Coldest #Ski Trip Ever! - #SaturdaySnapshots

While looking through my scanned photos for something to post about, I came across pictures from a ski trip we took in 1990. We lived in Miami at the time, and for this trip we flew all the way across the U.S. to Oregon. I kept a journal, and I'll include a portion of that, too.

Here's Mount Hood, Oregon, as viewed from the ski lodge. 

We stayed in Timberline Lodge, pictured here. This is the most snow I've seen in my life!

Cozy inside by the huge fireplace. There are three hearths in the six-sided fireplace, and the chimney is 90 feet tall.

Beautiful hand-carved wood everywhere, like this stairway's newel post cap.

Our son had a great time snowboarding.

The parking lot had been cleared, but we had to uncover our rental car. To give you an idea of the amount of snow -- my husband is six feet tall.

Here's my journal, briefly describing the Mt. Hood portion of our trip. We stopped in Dallas on the way back to Miami to visit family. 

The Mt. Bachelor part of our trip is another story!

For more info about Mt. Hood, Oregon, and Timberline Lodge, here's a link: Timberline Lodge

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

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Round the Bend (Oregon Historicals Book 1) - Teaser Tuesday and First Chapter / First Paragraph

     Rain Trueax is a terrific storyteller. In Round the Bend she takes her readers on a journey from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon's Willamette Valley via the Oregon Trail. Along the way the wagon train experiences runaway horses, treacherous river crossings, and violent storms, and as well as human adversaries and conflicts. 
     The author's attention to detail adds realism and depth to the story. She vividly portrays the challenges for women in caring for their families while crossing the plains, the dangers to children, the camaraderie and conflicts among the pioneers, the wagon master's absolute authority over his charges, and so much more. We get to know the book's characters well and come to understand their motivations and fears. Rain Trueax's research must have been extensive. 
     Round the Bend is the first of four books in the Oregon Historical series, and it stands alone. I'm looking forward to reading them all.
FYI: I've featured excerpts from Rose's Gift (here), by this same author, on my blog earlier.

First Paragraph:
Independence, Missouri - Spring 1851
     "You don't seem at all excited that finally we're on our way!"
     "You think that, do you?"
     "Matt, don't you feel it? Like we're geese and heading north or the first who came to this land. Finally it's us heading for adventure and excitement." Amy tugged on the rough cotton of his rolled up sleeve, demanding his attention, which seemed to be wandering to a robin calling from a nearby oak.

Teaser (from 39% on my Kindle):
First had been the darkening sky, then lightning striking on all sides of the column, forcing women and children to ride in the wagons. Canvas covers were no protection as the bolts slashed down - multiple prongs slamming into the earth and leaving behind burnt sage or blackened earth - visible reminders of nature's arbitrary and deadly force.

Genre: Historical Romance
Book Length: 308 Pages
Amazon Link: Round the Bend
More Info: Rain Trueax's Blog

Rather than post a synopsis, here's Rain Trueax talking about Round the Bend:




    This is the first of four books, which follow the Stevens family through four romances as it tells some of the story of the founding of Oregon. Each of the romances stands alone, no cliff hangers. Heat level, with 1 least and 5 highest, is ♥♥♥♥. Some strong language and mild profanity.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!

Link at ADailyRhythm.com

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.

Link at BibliophileByTheSea

Twitter: @SandyNachlinger

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What I Remember Most - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

     I've read a lot of good books lately, but few of them have touched me like What I Remember Most. Cathy Lamb does such a good job of "building" her characters! I felt as if I knew her main character inside and out. So everything that touched her, touched me too.
     I'll definitely be reading more books by this author.

Beginning
I hear his voice, then hers. I can't find them in the darkness. I can't see them through the trees. I don't understand what's going on, but their horror, their panic, reaches me, throttles me.
They scream the same thing.
Run, Grenadine, run!
It's them.

Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
My own office! I would paint the walls a creamy light blue and fill it with color and pretty, and it would be organized so I could feel safe and years away from what I didn't want to think about.

Genre: Women's Fiction / Psychological Suspense
Length: 497 Pages (published August, 2014)
Amazon Link: What I Remember Most
Author Website: Cathy Lamb

Synopsis:
      In a new novel rich in grace, warmth, and courage, acclaimed author Cathy Lamb tells of one woman's journey of reinvention in the wake of deep betrayal.
      Grenadine Scotch Wild has only vague memories of the parents she last saw when she was six years old. But she's never forgotten their final, panicked words to her, urging Grenadine to run. The mystery of their disappearance is just one more frayed strand in a life that has lately begun to unravel completely. One year into her rocky marriage to Covey, a well known investor, he's arrested for fraud and embezzlement. And Grenadine, now a successful collage artist and painter, is facing jail time despite her innocence. 
      With Covey refusing to exonerate her unless she comes back to him, Grenadine once again takes the advice given to her so long ago: she runs. Hiding out in a mountain town in central Oregon until the trial, she finds work as a bartender and as assistant to a furniture-maker who is busy rebuilding his own life. But even far from everything she knew, Grenadine is granted a rare chance, as potentially liberating as it is terrifying--to face down her past, her fears, and live a life as beautiful and colorful as one of her paintings. . .
                 

Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56.
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An Unholy Alliance - First Chapter/First Paragraph and Teaser Tuesday

  

      When I discovered that An Unholy Alliance takes place in Oregon's wine country - an area I've visited more than once - I wanted to read it. And when I learned that the main character is in her fifties, I was sold! So many of the book's settings were familiar to me, described beautifully by author Judy Nedry. The mystery kept me turning pages (well... clicking on my Kindle), and the well-developed characters (who have problems of their own) kept me interested in the plot's outcome. It was fun to learn more about vineyards and the wine-making industry too.
      An Unholy Alliance is the first book in the Emma Golden Mysteries series. The second book The Difficult Sister takes two fifty-something women on a road trip down the Oregon coast. I can't wait to read that one too!

First Paragraph:
Prologue
Friday Night
He waited in the half light a little drunk, a little floaty, but with that constant edge of irritation that had grown so much worse in the past couple years that he couldn't remember when he'd last been rid of it. Surely only during sleep, which was troubled now on the best of nights.

Teaser (from 59% on my Kindle):
For alcohol, we are told, is a subtle foe - all good times and laughter until the day it quits working and fun is no longer part of the equation. It is replaced by terror and self-loathing so great that only a drink or a drug will quiet the screaming in your brain. On that day you learn that one drink is too many and a thousand are not enough.

Genre: Mystery
Length: 336 Pages
Amazon Link: An Unholy Alliance
Author Website: Judy Nedry

Synopsis from Goodreads:
     Like many women in their fifties, Emma Golden feels invisible. She lives quietly in her Portland, Oregon bungalow and minds her own business. But her tranquil life is about to change. She is asked to return to the rolling hills of her former wine country home south of the city to supervise a friend's bed and breakfast inn near Dundee. Emma arrives at the Westerly Inn during grape harvest. She is under contract to write a book about Oregon wineries, and it's business as usual until she discovers one of her subjects dead in a wine vat-murdered at his own dinner party.
     Cougar Crossing Winery owner Ted Maxell was a ruthless and dishonest newcomer to the northern Willamette Valley wine scene. Many people wanted him gone-including his son, many local winegrowers, and even Emma's ex-husband, Dwight. Then Maxell's daughter, Tiffany, calls Emma and begs for assistance. "I know who killed my father," she wails. When Emma answers Tiffany's cry for help, she finds herself drawn into the search for a murderer or murderers with secrets worth killing for.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!
Link at ADailyRhythm.com

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.

Link at BibliophileByTheSea

Learnin' The Ropes - Teaser Tuesday and First Paragraph / First Chapter

If you enjoy contemporary Western romance, then you'll love Learnin' The Ropes by Shanna Hatfield. It was fun to experience the hero's transition from city guy to cowboy, especially in the Oregon setting. I also liked the fact that the hero is an out-of-work mechanic--a nice change from the wealthy super-suave hero type. By the way, the book also includes a gigantic dog (named Baby) as an important character and for comic relief. 
I recommend Learnin' The Ropes as a fun light-hearted escape (rated G).


First Paragraph - Each chapter starts with a lesson and a quote:
Lesson One
Location, Location, Location
"Git yerself out of that durn city and into God's country."
     Tyler Lewis read through the classified ad a third time, trying to decide if he was desperate enough to apply for the open position.
     Leaning against his truck door with the paper propped on the steering wheel, cold seeping into his back from the rain-splattered window and hunger gnawing at his insides, he concluded he was, in fact, that desperate.

Teaser (from 6% on my Kindle):
"...Baby's a Kuvasz. A Hungarian dog bred to guard livestock. Baby weighs purt near a hundred and twenty-five pounds. She can take down a grown man if she's of a mind to...."

Genre: Sweet Contemporary Romance
Book's Length: 350 Pages
Amazon Link: Learnin' The Ropes
Author's Website: ShannaHatfield.com

Synopsis from Goodreads:
     Out of work mechanic Ty Lewis is homeless and desperate to find work. Answering a classified ad for a job in Harney County, Oregon, Ty accepts when he is offered the position. Saying goodbye to his sister and his life in Portland, he heads off to the tiny community of Riley to begin a new adventure, unsure about his boss Lex Ryan, a man he has yet to speak with or meet. 
     Lexi Ryan, known to her ranch hands and neighbors as Lex Jr., leaves a successful career in Portland to keep the Rockin’ R Ranch running smoothly after the untimely death of her father. It doesn’t take long to discover her father did a lot of crazy things during the last few months of his battle with cancer, including hiding half a million dollars that Lexi can’t find. 
     Ty and Lexi are both in for a multitude of surprises as he arrives at the Rockin’ R Ranch and begins learnin’ the ropes. 

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Waterfalls - Saturday Snapshots

I love waterfalls! In fact, if my husband and I are driving down the road and we see a sign pointing to a waterfall nearby, he doesn't even ask -- he just gives me a look, I nod, and he steers that direction. Here are photos of my two favorite waterfalls (so far) in the Pacific Northwest U.S. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Multnomah Falls, in northwestern Oregon, about 30 miles
east of Portland. The falls is 620 ft / 189 meters tall.

In January 2014 a falling boulder took out a
section of the bridge shown in the photo above. 
It has since been repaired.

Snoqualmie Falls, Washington - 268 ft (82 m) -
located about 30 miles east of Seattle 

This photo was taken near the bottom of the falls.
I wish you could hear the roar!

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, 

click HERE or on the box below.