Beck, Nick, Duke, and the hottub

My brother would be so proud...

2008-11-05T22:27:00.000-08:00

Chris did an amazing job helping redo some crappy 1927 plumbing in our house last month. The washer and dryer now make for a functional laundry room, and no more unsightly sewer line hanging below the basement ceiling.

Of course with this house, it seemed like every time he fixed one thing, another problem cropped up. The last fix he made was to the garbage disposal which required re-aligning an old galvanized vent pipe to stop water from pouring out of the separation. We fixed this, and everything seemed to be good again in the world.

Lo and behold, the first rainstorm we get and water is pouring in from the vent penetration on the roof. It's running down the outside of the pipe, into the guest bedroom floor, and into the basement. I should mention at this point that re-sealing that vent penetratoin was the only part I helped with on the entire plumbing job. Read into that as you like.

So the next morning I decided to take the day off, move the vent away from the roof valley channel, and install a new vent penetration. Plus, I removed the old galvanized pipe and replaced it with newer piping, and subsequently found out the vent pipe had a hole in it and was leaking sewer gas into the attic crawlspace since who knows when. (mmm, sewer gas)

Long story short, I did a decent enough job to keep water out (for now) and the vent penetration is actually installed to code. (Found out needs to be 18" away from all roof valleys) Good thing I took a break to ask Chris a bunch of questions while he was here.

All in all, not too bad a job to undertake, but definitely punching a hole in my roof was extremely nerveracking. More pics of this adventure here.

Notorious W.A.L.L.

2008-06-19T01:07:00.001-07:00

Finally got around to creating that ole retaining wall we have been working on for awhile now. With my two weeks off work, I dug the trenches, filled them with gravel, ordered the stone, obtained the help of a few friends, and set to work laying a dry-fit wall. Needless to say, I'm glad my friends knew what they were doing with this puzzle.

We used a few basalt columns to visually break up the height shift up the embankment so we didn't have to bury the stone only a few feet into the slope.

Also added a french drain to capture the rainwater off the gutter downspout instead of letting it runoff the side of the neighbors driveway. In the end, it turned out even better than we expected. More pics found here.

Trillium at 15+

2008-02-11T22:49:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we took an annual trip with friends to a ski cabin at Trillium lake. As remote as it is (a 1.5 mile hike into the cabin) it still provided many of the comforting features of home. Such items as a Sauna, keg of beer, more food than we knew what to do with, 9 dogs, and a whole host of friends. Weather was great and we all had a blast snowshoeing, XC skiing, and sledding down a hill at totally unsafe speeds.

Also, a little late on the vids, but here's two new ones of the dog:

Xmas gift

Good scratch

Fancy Feast

2007-12-15T21:11:00.001-08:00

The Bert is now eating out of the lap of luxury. I spent a good two months sawing, sanding, bolting, routering, staining and assembling this wonderous marvel of modern times. Behold: No more eating a mere 2" inches from the floor for our dog!

Apparently some barrel-chested dogs can actually get twisted stomachs from inhaling too much air with their food. So this helps Duke not have to "Giraffe" it while he scoffs down his kibble. Took a little getting used to at first, but now I think he actually likes it.

Ok...next project, something for the humans.

Y200K

2007-12-10T21:05:00.000-08:00

She made it. Ole Blue passed 200k earlier this month. A few facts:

73k when I bought her back in 1998.
11,000 miles added summer of 1999.
3 times going coast to coast.
Original clutch.
Go Honda.

Dog of the mountain

2007-10-18T16:29:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Sean, Duke and myself set out on a long roadtrip to Southeastern Oregon to hike in the Strawberry mountain range. Weather was supposed to be amazing everywhere in Oregon so we figured hitting up a nice trail in the desert would be fun.

We left Friday afternoon and got to the town of Prairie City around 5:30pm. After an hour long hike, we settled on a camp spot on a somewhat dodgy terrain. Namely, a 45-degree slope. Clouds were overhead, but no rain was forecast, so we slept outdoors next to a campfire we painstakingly prepared. Lucky for us, ashes kept it going even through the coyote howls about 50 yards away at 3:00 in the morning.

