NACAA in Portland

Here we go. It was a packed 9-10 days. I'm trying to distill all the events down to give a feel for the events without overwhelming you all with a kazillion photos or interminable details. I'll take this day by day to give some direction.

Saturday morning was the only time it was rainy. This is the view from our balcony. The tall spire is where the Convention Center is. All the meetings, programs, auction, etc. took place here. You could walk to it in 10 minutes or ride the train. We got lots of walking in.

Our suite had lots of room. There was something happening every day or evening. This is the Wyoming/ Montana group, on Saturday, stuffing bags that they handed out for dinner Sunday evening. They cooked lamb, coleslaw, and corn on the cob. It was all good.

We also had the Arizona/New Mexico group in one evening to prepare stuff for breakfast on Thursday. There were several committee meetings, a couple of hospitality get-togethers, and the Spouse's Reception in this suite.

This photo is for Dana. Portland had lots of

trees and the houses are close together and it is

very green.

Monday - Dad went to meetings. The spouses

went across the Columbia to Vancouver, Washington.

We went to Fort Vancouver. It is 1-the original

Hudson Bay Company outpost, 2-a still active

Army Post (since 1854 or so), 3-a still active air

port since WWI. Interesting place.

This was the headquarters for the Hudson Bay Company. A grape vine grew across the front porch. You could smell the grapes.

Officer's Row for the US Army. However, the Army didn't want the upkeep. They worked out a deal with the city. The city has the buildings on the National Registry and they are leased out to corporations for office purposes. Some were built in 1880.

The air field does have a museum, however the National Guard unit was standing down after a tour overseas in the museum and we couldn't go in. All I could get is shots of the airplanes outside.


The beautiful Columbia River.

Monday evening was the 4-H Talent review and a performance by a group called the Ringling 5 from Montana. They were a group of ranchers who make up songs and perform on the side. They sing about a rancher's life and the events he has to deal with. All humorous. For one song, they called up two people out of the audience. They slapped well-worn hats on their heads and had them pull up their pant legs. The group then sang a song about "Rancher's legs". The chorus has something about "they have knock-knees and bowed legs and the their legs are blinding white". If you can't tell, that's Rick in the middle of the group with the hat down to his nose and his white legs bared for all to see. I was sorry the kids weren't there to see.

Tuesday- Dad had meetings. I took a spouse's tour up the Columbia to the Hood River valley, up around Mt. Hood and then back to Portland. This is Multnomah Falls. Very tall, very beautiful. Very Lord of the Rings.

I walked up across the bridge to an observation point below the main falls.

And there was a train. We had to cross under the tracks to get to our bus.











Mt. Hood dominates the horizon. This whole valley is filled with small orchards and farms. This is the pear capital of the US. They also grow some apples and cherries.

One farm we visited had changed from growing pears to doing a variety of different things. They had a u-pick operation that included strawberries and blueberries and rows and rows of flowers. These are dahlias. I've never seen such colors. They've also included a wine-tasting room and grapes and a winery. More money in booze than in pears.

We went up to the Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. It was built by the WPA in the 30's. Beautiful building.

This door is huge and so well hung that a child can push it.


This chimney goes from the basement up through 4 floors to the outside.

They told us that they have a booming ski business during the summer. The ski lifts take people up to the snow fields you can see. They get like 150 + inches of snow each winter. Maybe more, I can't remember.

Wednesday - Awards banquet and the passing of the gavel. The festivities in our room before the banquet was one of the details Dad and I struggled with. It is customary for the outgoing president to give gifts to the board. We settled on travertine coasters we stamped and painted. Kristy helped us find the directions on line. They turned out so well that Dad thinks we could sell them. Thanks, Kristy! Everyone liked them.

I don't have photos of the banquet. Trust me, the gavel passed to Phil Pratt and Dad started to relax.

Thursday - We toured small farms with diverse crops and produce across the Columbia in and around Vancouver, Washington.

This is an area that the city offered 20'x20' plots for people to garden. It was interesting to see what people planted.

Part of this experiment in urban gardening included 2 acres of carrots. The hard part was that they weeded and were harvesting them by hand. The work was provided by volunteers and others doing community service. The carrots went to the local food bank.

We saw a cow/calf operation.

Another farm was 5 acres that had every foot planned out and used. They had lavender, blueberries, goats, and sheep. They sold raw goat milk, goat meat, yarn from their sheep, and a variety of preserves and other stuff that they made. We had lunch here that included "chevrie" or fresh goat cheese. The garlic cheese was pretty good.

Another farm was getting ready for their Fall activities. They had a maze, pick your own pumpkins and a store with all kinds of pickles, preserves, jams, jellies, and cookies made from their produce.

They were harvesting Indian corn and laying it out to dry. The colors were beautiful.

They had rows of wheel barrows ready for their customers to pick up their pumpkins.

Some of the pumpkins were pretty big.

We saw more goats and chickens at another farm.

They had 5 acres that were set up as a co-op. One share was $530 and bought you a box of fresh produce for 20 weeks.

Friday - Dad had meetings. After packing boxes and some souvenir shopping, I went to the Chinese Garden in downtown Portland to take photos and draw. This garden is behind walls and takes a whole block. It's very quiet and peaceful inside.

This is a lion dog that stands at the entrance to Chinatown.

This is the jacuzzi in our suite. It was bigger than the one in Greensboro. Here we are floating "boats" and playing the storm game. Unfortunately, the turbulance was not as impressive as the one in Greensboro. Everything just moved around in a circle.

And that's a very brief overview of our trip. Portland is a very different place. We got a taste of using mass transit. We got to spend an hour in Powell's, a four-floor used and new bookstore. We got to see many people living on the street. Most of all, we got to make friendships with people from all over the country during the meetings and tours. We are looking forward to Tulsa, next July.