Huntington Beach

Before heading back to PDX the beach was calling. Took a trip to Huntington Beach on a beautiful day. There were people everywhere enjoying the sunshine - strolling, biking and playing volleyball.
I walked down and put my feet in the water and with the help of Buena Girl found out what sand crabs looked like.
All in all a great weekend. A big Thanks going out to el s and GoS for the hospitality and thanks to BG for hangin' out with us.

Beware of the OC

Traveled to Orange County to have a short visit with el s and GoS - beware the OC is crazy.
We had dinner at a new restaurant near the oval called Gabby's (sp?). It is an upscale Mexican restaurant with killer margarita's. For some reason the serrach thought it would be a good idea to have a nice sipping tequila too (not at the same time but after we had finished our margarita's). Then we hung out at a place called the District. Kind of a club, kind of a live music venue but definitely packed with all the college kids (they were kids) from the local Chapman college. I kept trying to get a picture of the girl in the white shirt that said, "boy beater" because I was truly disgusted with her. After we listened to a great singer, I thought we were ready to walk home but GoS had a different idea. She claimed she needed to go to the bathroom but we landed in yet another bar. They gave us wrist bands after checking our Id's. We met these lovely young ladies who were having jello shots next to us. I learned from them that a baseball cap is an accessory.

Pouring Concrete?

I woke to the sound of a LOUD construction workers voice on a cell phone right outside my bedroom window at 6:55am. Needless to say- I was pissed. The cow left for work and I decided to take care of a few items on the computer. I could not concentrate due to a diesel engine idling below the window (son-of-a-bitch just turn the damn thing off). I decided to calm my nerves and go for a walk. Please notice the gray clouds in the picture. I am a sunshine girl and I had to wear long pants and a light jacket. The walk did make me feel better but I returned to this behemoth right outside my front door.
There is a concrete truck idling and mixing at the back of this huge crain. The crain is anchored with four tenacles - two on each side. The concrete gets pumped (more noise) into a trough on the crain and then the handsome guy in the overalls uses this remote control to move the plastic tube over the area where the concrete needs to be poured.
It is amazing the noise here. I know why Tam hides in the guestroom on the bottom level under the futon most of the time. I would like to join her but I don't fit.

Lunch at Dundee Bistro

After a bike ride on a really hot day the best way to reward yourself is with a patio dining experience. We headed to the Dundee Bistro, we sat outside and enjoyed a lite lunch with an IPA and a Rosato.

Pedal, Pedal, Pedal

It was clear and hot - time for a bike ride. The river was on one side of us and farm land on the other. We had a great time. There were a few hills (I don't like hills) and great scenery. I told the cow while riding I wished everyone who read my blog could smell the wonderful smells of summer. I am going to do my best to recreate one of the best smells ever! Ready? The sun is shining on your skin, it is about 80 degrees, you smell dirt and then it has a tinge of wetness to it. All of a sudden a blackberry cobbler has been pulled from the oven. The intense berries waft in the air. You want a spoon and ice cream to go with your cobbler, but you realized you have just rode past the most over-producing berry bush you have ever seen. I have been craving cobbler every since.

Falcon or ?

We have seen a couple of these massive birds nests around Portland. There is one on the bike trial leading to downtown from our house. We spotted this one on our bike ride on Saturday. The nests are HUGE- made out of tree limbs and hay and other random stuff. This time I actually saw a baby falcon peek it's little head over and beep at me a couple of times.

New Wine Store

Grand Opening! A wine store with a French influence just 4-blocks from the house. It is a very cute/quaint space but it is really small. We were passing by at 9:30pm and they were still open. In case we need that late night Lafitte.

To Kill A Mockingbird

If you haven't read this book recently or have never read it at all - DO IT NOW.

St. Helen's or bust

WOW! We drove about 45 minutes on Saturday to the town of St. Helen's for their Arts & Eats Festival. It was a bust! The day was perfect - about 80 degrees but the festival was lacking something. We looked at ALL of the art on display in less than 5-minutes and made our way to the liquor tent next to the Columbia river. The cow had a beer and I had a glass of Syrian or Lebanese wine? Don't ask? I was there and can't explain why.
There was a trio playing music at the ampitheater and they were competing with the damn loud horn from the large river boat you see in the first picture. It got very annoying - I think they were allowing every Tom, Dick and Harry to pull the string for the loud BEEEEEEEEEEEEP.
Some of the boats that came into port for the festival were quite interesting though. We enjoyed the sunshine for awhile and drove to the Northwest to have a snack. It turned into a LONG evening on NW21 drinking at Brazen Bean and eating sushi because we knew we needed something in our stomach.

