December 2016: Christmas and New Years

Christmas came to our home in Portland.  And it began with flowers arriving.

Then came pants big enough for Ben and Martha to wear at the same time.

Mr. Shadow had fun.

We had a feast.

We walked in the historical cemetery and learned about George Bottler.

And we saw other interesting memorials and headstones on our walk in the cemetery, including several like this one that were made of stone.

We went to Reedsport OR for three days and did some hiking there.  In town we experienced some of the artwork.

We visited the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.

 

 We visited the Umpqua River Lighthouse and Museum, and did some whale watching (we looked for them, but the visibility was not good and only saw some briefly in the distance on the third day).

We got out onto the dunes and the beach.

The weather did not give great visibility for whale watching.

Many interesting things on my early morning walk.

We ate well after visiting the museum.

We hiked in a different part of the dunes.

On the way back to Portland we stopped in Cottage Grove, a town that bills itself as the Covered Bridge City.  We got to see four of the seven bridges.

Then we were back in Portland for New Years Eve and day, and then got ready to return to Phoenix.