Just in case you’re curious, I took that banner photo with my camera phone from South Saddle Mountain, which is the mountain to the west of Forest Grove, OR. If you’re driving West on Tualatin-Valley Hwy from Beaverton to Hillsboro, most of the time you are driving almost directly toward South Saddle Mountain, and if it’s not raining or cloudy you can see the two peaks that comprise the saddle. Yes, there is another Saddle Mountain about 33 miles away which is  west and on the north side of Hwy 26. In my opinion, South Saddle Mountain looks more like a saddle. The other Saddle Mountain looks more like a couple of thimbles. But I digress.

In the photo you can just barely make out the snow cap on Mt. Hood below the clouds on the left side of the photo; it kind of looks like another little cloud. That’s a distance of around 80 miles. In the valley you can see Tualatin-Valley Hwy going through Hillsboro and Beaverton and pointing almost straight at Mt. Hood.

The lake to the right of center is Hagg Lake, and then you can see tree farms in the foreground. If you think about it, tree farms are kind of weird farming. It’s farming on a 50 year cycle; and it’s pretty cool to see the way they replant and care for their farms. Weird stuff when you think about it. One person might see a field planted, and work for the company for 30 more years, and then retire before that field gets harvested. Really weird when you think about it. And there I go digressing again.