Waterfalls are Pretty

Sean and I finally left the city of Portland today! It was our first Oregonian excursion since moving here, and really, our first one ever!

We'd gotten a bunch of recommendations to see the waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge, but we didn't really know where we were going. We headed out on Rt. 84 and took the exit for Historic Columbia River Hwy (or whatever it's called at that point). It was super scenic, with vista points overlooking the huge river ever couple of miles! I've never seen so many beautiful views in one short drive!

We stopped at every single overlook, scenic view, vista point and waterfall we could find. There was lots of stopping. I've gone on a lot of hikes in New England, but nothing compared to these! None of the places we stopped made us walk more than 2/3rds of a mile from our car (round trip) to see amazing views or breath-taking waterfalls. Check out my flickr photos to see pics and videos! Sorry some of them are redundant--Sean and I took the some of the same shots, and I was messing with exposures on some of them.
I'm used to waking up at the crack of dawn, driving a few hours (into another state) to a mountain, then hiking straight up through mosquito-infested stank-smelling forest to see a damp rock that the guide book claims is a "waterfall". Okay, so it was more enjoyable than that! Sometimes we actually saw running water.

There were no insects. It smelled clean. There was tons of water, lush greenery and moss, and the other folks on the trail were friendly (except for the collection of college dolts at Multnomah "Huge Tourist Attraction" Falls). We'd avoided the rain most of the day, but got a bit wet at Bridal Veil and it continued to rain at Multnomah Falls and the whole drive home. It was a great day, however, and some hot tea and dry clothes have brought me back to a peaceful place in the world. Maybe we should do this every weekend!

Buffalo Roast

This weekend, Pat (one of Sean's friends from high school in Germany) came to visit! Pat flies planes for the Navy, and he was lucky enough to schedule a day off in Portland between flights.

We took him to the Farmer's Market where we picked up a buffalo roast and some veggies to grill, plus some venison pate and a baguette. Unfortunately, no one told us that a roast shouldn't be cooked on a grill (even though we asked the meat guy what he'd recommend for grilling). We spent the afternoon hanging in the backyard, drinking beer and eating fancy snacks. The buffalo was a bit tough, but tasty overall. The grilled potatoes and zucchini were awesome, and the pate was excellent. I could get used to all this amazing food...

Our yard has a stray cat and her three kittens as frequent visitors, and the smell of our cooking enticed them over. All the cats seem to be very frightened of us, but that didn't keep them from licking our olive oil-covered plate and meaty tongs.
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I got to hear my first Emergency Broadcast Signal today while in the car! There was a severe weather advisory for the county south of us. While it was hot and sticky for me, they were having a dangerous lightning storm with damaging hail and 60 mph winds! The announcement warned that "lightning is still one of the top killers in the U.S." and "if you can hear thunder, then you're close enough to get struck by lightning". Luckily, it seems to be breaking the hot spell we've had, so I might actually be able to cook some dinner indoors tonight!

My Friends

A couple weeks ago, my friend Eling (from the amazing Traveling Rhinos) came up to Portland after vending at the Renegade Craft Fair in San Fransisco. I had the pleasure of going out for Thai food at Pok Pok with Eling, her husband Dane, and their friend Shots (sorry if I'm spelling her name wrong! Could it be "Schotts"?).

Oh my god. The food was amazing! We were so eager to eat, I forgot to take pictures until we'd already dug in. The food was so light and crisp and refreshing! I even tried the crispy pork over rice and beefy Boat Noodles that Eling had. Plus, I got to try a mulberry drinking-vinegar soda and young coconut juice. Just check out their lunch menu, and I'll take you there when you come visit. ;)

It looks like we actually have a series of visitors on their way to PDX! Sean's friend Pat, Dan Weill, and my parents are all planning trips out here in the next two months. We can't wait to see all you guys!! Hopefully the ants will be gone by then.

If you're not on that list of visitors, you should be. We have outdoor cafes where you can drink alcohol. And there's bound to be a beer festival/parade/giant neighborhood event when you come. If you get here before the rainy season (which allegedly starts in November or so), it's unlikely to rain at all. In fact, it has only drizzled here twice in the past month as far as I can remember.

After lunch, we went out to the Japanese Gardens, which I hadn't been to before. It was relaxing, and beautiful. Maybe not the best place for actually meditating though, since it was packed full of people (on a weekday, no less) and we could hear the train whistle from the zoo train every few minutes. You'll have to check out my Flickr page for more photos from the garden, since I've run out of room in this post.

Email me to plan your trip now--you won't regret it!

Not my Friends

We have ants. It appears that these tiny sugar monsters are pretty common around here, but
I am quite sick of them. Luckily, our landlady is awesome and sent the exterminator over the day after I called her (to say that his exterminating from a week before had only made things worse). They seem to be migrating from room to room, through the outside windows.

If I can get my hands on some Borax, I'm going to mix up some of this "Uncle Albert's Ant Bait" myself. The post-it notes were total genius on the exterminator's part. I've been shuffling them around the house to put in the paths of the little suckers, and it seems to be working.