Next day was beautiful and we hiked into high country and up to the 9,038 ft peak. Dog included.

Made some lunch, and found our way back down towards the bottom to Strawberry lake, where amazing views of slide mountain and the lake were ever-present.

Afterwards, breakfast and a beer at the ole' Grubsteak in John Day, and a stop at the painted desert in the Fossil Beds made for good breaks on the long ride home.

Mo' pics here.

A Lil' repair

2007-08-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, so long time no update. I know, I know. But we've been busy doing some house work, trying to make some improvements to the place that have gone undone for literally years.

Take for example the kitchen paint. We just got around to finally painting it the same color we picked out the week we moved in. That and the trim around the big single pane windows in the kitchen that desperately needed painting. Behold....

Before:

During:

And....after:

Now all that's left in the kitchen is to install the concrete countertops, rip up the floor and install radiant floor heat, overlay it with tile to match the adjacent fir floors, and place the faux column to catch the beam separating the kitchen from the brown room. Sigh...look for the 2009 update.

Anyway, let's just cut to the chase and give you (mom) what you REALLY come to this site for....

2 and counting

2007-05-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

He's two!

And he's so tolerant!

Tom came to visit from NY (possibly just to see the dog, and not the owners???) and we celebrated by baking Duke a peanmut butter cake (and by we I really mean Rebecca baked it). The nTom and I took him to the coast for his first trip to the beach in awhile, and a nice long hike in the forest to tire him out. All in all, I think he had a good day...but really had no idea why we were singing to him (click here).

Some pics of the trip are here.

Cabin Deluxe

2007-04-03T15:36:00.000-07:00

Ahh, a weekend away at a friends cabin on the coast. What could be better than that? Well how about if it was uber cheap, and your friends agreed to take the dog as well. A break from the bert? How will we survive....

So we drove to Newport after work on Friday and arrived (albeit after one or ten wrong turns) at the quaint little cabin on the beach. Newport is so close to the coast that only one house separates route 101 from the ocean, and ours was one of those. A cozy wood stove, comfy futon and glass protected back deck were just what we needed.

After grabbing some bar food at the Rogue public house on the waterfront, we experimented with a few non-traditional beers (Chipotle, smoked, etc.) and headed back for a nice rest.

The next morning we laid around the house, made some breakfast, and headed south along 101 to see a few sights.

The first we came to was the Alsea bay interpretive center in Waldport. This place contained the history of the bridges connecting 101 from Astoria down to California. Fascinating to read and see the detail and inginuity that went into connecting route 101 up and down the coast. Read more about Condi (the engineer) here.

Then we headed down to Devil's Churn, a natural formation of carved-out rock that the ocean whips water into and creates a thundering splash. Because We had a delightful conversation with the local hot chocolate vendor that went something like....

Us: When's a good time to see Devil's Churn in full force?
Vendor: Well, the sea has been flat recently but it looks better today. Maybe in a little bit it'll be more active. Gotta watch those sneaker waves though. Gets unsuspecting folks wet every time.
Us: Ha ha ha, those suckers.

Check out footage (in messed up chipmunk voices) of our journey to the mouth of Devil's Churn here.

So yeah, suckers indeed. No matter, we headed back into town and had some wine at a local wine shop and then headed home to get dry and warm by the fire.

That night we ate dinner at an amazing seafood restaurant on the waterfront. Local Ocean has fresh catches daily, and even tells you how they are caught (hook & line, etc.). Full, but still craving some desert type substance, we headed over to the Rogue brewery just in time before it closed to have a chocolate stout and chat with a local moving to Portland. Note to readers, the brewery is way better than the public house, unless you still think max headroom is cool...

The next morning was beautiful and warm. Sad to be leaving, but excited for the nice day ahead, we headed south to see Heceta Head lighthouse along the coast. Well worth the trip. There weren't a lot of people there so we basically got a personal tour of the lighthouse (still in operation) and learned about its history. The park guides were incredibly friendly and answered all our questions. AND we found out you can stay in the B&B right on the path to the lighthouse. Ahem, parents?

