Angels Rest Hike

Saturday we loaded up for a hike in the Columbia Gorge. We have the book 100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon and found the Angels Rest hike. It was described as "Moderate" with an elevation gain of 1500 feet and a distance of 4.6 miles round trip.
We went straight up the mountain from the parking area. It was a cloudy day so the views were a little dark but the trees and bushes were lusciously green. There was many switchbacks and believe it or not lots of people. Every type of person you can imagine. Old people with leather sandals, serious people with walking poles, families with like 17 children and then us. Once at the top it was you, the sky above and the river valley below, it was lovely.
We realized that we could add a side trip to something named "Devil's Rest" so we took that trail and found an old beat up picnic table to eat our lunch right next to a babbling brook. We walked and walked and realized that we were steadily going downhill BUT we were on the wrong side of the mountain. So - needless to say our devil's rest turned into a hell of a hike out of there just to meet up with our original trail that would lead us back to the car.
After four hours of hiking we stopped at Edgefield and sat outside for a cocktail. I had a delightful Greyhound and the cow enjoyed a couple of IPA's.

Me and my shadow!

Wow! Every single day last week was so beautiful that I could see my shadow. This was wonderful. Not only is it warming up but it is staying light until 9:00 pm or so and we have the ability to be warm when we take an evening stroll around the neighborhood.

The pictures are from my typical daily walk. I head out of the house and head west towards the river. I take a lap around the crazy "off leash" area for the pooches right next to the river. These hounds make me laugh and smile. Every one of them chases something. There is one terrior that actually uses his mouth like a baseball mitt and catches the damn thing in mid-air. My favorite part of the walk is when I circle around the old church - dating back to the 1900's or so. I just love all the trees and folige that is bursting with color. I then head through the woodsy park. This is where the cow and I go play frisbee or paddle ball. There is a ton of picnic tables and open spaces for fun!

I love my shadow and my shadow loves me.

Indie Wine Fest

The cow and I joined approximately 200+ other enthusiasts at the Indie Wine Festival. We spent the afternoon sipping wine from small scale producers that create less than 2000 cases per year. It was held at Urban Wine Works in the NW area of Portland.
We sampled many Pinot Noir's but the surprise of the day were the Rose’s and Viognier’s which are being grown in Eastern Oregon near Hood River and Yakima Washington.
Many restaurants were offering various small bites. We sampled a chilled asparagus soup with crab that was delicious. There was an artisan pizza maker that brought his own brick oven to the event. My favorite foodie was the Cheese lady. She is opening a cheese store in the wine city of Carlton (super cute town - this is where the cow and I spent his birthday) called Horse Radish. She was offering various styles of blue cheese for sampling. My favorite was a very, very soft/liquidy blue that simply melted in my mouth. As I am writing about this little slice of goodness my mouth is watering.
We purchased a few bottles and after three hours of sampling we decided it was time for a cocktail and food.

Roaming the streets

The cow and I had to take his bike rim to get fixed again so we strolled through the streets of NW on a great afternoon. We sat and had a cup of joe in Jamieson square park and went downtown and stumbled upon the Poets at Work in from of the Central Library. We had a glass of wine and Nicoise salad in the sunlight as I was thinking I wanted a second glass, we headed home, sat out on the deck, I drank wine and graded papers and got a bit of sun on my pale skin. Lovely.

FREE Stuff

Hanging on my door the other day was a present from Trimet, our local transportation people here in Portland. I had mailed in a request for FREE items and voile there they were hanging on my door. Later I found out they delivered by bike messanger.

I received a nifty umbrella - good quality - keeps me walking in the rain, a couple of coupon books to use in my local area as well as one for a bit farther when I am on my bicycle, I got many new maps, a nozzle for the water hose, some seeds for herbs, a great bag that my school binders fit perfectly into and the best gift in the package was a PEDOMETER. It is not in the picture because I was wearing it at the time of the shot.

Eugene - Go Ducks!

A couple of weeks ago I had the delightful opportunity of taking ten Aloha High School students to a Model United Nations conference in Eugene, Oregon. I want to point out that the U of O is thought of as the Chico State of Oregon.

The campus is beautiful. It is a blend of old and new. Some of the buildings - Gerling Hall - reminded me of an old Enlish lodge where men with big cigars would be sipping cognac. There are miles of bike trails along the Willamette river with sports venues everywhere. I was amazed at the amount of money and prestige that sports brings to a school (remember I went to Sacramento State). This is the alma mater of Bill Bowerman, Steve Prefontaine and, of course, Phil Knight.

