Last day of my auditor course in Queen Anne today, so after the last few slides of the course we had the exam. Thankfully much easier than the sample exam we were given earlier in the week – and the instructors had kindly provided hints to relevant sections in the ISO standard we could refer to. Not at all like some of the exams I did for my Masters a couple of years ago!

Finished a little earlier than expected, so was home by about 11am. Started cleaning the house up for our departure tomorrow – threw a load of washing through the washing machine, and ran a load through the dishwasher too. Emailed our embassy claims into Andy at work so he could submit them before the end of the month – should provide some extra cash for us while we’re away. After all that was done, I had a nap upstairs – the course had us doing late nights each night this week, so I was a bit wrung out!

We met up with some friends for dinner at the Malay Satay Hut in Redmond, not far from home – a chance to say farewell to Jack before he heads home to Australia in a couple of weeks. Great rotis and heaps of wonderful food – always get a good feed when we go there.

Back to our place afterwards for beers and coffee – we presented Jack with a framed photo from our Columbia Gorge trip, with him standing on the rock at Bridal Veil Falls. We’ll certainly miss him at work – but we’ve now got someone to forward all the news from home! Hopefully we’ll be home to join him before long – or at least within a few hours’ drive away.

Another checkup with the doctor today - the nurse found the heartbeat straight away, and counted 156bpm. Took another vial of blood for the AFP test, so we'll get the results later in the week. The doctor said it would be another couple of weeks before Ali was likely to feel any kicks - and another 2-4 weeks after that before anyone else will be able to feel it.

Next appointment will be after we get back from the roadtrip - another checkup with the doctor, then the 20 week scan (which will actually be about 22 weeks by then!). We'll remember to take a CD with us this time, so we can send a few copies home - looking forward to seeing how much our little jellybean has grown since last time.

Another casual start this morning – back to Starbucks for a morning coffee, then off to Multnomah for some last-go photos before making our way back home.

Far fewer people at Multnomah today, one advantage of going on a weekday rather than a weekend. The weather was still pretty overcast, but we were able to reel off a few shots without worrying about people wandering across the bridge.

The boys had spotted an old rail bridge not far from Multnomah Falls, and wanted to get a time lapse shot of the bridge with a train over the top. After enquiring at the gift shop, we were told the trains went past every twenty minutes or so – enough time to set the tripods up and wait for the next one.

Must have been a very long twenty minutes, as it was nearly an hour later before the promised train arrived! The boys had endured several strange glances from tourists walking past to the Falls from the car park – why were we set up so far from the main attraction?! To add insult to injury it also started to rain, so we grabbed a couple of plastic bags from the Jeep to protect the cameras – not the prettiest sight ever!

Unfortunately with these largish cameras you only get one chance at these situations – Andy wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but they weren’t willing to hang around for the next train!

We had an uneventful drive back to Seattle – popped into the Outlet Stores in Chehalis for a spot of shopping, but we still had to pay the State Tax … not much of a discount then!

Leisurely start – wandered over to the nearby Starbucks for a coffee fix to start the day, then headed back along the highway. The aim was to start back at the start of the Scenic Highway, and work our way back to Hood River during the day.

First stop was Bridal Veil Falls – the old highway actually passes over the top, so we had to park and walk down a short path to get to the observation point. One advantage of the bad weather – lots of water over the falls, so it looked pretty speccy! Jack and Andy started clambering over the banks of the river trying to find the best vantage point, Jack eventually ended up on a large rock near the base of the falls. Managed to get a couple of good shots of him contemplating his camera settings with the falls in the background – thankfully he stood still long enough to blur the water, but he still appears sharp in the foreground.