We left Heceta head, hit a local sandwich place for some food, and drove north to Yaquina bay to do a hike on the beach from Yaquina bay lighthouse to Yaquina head lighthouse. Unfortunately, 3 miles on the beach was quite a distance and we ended up turning back about 2 miles into it. Ah well, maybe next time.

More trip pics can be found here.

Mt Hood Snowshoein' and other well-loved photos

2007-03-14T22:11:00.000-07:00

After a desperately wrong turn, rescuing a dog in a snow-well, and perfect Fritos and hot cocoa at the resting point where we finally acknowledged, "we really did take a wrong turn and an unnecessarily arduous climb in 15 feet of wet snow" - this is the group only steps from homebase. If the camera could capture it - you'd see a startling view of Mt. Hood at a bright sunset. Note that the dogs are in complete confusion as to where we are going and where to look.

This is Duke's customary station outside the house. He is scouting for squirrels, sitting like a rock until one provokes him into a fruitless run and bark at the fence. The funny part about this is - it's SNOWING! It is never supposed to snow in Portland. You'll see that he made a dent with his tail, sitting there so long.

After too much fun in Yahtzee, we climbed the mountain of denim insulation that took up our entire dining room for weeks. Duke, the adventurer, joins me and Kate in our ungraceful muscle to the top! Actually, Kate looks perfectly poised... wench.

And just cause it's cool - GATOR!!

I bet he's bookin' it for a marshmallow in this photo. mmm big white sugar blob, good for wildlife!

Flaarida

2007-01-30T20:27:00.000-08:00

That's right. After Rebecca's lesson on east coast accents, it was down to Florida to see a wedding, some alligators, Miami nightlife and of course, aunt Jody.

Wedding

Elizabeth and Ian's wedding was beautiful. It was on Ft. Meyers beach and happened right at sunset, just when the light was shining through the clouds. Even though we arrived a hefty hour before the wedding (surprise, you're doing a reading!!) we made it through alive and enjoyed the rest of the day celebrating. Met some old friends from DC, Rebecca got to hang out with good college friends, and basically we danced, ate and drank the night away. Top notch wedding!

Things that happened at the wedding

1. Folks got married.
2. Folks got drunk at reception.
3. Folks decide we need more beer for after party.
4. Everyone gets beer and therefore the afterparty never ends.
5. Amit and Rebecca go swimming at 2:00am while Nick films them burbling the tune of "heart and soul" in the pool. Hilarious.

Everglades

We woke up (blearily) from the wedding and headed out to start our journey through the everglades. Shockingly there are houses going up all over the place. I'm not sure how the old cliche phrase of, "I have some land in the everglades to sell you" became a reality, but believe it. They're building on swamps now.

After a very unsatisfying (and slightly horrifying) supposed eco-tour on a fanboat, we headed to the national park to throw some recycling away and get a real glimpse as to what's happening in the everglades. Read up on it, it's sad but amazing.

Things that happened in the Everglades

1. We took a fanboat tour
2. Our fanboat broke in the middle of nowhere. Well, not really nowhere, there was a gator near by.
3. Our eco-tour guide flicked his cigarette into the water.
4. Fellow eco-tour guides refused to give a marshmallow to the already ADHD child on their boat. Apparently marshmallows were only for the alligators.
5. We didn't get any money back.

Miami Beach
After our Everglades debocle, we hightailed it to Miami beach in search for nightlife and warm beaches. We were not disappointed. The food at Yuca (http://www.yuca.com/) was amazing, and the energy didn't die down throughout the night. It also helped that it was 80° outside most of the day and night.

Things that happened in Miami Beach

1. Nick fantasized about driving a Ferrari and being called Crockett for the night.
2. We saw some kids get busted at a stoplight in the middle of traffic for smoking pot.
3. We ate some of the most amazing food ever.
4. We didn't get Key Lime Pie at the Big Pink. Très décevant.

