Having spent our last night in Kelso, we decided to swing through Cape Disappointment State Park again to see some of the things we missed the first time through, after which we went home. 

After having spent several days going to state parks, we decided to try hiking in the Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument since we've heard enough people say that the trails are still accessible. The weather was supposed to be nice, so we were hoping that we would get some good views of the mountain. This was also a longer hike, so we were thankful the forecast had no rain.

Another morning which started with a trip to the breakfast room followed by checking both the weather and if anyone knew what would be open or closed due to the government shutdown. We settled on a hike which was in a state park, bypassing federal parks and making use of our state park pass. 

With the government shutdown, there has been lots of conflicting information about what will be open and what will be closed. We decided to go with a trail which didn't require a pass, figuring it would be OK, so we packed up and headed up towards Mt. St. Helens to hike the Hummocks trail. 

This year Melody and I decided to head south for our vacation, centering the trip around Mt. St. Helens. The trip was planned thinking that there wouldn't be much rain, but ends up we did some rearranging of our itinerary to accommodate the weather.

We're now on the train home from Portland. The second half of the week was no less busy than the first half.

The reason for coming to Portland is so I could go to a conference, which meant that was most of my week. I did get a chance to get out a bit, however, and Melody did quite a few things during the week.

I'm in Portland this week so I can go to OSCON, the O'Reilly Open Source Conference. Melody came along so she could do some sightseeing while I'm at the conference, which I guess is only fair since for three years (two in Europe, one in San Francisco) she was in a conference for the better part of a week, time I spent playing tourist.

Our last full day in Vancouver picked up where we left off on the previous day's walking tour, then we worked our way towards Granville Island for lunch, followed by exploring the shoreline.

Our second full day of playing tourist consisted of going to the botanical garden and walking around the west end, including hitting the beach.

We both got a good night's sleep, and after grabbing breakfast, we were ready to start our day. The only thing we had planned for was doing a walking tour of Gastown and Chinatown, but we ended up also going to the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Vancouver Christmas Market.

Our last full day in Victoria included the Royal BC Museum in the morning and a walking tour of Old Town and Chinatown in the afternoon.

Our second day in Victoria centered around Butchart Gardens. We got up early enough to shower, eat breakfast, and head out to the bus stop. We decided to take the bus since the tours give you a couple hours at the gardens, and we figured we would want to stay longer than that.

Melody and I are on a quick trip to Victoria, BC. It's been about 25 years since I've been here, and longer for Melody.