her b-day, Groundhogs Day, and my sisters came into to town. First we went to the "Body Exhibit" at the Pittsburgh Science Center, which was both sickening and fascinating. I was really shocked by the cancer ridden lungs, as others obviously were as seen by the large trashcan full of abandoned cigarette packs.

Next we went to the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens for a special exhibit by Dale Chihuly, who is world renowned for his exquisite blown glass sculptures. His remarkable works of art were integrated with the existing, diverse foliage. As I took well over 120 photos here, I will attempt to pick some of the best.

As we entered Phipps, we received a dazzling welcome from the "Goldenrod, Teal, and Citron Chandelier," which is over 12ft tall, suspended from the entry ceiling.

Palm Court Tower

Made of shapes called "spirali," this blue and citron creation towers over us at 15ft.

"Ferns"

"Ikebana," named for the Japanese art of flower arranging, also in the Palm Court.

In the Serpentine Room, the "Amber Cattails" were surrounded by Canna Lilies, Elephant's Ear, Sweet Potato Vine, and Fountain Grass.

Josette and Emily seek shelter under Elephant's Ear from the momentary glimpse of sun, which coincidently also sent the Groundhog packing for another 6 weeks of winter!