Melbourne

Ok, off to see Aunt Jody for New Years. The drive up was uneventful (except for experiencing the mega-freeway that goes into and out of Miami. We arrived at Jody's and immediately felt good about being there. Her house is awesome, and she has this great way of making you feel at home immediately. We relaxed, ate some food and enjoyed the tour of her amazing backyard and house. That night we spent some time with Jody on the beach toasting champagne for new years and chatting it up with her friends Judy and Richie.

Next day we woke up and hung around the house while Jody ran some errands. Then we all took a trip to Sebastian inlet (no manatees sighted unfortunately) and enjoyed the day watching the surfers ride the warm water (quite a change from the Pacific). That night we explored Jody's business, got to try out the biomat (more info here: http://www.thebiomat.com) and had a nice, relaxing mexican meal down the road at a local place. Que bueno.

Our next day we woke up late while Jody was at work, and basically read and hung around the house. That afternoon we went to visit a few of her friends houses, including Richie's place to see his amazing home remodel work. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area. Blue, hand-tiled bathroom and a set of skylights in the living room made us just a little jealous that our house was a wreck back in Portland.

The remainder of our trip consisted of chatting and laughing with Jody, reading books, lounging around, and enjoying the sorely missed sunshine and 80° weather.

Things that happened in Melbourne

1. Rebecca passed out numerous times on the biomat.
2. Jody luckily warned us in time not to use the colander under the sink, as that was reserved for gallbladder flushes, and not for pasta as you might think.
3. We stopped at Starbucks twice. I swear, we thought it was our only choice.

Ft. Lauderdale
Our last day in Florida. We visited Jody's neighbor and saw their coy pond, said goodbye to Melbourne, and headed south in pursuit of my old house growing up in Pompano Beach and the sunny beach of Ft. Lauderdale.
We got both and it was a great way to spend the last day rlaxing before hopping the flight back to PDX via Las Vegas at 1 in the morning.
Whew.

New Yawk, New Yawk

2007-01-05T08:53:00.000-08:00

Our holiday journey back east included transportation to or from 6 different airports:
Portland.
JFK.
LaGuardia.
Tampa.
Fort Lauderdale.
Las Vegas.
Portland.

Helloooo Americana. Pics are here.

Memory of New York? The Botanical Garden exhibit featuring building landmarks remodeled on miniature scale out of wholly natural (as opposed to synthetic) materials. A house decorated to the hilt with wreaths, ribbons, candles, lights -- you name it! (O'Neils - we don't have any of your Christmas photos, please send the huge blown up Homer Simpson in the front yard, etc..) A family that rivals my own in decibel levels, cooing over the youngest generation, love and chatter and munching, laughter (cackling?) and plain holiday cheer perhaps fueled by an excellent wine selection (I know my cheer was so fueled).

Nick and I did spend one eventful evening in the City. I guessed correctly on almost ALL features of Nick's best friend James' new girlfriend. That's right, I'm awesome. She is short and dark (check!), dresses trendy and not too cute (ding!), and she works in publishing (ka-ching!). Pitchers of Sangria, then a sobering visit to the WTC site, and a good sit-down with Fred Lin who, contrary to his Hippocratic Oath advised me to take up snowboarding.

We watched Gold-fingaaaaa! to celebrate Christmas day. Mr O'Neil was duly tricked into a goose chase around the house, at the end of which was the spectacular prize of Ale-8 "A Late One," the Kentucky beverage of choice! Kind of sharper, sweeter ginger ale. The absolute best, however, was the clue

O T O G
U F O T

Mr O'Neil asked, "Ot. Og. Oof. Ot. What is this?" We gestured to the mirror, which the clue was hidden behind. Mr. O'Neil, handicapped by my handwriting, asked, "Go to F-you?"

After we finally rose from the floor - which the three of us hit after this question - and gathered our breath, we suggested that he try again.

He consulted the mirror. "Go to-to F-you?" he asked. (If you haven't figured it out, sleuth, think hard and look at the second photo in this series.)