The city of Eugene has a vital downtown on the opposite side of the campus. It has wine bars, bookstores, independent clothing stores, etc. I also found Steelhead Brewery (there is one in Irvine if your interested els) and brought a little treat back for the cow. He loves beer so I picked out the hoppiest one they had and he loved it.

Hood River Ride

The cow and I took our bikes near Hood River for a ride on the Historic Scenic highway between the town of Hood River and Mosier. It was gorgeous. You climb high above the Columbia river and follow the switchbacks and up and downs all the way to Mosier. During the ride you also go through what is called "the twin tunnels." It is very scary and very dark.

Picnic in the park

I know I am a bit behind but I am trying! A couple of Friday's ago the temperature was 70 degrees. The cow created a little picnic, we went down to the "french" guys wine store bought some vin and meandered down to the river. We watched dogs and people socialize, the river roar by and a cop patrol the area (no picture - I was trying not to get caught drinking, down by the river).

Oh yeah, the picture at the top is of a glass wine cork...has anyone seen these yet? They work rather well - it just pops right back into the bottle.

Birthday No. 38

The cow turned another year older and I hope he enjoyed the weekend spent in the Willamette Valley Wine (WVW) country. He left work early on Friday and we drove about an hour into the valley between Carlton and Newburg for a sampling of grapes. The day was warm, warm, warm!

We used the WVW map to guide our path of afternoon tasting. First stop, Adelsheim Vineyards. Very well known in the area as being one of the first families in the valley.

I know we stopped at a few on the first day but my NEW favorite place is Penner Ash. The view from this hilltop winery is fantastic. They have built a brilliant wood focused tasting room and also have a massive dining area for wine makers dinners with a state of the art kitchen. They had four wines offered we purchased the Roseo and Rubio, both fabulous.

Late afternoon on Friday we found our hacienda for the weekend - Abbey Road Farms. The proprietors have taken an old horse farm and turned it into a small goat farm. They make a variety of mild goat cheeses which were offered at breakfast with homemade bread. The owners, John and Judy. seemed to have "cashed out" of Vegas and have built the lodgings on the farm out of old grain silos. There custom built house on the same property was quite impressive. I would say that John likes to hear himself talk about the successes he has created and Judy really loves animals and is very excited and proud of their adventures. The lamb (Shadow) being fed by Judy is only a week old. Shadow was abandoned at birth by mom after a stressful delivery.

Saturday we awoke to a cloudy cool morning but by the afternoon we found ourselves parked on a winery patio enjoying the sun on our skin and closing the place down. I will not go into great detail but the town of Carlton is where to be if you are young, have energy and are willing to work to make wine. It is a quaint, cute walkable town and we enjoyed four wineries within a three block radius. We drank great wine all day: R. Stuart (BigFire), Panther Creek, Solena cellars, Scott Paul, The Tasting Room, Zena and lastly Cuneo Cellars (great patio).

The big birthday dinner was a drive to Dayton for the historic Joel Palmer House Restaurant (think antebellum mansion with a porch that screams MINT JULEP). This is the mushroom forager of the Northwest. I was looking forward to this dinner for a very long time. We ordered the Mushroom Madness Five-course dinner. All mushroom all night long.

Menu: Wild Mushroom soup, Three mushroom tart, Portobello/Onion,Gouda and Red Pepper Puree, Truffles, crab, scallops, and shrimp in creamy Riesling sauce, Crab Cakes with porcini duxelles and mustard vinaigrette, Salmon with chimichuri sauce over quinoa, desserts were strange with candied mushrooms on top. What a great way to spend a weekend, we were very happy driving home under a full moon that lit the farm land like it was daylight.

Half Century Bike Ride

That is correct.

You read it right, although it is a bit deceiving.

On Sunday the cow and I jumped on the bikes and rode a half century. Oh- hell no, not kilometers we took the half century beer drinking bike tour.

Our goals:

1. ride to every quadrant of city: therefore, we needed a brewery in the North,Northwest, Southwest, Northeast and Sourtheast.

2. Drink at least 50 ounces of beer (get it? a half century).

We surpassed the total number of ounces, but I don't believe we made it to every quadrant exactly.

After leaving home on a partially sunny afternoon we headed to the south waterfront area (SW). Non descript beer but pretty good service. We then meandered up waterfront park and rode into the Pearl (NW) where Bridgeport brewery awaited our every desire. The cow ordered a barley wine named Old KnuckleHead (that is fitting). Both of these establishments are in great locations but neither of them had their outside seating set up (disappointment).

