Birthday Drive

We took a meandering road trip today, out Hwy 30, up towards Vernonia, until stopped by a road block: two huge fir trees across the road. So we turned around and headed towards Mist, and on to a spot in the road where we had a good view of a brimming, swiftly moving river to watch as we ate our chicken sandwiches and sweet tea. Then finally to St Helens where Eric watched the Columbia as he contemplated his 73rd birthday. I walked around the old downtown with its mix of boutique shops and empty shops with windows filled with photos of its past. It's a lot like both Astoria and The Dalles with old houses built on steep streets. A nice day. Then home to do what most other Americans were doing: watching the second impeachment of an unfit and mistake of a president.