This was New York City. Oh and we went to the Met! (If you ever go to the Met, remember, it is FREE. There is a recommended donation of $20, but they are loaded and you and I are not. So- give what you want, but don't give $20 if you would rather give zip.) We saw Washington Crossing the Delaware - check it out yourself here. The painting is HUGE. The plaque next to the painting advises that there are several historical inaccuracies but nevertheless, the painting was popular in Germany during the Nationalist period. Fascinating Germans.

No ice skating in Central Park, but that's OK it was too warm for the illusion of ice. And no New York Times, which I regret but - who wants more international depressing news over the holidays? Not even me.

We did enjoy wonderful visits with the hostess with the mostess Aunt Mare and the artful, fun Aunt Jacobean. This Kentuckian (Mid-Westerner? Southerner? Non-Yankee?) received a lesson from Jacqueline and Richie on the difference between a New York accent and a Boston accent. Does everyone know this? New Yorkers transfer "O" sounds to an "Aw" sound - so it's New Yawk, oh my Gawd, get me a cawfee, I'd like a glass of wawdder. Bostoners and their environs turn "O" to "Aaa" and "Ar" to - well, "Aaa." So, a sample, "Where'd you paaak the caaa?" and "My Dunkin' Donuts aaan't cooked, they taste raaa." I do not yet sound convincing mimicking this accent, apparently, but I'm getting there, I'm getting there.

We attended a beautiful Midnight Mass at Holy Family, the Priaulx family Catholic church (thank you, O'Neils, for the hugs and the ritual - I will remember it), and an incredible performance of O Holy Night, my mom's favorite.

A very good Christmas. The time flew.

Pumpkin Pull

2006-11-11T12:10:00.000-08:00

Canada! Costumes! Frisbee! Beer at 9AM! All photos of Pumpkin Pull here >>

Buy me some peanuts and craaaacker jacks

2006-11-10T19:19:00.000-08:00

Long overdue - the WORLD SERIES POSTAROONI!
Nick had been buttering up his colleague at work ever since he learned that this guy's wife worked in ticketing for Nike. Once the Cardinals advanced on Thursday, Nick and I were scrutinizing flights and frequent flier miles. By Friday night late we had tickets to Game 3 of the WS, the first game played in St. Louis. (Games 1 and 2 were in Detroit.) By Saturday morning, we had plane tickets to St. Louis.

So on Tuesday morning, we jetted off to St. Louis, arriving at 4:30 among hordes of red-clad men pumping fists and ballgloves in the air. Wake picked us up (while bumpin' to Biggie - total bonus points), took us home, fed us a beer, and packed us onto the train to Busch Stadium.

We were not prepared for the wattage and advertising that awaited us.

As I elbowed small children out of the way, we entered the turnstyles - complimentary Taco Bell ticket necklaces, thanks! - and waddled toward the beer and hot dog stand. Since we spent $zero to get to the Series, we felt completely at ease blowing money on the beer selection, which consisted of: Bud, Bud Light, and Bud Select (whatever that is). I treasured the plastic cup with the Cards emblem on the side.

We climbed and climbed to our top deck seats. I even called my dad to say, "can you see that Bud Light sign embedded in the upper deck? we are 20 feet diagonally up and left from there!" Later I realized that the upper deck is not visible from the television perspective at all. Not even the flyover shots. But - unbeatable view of the arch and later, the F-16s that buzzed the stadium to commence the game. No kidding - we could see the underbelly of the war jets far too clearly, as the afterburner roar rung in our cantilevered deckroof and blotted out the national anthem for a minute or two.

To the game: as many of you know, the Cards CRUSHED. Tigers barely got off a hit or two, Cards had dramatic plays while Tigers flubbed basics. My favorite, catcher Yadier Molina, slammed a few into outerspace. No homers, but some sweet line drives.

But as to what it was like to experience that game?: cold. happy with beer. confused about the uber-patriotism that has enveloped baseball rituals. God Bless America for the seventh inning stretch? American flags, colors, country singers, huge trucks, commercialization of everything with a flat face, John Cougar Mellencamp's new classic that seems to whitewash the dark side of his other famous song about the U.S.A., Pink Houses? (PS. If you ever need to be reminded of the awesomeness of a freezeframe John Cougar punching at the camera in Jack and Diane video, click here.)

