The Cow's Enamored......

.......with Astoria! Can you tell why?

Beach Scene

For some reason I never get tired of seeing the ocean. The cow and I have had discussions about people that can't get to the ocean in a day or those who have never seen the ocean - we really appreciate the fact that it is so close.
It was the perfect day for beach walking. The temperature was 80 degrees. The waves were roaring. The blue, beige and green of nature was shining bright. The smell is the hard part to explain. It was one of wet sand with perfect clean pine/green in the air.
The pictures were taken at Manzanita Beach- the cow and I are trying to rent a place here for Thanksgiving, maybe have a little seafood instead of tofurky.

The Tillamook Curse is BROKEN

On our way to the beach we passed through the Tillamook State Park, otherwise known as Tillamook Burn. The story about this forest is impressive. The first burn occurred in 1933 and every six years a devastating fire occurred until 1951. Click here to get a picture of the area during those years. The state of Oregon stepped to the plate and decided to try and reforest the area. Oregon voters passed a constitutional amendment in 1948 authorizing $12 million in bonds to rehabilitate the land. Forestry personal, state officials, adults and school kids all turned out to help plant over 72 million seedling. WOW! This area is gorgeous now. There is a great information center at the summit. There are hiking trails throughout the park and best of all there are beautiful, large trees everywhere.

Favorites from the weekend...more to come

A few of my favorite pictures from the weekend. The cow and I were joined by his parents for a brief weekend on the Oregon coast. I will fill you in on all the fun in a few more posts but I wanted to share with you a view of what I encountered.

First, the beach town of Manzanita is my kind of place. There is a coffee shop, bakery, brewery and mexican joint. It also has a fabulous beach. The weather was perfect - almost hot!

Second, Astoria sits at the mouth of the Columbia river. There is a great promenade that follows the waterfront. The cow and I walked for a few miles on this route. We actually wore out the in-laws.

Lastly, a pieceful moment with a view from Pier 39 without the hussle and bussle of San Francisco. The pier was home to BumbleBee tuna. Did you know that prior to tuna being packed in tin cans it was salmon?

Night

I wanted pizza. Our fun filled Saturday turned into an all day extravaganza. After vinideus we headed to Ken's Pizza joint. It is traditional and GOOD. The menu is simple - Pizza and salad. We watched the cooks stare into the huge wood fired pizza oven and our mouths watered as our pizza was delivered. We enjoyed the anchoive pizza with a spalsh of Moscato to wash it down.
After dinner we went to Buffalo Gap to listen to music. We got there a bit late and do not know if we were actually listening to the person we had gone there for but we still had a good time so it really doesn't matter.

Vinideus

The cow and I were walking home after our beer and wine at Oaks Bottom and noticed the new wine store (Vinideus) down the street was offering a few wines for tasting. As we entered I heard a strong french accent say, "Would you like to taste some wines today?" Apparently this guy did not know who he was talking to.
We were given the opportunity to taste 5 French wines, 2 Italian and 1 from Oregon. We met some neighbors and chatted with them as well as the owners. We took a tour of the "private tasting" room. It was explained as bring your own food and a minimum of six people - pay the owners 10 dollars per person and the wine will start flowing. We finally left at dusk with a couple of bottles of the good French stuff.

Oaks Bottom Century?

Our inpirational walk led us to an outside table at Oaks Bottom Public House. The cow and I were feeling a little thirsty and we decided to have a drink. As I looked down the sidewalk I saw a guy with a beer mug strapped to his bike helmet coming at us. I said, "this is going to be good!" After a few minutes a group of "Century" riders decended on the Pub. They explained there quest for the day: 100 ounces of beer from FIVE different local breweries. Hence, the reason it is a CENTURY ride.
The group of riders were quite eclectic. After the Southeast engineer filled up the cow's empty beer mug (thanks again) we learned more about our neighbors at the next table. The "pheedo" dude explained that I should have advertising on my blog. The artist discussed the theory of work and the theory of art. His goal is to be an artist but everyone has to have enough money for a few beers. Gato Negro told us that Madrid would be a great place for New Year's and that he is planning to open a Tapa's restaurant near south waterfront.
The team of riders left as fast as they arrived. Onto their last stop of the day. I hope they achieved their goal of 100 ounces.