After shooting off a few rolls at Bridal Veil Falls, we piled back into the Jeep and headed a little further down the road to Wahkeena Falls. The guidebooks said this one was a ‘photographers delight’, and the increased waterflow from the recent rain certainly made for some interesting shots. A bit hard to get it all in one frame, as there were two main sections – the main falls, then a series of ripples and trickles down to the roadway. Jack and Andy looked the professional photographers with their lightmeters out and tripods, not to mention the big cameras on top! Very funny watching those two get set up for a single shot, while several other tourists would walk past in the same time and take their shot on a camera phone or digital camera in the same time. Lots more of that funny yellow lichen everywhere too – big contrast against all the rock and mossy trees that dominated.

Back to Multnomah Falls – probably the best known of the falls along the Scenic Highway, and I think it was my favourite of the ones we’d seen so far. The visitor centre also housed a restaurant, so we stopped in for lunch. Sunday brunch was an all-you-can-eat buffet, so we had some yummy roasts and salads. Much better than finding a fast food joint somewhere! There was even the offer of a glass of champagne with lunch … which the boys kindly declined, as I was on water!!

We spent a few hours at Multnomah wandering along the paths and sizing up the best viewpoints for photos – tripods came in handy for shifting stray branches out of the field of view! Preferred the view from the main observation deck near the base of the falls, a very clichéd view but you don’t get the same effect from standing on the bridge.

The boys wanted to hit one more before the end of the day – Horsetail Falls didn’t look particularly interesting, so we continued on to Elowah Falls. The guidebook said this one was about a 20min hike away, so I opted to stay in the Jeep and have a snooze while the boys grabbed their gear and headed off. At least I knew they’d bring back some good photos to show me! Lovely light on the nearby hills with the sunset, and Jack and Andy returned not long after – rather wet, but pretty happy with the trip.

Back to Hood River and the hotel to clean up, and we decided to have dinner at a pub in town we spotted yesterday. Good food, and the boys tried a sampler of the local beers – watched the Oscars on a telly in the corner, and started planning for tomorrow and the trip home again.

Packed the Jeep full of camera gear and headed down to Oregon for a long weekend today - Jack's heading back to Australia next month, so we wanted to photograph some of the waterfalls along the Columbia River Highway before he left.

It's a surprisingly short drive down to the border, and soon we were through Portland and onto the Highway itself. Stopped in at some lookouts along the way, and found Vista House - both Andy & Jack wanted to try out their landscape cameras in the afternoon light, so we stopped in for a while.

A frustration for any photographer is trying to minimise foreground distractions, particularly for 'scenic'-type shots. Unfortunately Vista House is ringed by car parking, so we waited for a long time before the foreground car park was empty of vehicles. We'd get so close ... and then some other family in a caravan or an F150 would pull in and obscure the shot again!

Andy had actually set his tripod up on top of a fence rail waiting for the shot, which attracted a passing Oregon State Park ranger ... guess he was a bit nervous about Andy falling off and suing the Parks or something. I was playing the 'impatient wife' part quite well, arms folded and my jacket zipped up against the cold wind - the ranger took one look at me and realised the boys were under orders already!!

Thankfully the car park started to clear, and Andy got his shot - but not before the ranger returned! I thought we were in trouble when he beckoned me over to the car ... turned out he'd taken pity on the poor Aussie girl waiting for the mad photographers, and handed over an Oregon Parks pin for each of us - what a champ!! He gave us all a wave (and a warning to hurry up, and not encourage anyone else to get up there!) and then headed off in the other direction. Cool!

We continued up the highway towards Hood River, where we would be staying for the next couple of days. Stopped in at Latourell Falls, as it was only a short walk down to the base from the car park - I'm starting to notice I'm not as agile as I used to be! We also did a bit of recce work along the rest of the highway as we headed to the hotel, sizing up where we would start back the following day.

Dinner was in the Riverside Grill, adjacent to the hotel - the boys offered me the wine list, then twigged half a second later and looked a little sheepish . Still getting used to the whole idea myself - although I'm starting to run out of room in my favourite jeans, so I may have to 'bite the bullet' when we get back and start shopping for maternity clothes ...