At least guys still walked up the stadium steps and sold us roasted peanuts and cracker jacks with toys inside. And some maniac organ player from the local church pounded away at the keys between the innings, during a talk at the mound, whenever = just as a little flutter to fill space and keep our spirits up. We even had the pleasure of sitting in front of some hilarious, drunk guys. We snuck a photo, here on the right. He was making this high-pitched squealing noise as the photo was taken.

As you can see, our seats were far from the action, but with the bright lights we could see the ball well enough to grumble about an ump call at the plate.

And as this guy's high pitched "eeeee" was meant to mean: CARDS ARE #1 BABY!

Boo

2006-10-31T21:19:00.000-08:00

That's right. It's Halloween time. Which means, find whatever old ultimate clothes you can and put them on the dog. Here we see the Bert modeling a vast array of costumes from various tournaments. And yes, the shirt does say Sugar Daddy. Oh yeah.

I think he looks a little like E.T. in this one. Except he's not trying to phone home. He just wants a treat.

Kegerator!

2006-10-15T19:55:00.000-07:00

So apparently spending $35 on Craigslist means that I get a brand spankin-new (circa 1950) Frigidaire refrigerator. A working refrigerator no less. What on earth should I do with this metal piece of pure gold? Why, construct a means for it to dispense beer at my beck and call.

Enter: the Kegerator. (insert ominous music here).

I spent a few weeks taking it apart and repainting it to get rid of the brown color it was previously painted. (Why? I don't know) Weighing in at around 600lbs, she was a brute to get down into the basement. But once there, she fit snuggly beneath the stairs which proved to be the perfect spot for a fridge of her size.

Then I took to drilling holes in the door to fit the tap shanks through, and procuring the used cornelius kegs and CO2 canister to carbonate the beer. In a few weeks, my homebrew would be done and I could put it in a keg and get yummy beer 2 days later. Spectacular.

So I have enough room for at least two kegs, and more if I put the CO2 tank outside. For now though, 10 gallons of beer should hold us over for at least half the football season. Until chili time rolls around....

P.S. - A little tidbit of trivia. Where did Nick get those fancy taps he put on there? Answer: From Marty Doyles where he labored away as a waiter for many summers. The bartender collected taps and gave me these two. Been saving them for over 10 years to use on this thing. Whew! (luckily what I actually have in the kegs is a million times better than what these taps are advertising.)

Big Metal Flower

2006-10-01T18:41:00.000-07:00

The title is the truth. Photos to prove it. Thanks to our professional artist friend Tim, the Clunkmaster, for his intrepid creativity in answering our assignment.
The story behind the pulley based carts: before we had lockers in the present day high school sense, steel mill workers would place possessions like wedding rings and watches in the tray. Using a chain and pulley, they would raise the tray to the ceiling and place a lock on the chain. The height would keep thieves from stealing possessions.

I'm not a flower person, but I think it is perfect for the space. The irony of using, well, iron to build a flower is art to me. Nice work, Tim!

Mt. Jefferson revisited, feat. alpine lakes

2006-09-02T11:09:00.000-07:00

Nick and I took a last minute wilderness trip over Labor Day weekend to the Mt. Jefferson wilderness in Santiam pass, just beyond Detroit Lake (reservoir). The total drive: 2 hours. This is why we live here! We were afraid it would be packed over the weekend, especially with the spot being so close to town. A little uphill effort later, we were in full sight of Mt. Jefferson, swimming in our "own" alpine lake. I claimed several temporary landmasses as SHERMAN ITHSMUS, or SHERMAN SANDBAR, or SHERMAN ISLAND. (Nick tried to claim but I was in boots, he in tennis shoes, and I got the fearless wading jump on him.)

