Dog update for Grandma

I have no idea how he sleeps like this.

So he's out of the crate, on the rampage during the day, and a sweetheart at night. What else is new I guess.

His recent activities include:

Hiking 7 miles of snow trails in the backcountry
Learning how to get other dogs to chase him by baiting them with a stick
Thwarting every attempt to hide chewing material in the house while we're at work
Bolting across the street and almost getting a squirrel
Being vanquished to the backyard because of previously mentioned stunt

Boatload of new dog pics here and a few new videos here and here. (may be dark so turn up brightness on your monitor)

Trillium Lake, Part Deux

What better way to escape a 100% chance of rain than to get into the mountains and stay in a cabin in the woods? Nothing I tell ya. (Although when asked the same question, Rebecca always says the Caribbean)

Our friend Beth put together a trip to a Mt. Hood cabin for the week for 14 people. Then she dragged a keg a mile on a sled for us to drink. What a gal.

Everyone contributed by cooking a meal and bringing plenty of booze, snacks, and dogs to the mix (at one time, 14 people and 7 dogs).

The cabin is a mere mile walk in from the road, but after carrying a 60lb pack each and two bags of food on snowshoes, it was enough for us. We were greeted by a hot meal, cold beer, and good company.

Ways to pass time in the woods for 3 days? Plenty of relaxing, 7 mile cross country skiing trek, snowshoeing, snowball fights, and of course, many rounds of back in the bucket.

More pictures here. Including some of Duke and his harness (way too big for him).

Beer + Wine + Goats = Typical day on the farm

Our friends Kaitlin and Peter own a farm out in Colton, OR, about an hour away from PDX. Besides having an amazing place to hang out, they also love to brew beer, and most recently, make their own wine. We invited our friends Kim and Brian (and their dogs Mattie and Ho-D) along for the ride. Brian loves the beer, and Kim is into drinking wine, so it worked out beautifully. The dogs, well they were into the goats specifically. Even though Ho-D is 1/8 the size of one goat, that didn't stop her and Duke from corralling them.

Meanwhile, the humans of the group got busy brewing bourbon infused beer (a 6-hour endeavor) and blending wine for a good balance of tannins, flavor, and finish. Not surprisingly, after a day of sampling, the blends all started to taste the same. Not that that's a bad thing.

Rebecca instituting the "one-for-me, one-for-you" rule of wine bottling.

In the end, somewhere near 105 bottles of wine were bottled, corked, and labeled according to blending tastes. Peter and Kaitlin kindly thanked us by sending us home with a variety pack each. Can't wait to see how the beer turns out!

Sandia, NM

So I've been travelling to Albuquerque quite a bit for work. Recently I had a chance to go visit the Sandia mountain range that looms over the city of Albuquerque. It was 60° on the ground, and 11° by the time I got to the 10,400ft peak. The view from up top is beautiful as the city sprawls out in front of you. I suggest the night view as you can see for hundreds of miles across the flat NM desert.

The tramway that lifts you up there is the worlds longest single section cable and climbs 4,000ft in 15 minutes. So its just a bit faster than I am on foot. Just barely.

On the way home, I learn not to mess with truck drivers in New Mexico.

Grandma's crystal comes out of the box.

FINALLY. After a year in a box in the closet (and smuggling piece by piece in luggage from Louisville), my grandma Sherman's crystal has a deserving place of honor in a hutch. Ten margarita glasses and ten small margarita glasses are now displayed in our antique mustard-colored hutch.
A beaut!