Chill, Pour, Sip, Chill

I went and got my hair cut yesterday and Jaime (the best stylist in the world) gave me a bottle of wine for my 40th birthday. She said she chose Evolution because she thought it fit the momentous event but she also liked the wineries philosophy of Chill, Pour, Sip, Chill.
I picked up a couple of Spanish cheeses (my favorite right now) - Cana de Cabra (goat) and Pena Azul (cow) along with quince paste, marcona almonds, jalapeno stuffed olives and a baguette and the cow and I did exactly as the bottle requested! The only bad thing that happened the whole evening was the bottle went dry.

Hike by St. Helen's

The cow and I went for the trifecta this weekend, we had kayaked and biked the two weekends prior so this weekend a hike was the outdoor recreation of choice. Our new hiking book led us to a place near the northwest edge of Mt. St. Helen's. We took I-5 north and turned off onto a scenic road leading to Cougar. Along this road we saw two or three lakes and reservoirs. After a long drive on a short non-paved road we made it to the Blue Lake trailhead parking area. We were astonished and pissed when we realized that we drove down a dirt road to find that the parking area was by permit only. NO - we did not have a permit and we did not go back to get one.
Our hike started in a very fine grain silt. It amazed me that even after 20years the St.Helens area still has massive signs of destruction. With the beautiful blue sky you get a really good look at the steam coming out of the mountain. The plume got bigger and bigger as the hike continued. I am going to digress here for a minute and talk about the attack flies that accosted us throughout the day. I can only say that you will never imagine the size and quantity of flies that were buzzing around our heads. I had ballistic shit-fits a couple of times to the point of almost falling off the side of the mountain. I was so pissed that I had turned around to go back to the car when I decided that NO F'N fly was going to ruin my trifecta.
As we went up the mountain, 1900 ft elevation gain and loss, gain and loss (because we crossed two valleys), the cow spotted a bobcat. Then we both spotted a park ranger doing a little walkabout- our hearts sank and we both thought: TICKET.
The views could be spectacular or barren. The view of the lake and the forested hillside across the deep gorge was green and lush. With a 180degree turn you could see wasteland - like the picture with all of the dead trees (I called them pick-up sticks). As we approached a bridge that led straight towards St. Helen's there was the warning sign you see above: Volcanic hazards and your safety - Number 1 rule: DON'T PANIC. I panic when a fly is buzzing my head, what do you think would happen to me if there was debris or ash coming at me?
After 7.8 miles of silt, flies and inspiring views we returned to the car to find that we had escaped without a ticket! Thank you park ranger man!

The Beast

I forgot to mention we had a friend waiting for us when we returned from our hike. It was great. Both of us walked to the front of the car to check for you know what....and YIKES a beast waiting on the windshield wiper.

Sidewalk to sushi

Out for 1st Thursday in the Pearl was more about being out and about than the art galleries. The cow told me to read the bricks. Huh? I looked down and along the sidewalk there were bricks with quotes. We walked along and I said, "there is one by Bukowski" and the cow said "I think I saw one from Miller." I turned around and started taking a few pictures. The cow believes that any town that would have quotes by Bukowski and Miller is a good town to call home. We wanted to have a drink and ended up in this kitchy sushi joint in the pearl. We sat upstairs in the bar and were told we COULD NOT eat up there. When we said we just wanted a drink the bartender calmed down a bit. Watching the frantic pace was fun. I love the size of that sushi roll the chef is working on. We walked around a bit until it got dark and went for the real sushi at Takahashi - it is an institution. We had a bit of saki and a few bites.

Where is Nowhere?

An art installation on the street. I forgot to mention the art trailer we ventured upon on 1st Thursday. It was called the Nowhere exhibit. It was a truck camper. It had tiny detailed images of various everyday scenes. It was well lit and artfully signed. I noticed that there was a website for more information. Go there and check it out. Nowhere.com