Midday on Saturday, my plan to drive 6+ hours to eastern Oregon was beginning to seem like a bad idea. Nick pulled out his Mt. Jefferson map from his climbing attempt (see post below from Labor Day last year), and we made a call to the Forest Service ranger station. A lot of the wilderness was closed due to fire. (A note: while we were hiking, the views were hazy from the fire's smoke. A local ranger said that the lightning detection equipment they use can pinpoint strike locations within a 1/4 mile (whoa!) and that one was unaccounted for. Originally they thought that unaccounted strike caused the fire, but at the center of the blaze they found a campfire. Listen to Smokey the Bear, people!)

But, they said, you can definitely access the northern 1/3rd. We made a plan: reach Mt. Jefferson Park, a 6000+ elev. suite of natural swimmable alpine lakes with designated campsites and the best close views of Mt. Jefferson around. We packed food and gear in three hours and hit the road. The Willamette valley heat wave dissipated as we drove up to ~4100 feet, losing our catalytic converter on the way. We roared into the parking lot for the trailhead at 7PM, and took the advice of a couple who had enthusiastically been here "nearly 200 times!" about where to camp on the trail, since we would not make it up to Mt. Jefferson Park before dark.After placing 30-40 lbs on my back, we began to climb. BOO. I was not into the 1000 foot elevation gain hiking in the dark for 2 miles as an intro. But, when we reached the ridgeline, excellent campsites were available. Duke managed to freak us out over a late dinner by pointing, hairraising, and growling at something in the woods that seemed to be growling right back at us. We stood up and prepared to shine lights and throw something (while wimpering - because something that's growling at you isn't likely to be easy to scare), but it was only the buzz of a plane engine. It took all of us a while to get used to the planes that regularly flew overhead, the low roar of the engines.

Next morning, we packed up and ascended another 1000 feet. The trail is pretty much exclusively uphill, but the fall colors, occasional streams, and well-maintained trail made the hike feel relaxed. Duke, naturally, was all over the place. Was agility class paying off, or does his tightrope-like walking on angled logs come naturally?

We pressed on. Astonishing views of Mt. Jefferson and the valley floor dotted our climb. The lakes, however, blew us away. We did have a small episode on a treacherous and utterly unnecessary rock scramble, where Duke lost his footing and fell down two boulders, barely hanging on with his front paws. Nick dropped his pack and rescued him, but from that moment forward the pup lost some of his mojo. At our lunch spot, Duke was unwilling to jump into the water, fearing another bad fall. Evidence shown here.

We did not lose our mojo. Finally locating a decent campsite, we broke out the camelback and left our big packs behind. It was only 2PM, and there was a whole park to explore. The ranger says: "just don't walk on the heather, it grows back too slowly." We tromped down hills, to a wildflower heaven called Breitenbush River. We climbed up to Park Lake and had a good swim all to ourselves. We let Duke take a nap, set up camp, and prepared a wonderful dinner, complete with sunset.

Did I mention the temperature was perfect? That our effort was perfectly timed? That we had the right amount of food and gear? Couldn't imagine a more perfect trip. Except that catalytic converter, as we zoomed back to Portland, deafening ourselves.

Duke was pooped - need I say more? Well then how bout a bunch of pics.

El Big Bend

2006-08-22T22:33:00.000-07:00

El fantastico! A trip to the southern border to the magnificent 800,000-acre Big Bend National Park in its rainiest (still less than 3 inches) and least visited month. Wouldn't have it any other way - the park's views were astonishing, the all-night lightning storms were nerve-wracking, and services were well above par. (I wasn't expecting water to be provided, and so we were well stocked.)

Me - on the Rio. To see more photos in big format, go to Whitney's flickr, halfway through the west texas shots >>

Be-fro and After

2006-08-14T22:12:00.000-07:00

So...I didn't cut my hair for 5 months. It was kind of a bet, but everyone seemed to like the Fro and after awhile I got used to using a handful of shampoo every day. As you can see, it got quite massive, and then as the summer dragged on, it got mucho caliente. (That's spanish for blazing inferno).

Finally, on the night of August 4th, Rebecca so happily (reluctantly) trimmed it back to a comfy, cool #4 on the clippers. Now I use a microscopic amount of shampoo each day and it's plenty.