We jumped back in the saddle and crossed the Broadway bridge to our 3rd destination - 5th Quandrant. Technically I think this brewery is considered NORTH portland but it seems like NE to me, so that is what I am going to categorize it as. This was by far my favorite place. We sat outside, the sun on my face, drank beautifully fragrant beer and watched the clouds drift in and out.

Next brewerey was just around the corner. I didn't have time to ride my buzz off - so the brewery known as Amnesia (N) was a fitting place to stop. They have newly installed bike parking that will hold up to 30 or so bikes! Love it! Thanks! This place is known for their outside seating because that is pretty much all they have. The beer is great and the weather fantastic but the SMOKERS SUCK! (RANT: I have decided instead of lighting the cancer stick these people should EAT THEM. That's right put the damn things in your mouth and chew. Go ahead enjoy it. Hold the flavor on your tongue for as long as you want. Swallow that shit and leave me out of your death race).

Lucky Lab (SE) to the rescue. This patio is so large that you can sit as far away from the smokers as you want. They have really great beer and awesome dog friendly clientele. The dogs are actually hilarious to watch. There was a big bull dog with only three legs and he seemed to bounce instead of walk. He loved all the other dogs and wanted attention from every person that walked by.

Last stop, just down the street from our house: Oaks Bottom (SE). As we pulled into the last brewery of the day and locked up the bikes the sun was just going down (it was about 7:45). I don't know how far we had ridden but we sat down to a salad, hot damn garden burger and of course, our last beer of the ride.

Insult of a Lifetime

I joined a couple of co-workers for a drink on a lovely Thursday evening. We had made our rounds: a couple of martini's at one place, a bottle of wine at another and lastly we decided on a coffee drink before returning home. We took a seat and a young (STUPID) bartender says: "Hey, you two have really young faces, can I see your I.D.?"
He was not looking at me.
I called him out and said, "You did NOT just say that!" He looked up like a deer in the headlights and I think finally realized what I meant. I gave him a piece of advice: "If you want to keep tips falling into your lap you might want to ask the WHOLE table for their ID instead of just calling out the 'young' looking faces.
Son of a bitch!

Shit Sandwich

I read this very fabulous quote on the door of a dive bar bathroom stall:
"Life is like a shit sandwich,
the more bread you have,
the less shit you have to eat."

True?

Kronos Quartet

You would probably never expect me to attend an event put on by the group: Friends of Chamber Music, but that is exactly what the cow and I did on Sunday afternoon at Kaul Auditorium on the Reed College campus.

The dark and rainy afternoon was made for the tumultuous music experience created by four men and their instruments of two violins, one viola and one cello. Much of the audience was our age or older but we were told after the performance that the audience ranged in age from ten to ninety (the chamber society was very excited about these numbers).

It is difficult to describe the music Kronos creates. The Quartet is nonconventional in the manner that they create music. They are not only composers of their own music, but they also commission work and often have various types of music arranged for their instruments of choice. The program for Sunday afternoon follows with the name of the piece, the composer and the country of origin.

Mugam Sayagi - Franghiz Ali-Zadeh - Azerbaijan
Oh Mother, the Handsome Man Tortures Me - Unknown - Iraq
Three Selections from John's Book of Alleged Dances - John Adams - United States
Love Bleeds Radiant - Dan Visconti - Very interesting because Kronos has a commission of composer under 30 years of age (this guy is 25).

Last Adualusian Sky - Osvaldo Golijov - Argentina
Raga Mishra Bhairavi - Ram Narayan - India
Cercle du Nord III - Derek Charke - Canada

After the quartet had completed their program they returned for two encores. The first encore was the piece they created for the Golden Globe nominated movie "The Fountain." It was tumultuous, haunting and LOUD! Once again they attempted to leave but the audience was not allowing such an act. They returned again and played a piece by the Icelandic group - Sigur Ros . It was beautiful and a perfect end to a great day of music.

Lucky for us the performance was not finished. There was a question and answer session moderated by NPR correspondent Ketzel Levine. The best question asked was, "Are you ever criticized for amplifying your instruments?" The answer was basic, "you are damned if you do and you are damned if you don't."

Boring Beige

Finally! The boring beige is gone. Painting took place last week and we went from beige to a khaki green (it is called horsehair). It has made such a huge difference in the appearance of our casa that I want to paint every nook and cranny that is beige to some color. I know some of you are probably thinking - they just went from one neutral color to another. Not exactly. Beige has no life or vibrancy at least the green/khaki makes you think of a season. I love the new color and we finally started hanging art on the walls too....it has almost been a year since we moved into this place. I guess it is about time.