Last Day on the Mountain - Blue Moon

Our last day on the mountain, I slept in until 7am, which was the latest I slept all week. And sadly it was another gray and drippy morning in Govy Camp. We were out of coffee, so the plan called for me to stop and pick some up at the Govy Camp General Store after my run. Lucky for me, there was nearly a full cup of Thursday’s coffee still resting in the carafe. I reheated it in the microwave then enjoyed it just before heading off on a run. I took my wallet along so I could stop at the general store.

To accommodate the stop for coffee, I changed my running strategy a bit. This time I headed down hill towards the brewery first, then ran up to the rest stop and back to the Govy Camp General Store. Felt good to have my run behind me, but also a little sad, this my last in Govy Camp for perhaps another year. I couldn’t find any Folgers coffee and ended up buying some gourmet Hood River roasted coffee beans. Used their onsite grinder, too. Picked up a dozen donuts as well.

Even though it was well past 8am, the condo remained eerily quiet. Guess everybody was sleeping in. After brewing some fresh coffee I went to wake Mindy. She was out cold. Startled her even. I apologized then headed back downstairs. At the time I wasn’t 100% certain of the Collins Lake check-out time but guessed it to be 11am. Now after 9am, figured I’d better confirm. Yep, 11am.  While the others showered, I packed up the kitchen (food & drink). And when I headed up for shower I discovered that Mindy was already packed up.

Our plan was to check-out of the condo but still ski Timberline. That meant we needed to leave our ski gear accessible. Getting all our gear and five people in the minivan was a trick but we figured it out.  I made one last pass through the condo before locking up once last time. At the office I turned on our keys and bought discounted Timberline lift tickets. Tommy declared his intentions not to ski. He’d keep Mindy company.

It was an easy drive up Timberline Rd to the lodge. The temperature was something like 37 degrees. Dropped Mindy at the main lodge then headed back to the day lodge parking lot to gear up for skiing. Darwin cited begin a little hung over and needing to eat something substantial before embarking on the mountain. Said he’d meet us out there. Glenn and I headed out into a fog and mushy snow. It wasn’t pretty. We skied to the bottom of Flood twice, both of us skiing tentatively, me out of fear of injury, Glenn for boot pain and tired, sore legs. Started to rain fairly hard on a ride up Pucci. I declared my intentions to head in, but was quickly reminded that would require a fairly difficult uphill peg. We skied down to Molly’s or Flood, can’t recall then back up. About the time we made it back to the day lodge the rain changed to snow. But we were wet and needed a break. We checked our skis then headed over to the main lodge to meet Mindy, who shared that Darwin, she and Tommy were in the Ram’s Head overlooking the mountain.

We joined them there, but had to remove our ski boots to walk on the original rustic wood floors. I ordered a 20 ounce porter and a bowl of clam chowder. It was really good. Darwin had just finished his meal and had all but decided to skip skiing all together. He looked rough and tired. I encouraged him to go down a level to the fireplaces and sofas and steal a nap. Mindy cited being sleepy too and did just that. I remember looking over the rail and seeing her sleeping.

After our beers, Glenn and I headed out to give it another go. We might’ve skied two runs before both of us declared ourselves done. Sadly, the conditions were too unbearable to keep going and risk injury. I checked my skis then went for the others. Glenn decided to wait in the day lodge. It was only 230pm.

Took a while to corral everyone but I eventually did. We stowed our gear then drove over to the main lodge to pick-up Mindy so she wouldn’t have to navigate the parking lot.  I’m thinking that it was 310pm when we descended Timberline Rd for Route 26 into Portland. It’s only 54 miles to Portland but Glenn said it would take a good 90 minutes. It rained heavily at times as we made our way back to his place. And we were within eye shot of the Portland International airport in something less than one hour. However, from there it took at least another 30 minutes to get to Glenn’s house in Vancouver due to ridiculously heavy traffic on Rt 84 & Rt 205.

Arrived at Glenn’s near 5pm or just before. Didn’t take long to unload the minivan. We took a brief rest, and some may have even napped. Collectively, we agreed to do dinner & beers at the Blue Moon Tavern in NW Portland, an old fave of ours. Planned to leave at 7pm.  Before then, Mindy and I repacked and organized a lot of our gear. The time went fast. Soon it was time to depart for the Blue Moon.

Parking is always at a premium in NW Portland. And because it was Friday night, it was even more difficult. I dropped Mindy near the entrance to Blue Moon, Darwin getting out and joining her. And actually, we got pretty lucky finding a parking spot only about two blocks away.

Mindy & Darwin were seated at our favorite spot, the fire ring table. The only problem being they were out of firewood. How can that happen? I was a little discouraged. Our server, though, was very attentive and rustled up several handfuls of kindling to help keep the embers glowing and warm. Mindy being the exception, we all ordered beers. Mindy tried their porter but opted only for water. When it came to food, I ordered wings. Can’t recall what Darwin and Mindy ordered. Glenn had a gyro, and Tommy some wrap.

I think we all had a second beer, but started fading fast, especially Mindy. I’m thinking we left the Blue moon near 9pm. Back at Glenn’s, we watched Darwin’s GoPro videos and then reviewed Glenn’s ski trip photos. He and Darwin were working on an exchange when I peeled off for bed. I’m thinking that was near 1030pm.