One Week 'till Tour de Cure Portland

Today is Sunday July 19th. Next Saturday is July 25th - the day of the Tour de Cure event here in Portland. It takes place out in Hillsboro, which is west of Portland. Checking out the temperature forecasts at this point - it looks to be a hot day. The NWS Portland office hourly model shows a high temp of 99° at 5pm on Saturday. It looks to be only 79-84° at 10:30am - out start time for the 10 mile ride. No rain forecast though!



There is still time to donate to the American Diabetes Association. We have all met the $150 minimum fund raising goal, though we'd like to do more. My account (Brian) has quite a bit more, since my company, AMEC, matches the amount I raise dollar-for-dollar. They have agreed to match up to at least $3,000 - so I still have around $1,100 more to go to make use of that commitment.

A recent potluck at my office, with voting for the best food with your money - raised $209 dollars! Mick's peanut butter pie and ham and bean stew won 1st and 2nd prizes. Thanks to all my AMEC co-workers for your donations!


Yard Work #14 - July 16th. About four weeks since the last mowing - the grass is quite patchy now. Some areas that get the runoff from the driveway or where spray from flower watering helps the grass to survive - these areas have still managed to stay green and grow. Other areas - that had formerly been bark dust - are quite dry and brown. The recent 90°+ temperatures here in Portland haven't helped.

Great Wolf Lodge - the bucket

Here is a video of the 100's of gallons of water - splashing down every 90 seconds or so....at Great Wolf Lodge. This is the Grand Mound, WA location - your local GWL might be different.

Great Wolf Lodge

We had a family anniversary trip this year. For our 14th wedding anniversary, we traveled north for about two hours to Grand Mound, Washington. Located is this little town, just five miles north of Centralia, is a 'hotel' called Great Wolf Lodge. Not just a hotel, but rather a water park - with a hotel built for it. Your admission to the water park is your hotel room fee.

There was a special rate we got for the room - maybe 20% off. The rooms are quite spendy - check out the website yourself to see. And the food prices in the many on-site restaurants and in the park locations - whew. I guess this place must be one of those profit deals. Somebody has to pay the utility bill, I guess.

The fun was just as described on the website. Constant water, warm, and fun. But - what they won't tell you....it is crowded.

With around 400 rooms - and between 2 to 8 people per room....there are a lot of people running around the place. Also - you can start playing in the park at 1pm on the day of your check-in, even though check starts at 4pm. You can play the whole next day as well. So do the math....minimum of 2 people x 400 rooms = 800 people. More likely count is 4 people x 400 rooms = 1,600 people. Then figure that maybe 50% of the people are there after check-out... maybe not. So 1,000 to 2,000 people? I know that is not how many people are really in line for the Howlin' Tornado ride - but it sure feels like it.

It is also loud. Really loud. Constant water noises. Constant people having fun noises. Loud. You can't hear the voice on the people you are talking with more that 10 feet away.

Tegan running across the water

Connor uses his hands a little

How do you get into your hotel room without a key?

For a while now - hotel rooms have stopped using keys, and have changed the locks to card readers. Not sure exactly how this makes the guest's life easier. I guess it makes the hotel's job easier, because there are no keys to store and manage. If a card is lost - no problem, just reset the door and program a new card.

At Great Wolf Lodge (at least the Grand Mound, WA location) - they took the room key situation and made it even better. Better - at least if you are visiting a water park, and you don't know what to do with the room key/card while you are swimming.

Your park entrance entrance bracelet also works as your room key. Very nice!

One issue - only the adult bracelets have the room key RFID. I guess this isn't a problem - it just means the kids have to stay with their parents....

Star Wars the Complete Saga

Check out http://www.lucasarts.com/games/legostarwarssaga/

This is the website for Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga. "Kick some bricks in I through VI." If you haven't played this game before - make sure you have a long weekend, or a summer vacation ahead if you really want to play it right. It took me six months to get through all six movies - with six chapters per movie. And I still need to go back and 'free play' the levels to be able to get all the hidden items and other goodies not available on the first play through.

So - check out the website. You can watch a game trailer, or take the Character Quiz. Find out what Star Wars character you are... It is not a very good quiz - many questions have no realistic answers. Then again - what did I expect?

Anyway - here is my character (not quite me...but I did the quiz).

Lego Star Wars - The Complete Saga

• Take The Quiz
• Visit The Site