Inspiration

Inspiration abounds walking from Sellwood to Moreland on a lazy Saturday afternoon. As you already know I have a fascination with the horse project. I caught the Moreland horse getting ready for a gallop while still tied to her post. I will refer to her as Thunder from here forward.
Looking over Oaks Bottom Park on SE 13th and Bybee was a young, energetic artist. He was painting a lovely rendition of the west hills in the darkness of puffy white and gray clouds. He was a very physical painter - bending and moving to get the right stroke.
Lastly, the beautiful red sunflowers are reaching for the sky as the sun breaks in the early afternoon. They are deep red with tiny yellow seeds in the center. I hope they last awhile because they make me smile when I see them.

Portland Sunday

The sun was shining through all the windows this morning. We sat outside and read the paper while taking in our coffee. Decided a ride around town on bikes was in order. We stumbled across a street fair that looked like it hadn't kicked into high gear - but they had the Road Closed signs out blocking a major street in old town. We rode from Sellwood to downtown, around Overlook to Alberta then back down to Mississippi for taco's at por que no? Winding our way back home to have a beer on the veranda. Great weekend but MAN I do NOT want to face reality and go to work- EVER.

Saddle Up!

All over Portland you will find these rings affixed to the curbs. A young man decided to put horses back onto Portland streets in 2005. I have heard about this project and finally got to see a pony tied to a ring right here in my neighborhood. I was thrilled. Read more at The Horse Project.

Moreland at Night

Moreland is right next door to Sellwood. We can walk to Moreland for Pizza, groceries, banking, movies, hardware, dive bars, nice bars, etc. I like the way it looks at night. You can never get enough pink neon! We went and watched "Little Miss Sunshine" and both the cow and I were laughing out loud. Great little flick.

Random acts of kindness

This weekend was filled with people being especially nice. I have three random acts of kindness to report:

1. As the cow and I were dining alfresco on Pizza and vino, a couple sat down at the table near us. The young man asked if his smoking would bother us and that he was more than willing to stand away from his table to have his pre-meal smoke. I was so excited that he actually asked I didn't know what to say. I thanked the couple as we left for being so considerate.

2. As we were walking to the movie theater I noticed the sign pictured. There is a nest of yellow jackets living in the shrubbery. Once I started walking closer you could hear the swarm inside the bushes. Very nice of these people to warn you as you approach the danger.

3. We stopped for a beer and a bite to eat prior to the movie at Oaks Bottom Pub. The server was super nice and let us try four different types of beer. The samples were nice pours also and we both got a good idea of what we liked and what we didn't. The cow ordered the ember ale. I describe this beer as tasting as if you have licked a briquette.

Back-to-School

My NEW Teaching job started on Tuesday and I am so tired I could fall asleep right this minute. I have been getting up before the sun and trying not to fall asleep on my way home.
I am teaching Freshman - an old colleague once said , "Freshmen ARE NOT human beings." At the end of my first three days of school I am going to have to agree with that statement. I am also teaching Juniors and they are so grown up compared with Freshmen. Today one of the Junior girls asked if she could write her paper on ecstasy. I made the snide comment that I prefer she not write her paper while on hallucinogenics - she didn't get it. I also heard a young man tell his friend he thought I was ridiculous! I blurted out the comment that my husband thinks I am ridiculous sometimes too. Again, only the guy who said it and his friend understood what was going on the rest of the class just think I have a bit of terrets (sp?).

Timbers

PGE Park: Timbers (PDX) vs Battery (Charelston) - game time 6:00pm. Great night for "the beautiful game." Although the Timbers did not play beautiful ball. Home team lost 0-1. Had a great time though. Players move fast - I didn't get bored. We sat by the timber nation during the first half. They are basically a bunch of lunatics that go to every game and yell and scream profanities - for example; when the goalie for the opposing team is going to kick the ball out of the endzone they yell in unison: "you suck asshole." Not very nice huh?
The most fanatic of fans though was this old dude hauling around his CHAINSAW, starting it and holding it above his head to get the fans to scream and yell (get it the timbers). He also climbed the pole in picture two and hoisted his drum and his chainsaw up there to get the crowd all riled up. I did not witness him getting up there nor getting down, that was my biggest disappointment of the evening.
Season tickets next year?