Ahhh. much nicer. I'l ltry to post a pic of the mohawk I had between Exhibit A and B if I can find one that somebody took.

Quick Dog updates

2006-07-28T22:57:00.000-07:00

Been awhile since we had any dog updates, so here are a few pics and vids to keep the fan club back east busy. I'm sure we'll take some more as the summer rolls on and Duke gets into more and more....adventures?

The Spur!

2006-07-04T22:43:00.000-07:00

Problem: It's officially summer, and I haven't been climbing at all. Not good in keeping with my idea of getting better at mountaineering.

Solution: Sean and I head out to Mount hood a day before Beck and I leave for Idaho for a week long rafting trip.

So we did, and it was a looooong climb. The snow on Hood this time of year was really slushy, even before the sun came up. Recent heat waves melted a lot of the snow I thought would stick around until late August.

We got to the trailhead around 10:00 at night and since there was lightening all around the mountain, decided to sleep in the car and get up early to start hiking.

As it turns out, we got little or no rain and the storms somehow steered clear of the mountain. So at 1:00am we started up and by daybreak were on the glacier starting our approach.

The slopes were something close to 55° and pure slush, making it extra long and hard to gain any traction or move efficiently.

It took us until 8:30 to reach the summit ridge and we were extremely exhausted, and not feeling like eating anything at all even though our bodies needed SOMETHING besides beef jerky.

Because the fall line is over a cliff, we decided to backstep down about 2000ft to be safe and then glissade down a safe part of the spur.

Max speed reached on glissade: 19mph

In reality it was more of a freefall than a controlled glissade. There was no self arresting so I was super glad we didn't attempt to simply climb back down the upper section through the chimneys, as a fall there would have meant a long way down the mountain.

Long day, tired shoulders and legs, but good to be on the mountain again. Sean and I decide to relegate spring and perhaps fall to mountains when the snow is better, and leave summer to ultimate and backpacking trips.

Check out some more pics here.

Rogue Wilderness Adventure

2006-06-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

Memorial day weekend usually means someone is getting married. Or having a BBQ. Or a frisbee tournament. But this year, memorial day meant Beck, Duke and I were headed out into the wilderness to backpack for three days for the first time since we moved here almost 2 and a half years ago. Needless to say, the weather report for the weekend showed green (rain) covering the entire pacific northwest. Even in the desert. Lasting all weekend long.

We were determined though, and after some thought over night conditions, (below freezing) elevation, (trails still covered with snow) and distance, (spending 2/3 of the time in a car) we decided on the Rogue wilderness area in southwestern Oregon.

Google maps gave us 6 hours to the trailhead. So off we went on Friday afternoon through the rain, over some very windy mountain roads (some of which were closed due to rockslides...but they don't tell you that until you're a few miles down them) and into a campground near the trailhead for the night.

Saturday morning was cloudy and overcast, but not raining, and so we started out on the trailhead with high hopes of a dry weekend, and nice views of the canyon.

Got on the trail close to 9 and found it amazingingly well kept. Even with 50lb packs on it was easily hiked, and constant breaks kept us motivated to keep going all the way to Blossom bar, approximately 15 miles in from the trailhead.

We decided to camp here as it is the last point on the river that jetboats are allowed on. So from here on out, it was nice and quiet. We got to watch a few folks come down the rapids and cheered them on before taking a rest for the night.

Duke's second experience in the tent was great and he slept at our feet with the sound of the rapids outside all night.

The next morning we woke up and decided to do a day hike rather than pack everything up and mosey on up to Marial. So we packed a lunch, camelback, and a camera and headed up to Marial to visit the historic ranch and do some relaxed hiking through the canyon.

Similar to the other areas we already saw in the wilderness, Mule canyon was incredible. It's steep, narrow, and jagged. And watching boaters navigate the churning waters near coffee pot is really cool to see. Alas, no one tipped.

We visited the lodge and read stories of crazy river settlers and their kids, and then took a relaxing hike up towards Buck point. Unfortunately we were tired, it was hot, and pushing on to Buck point would mean getting back to camp much later than we wanted, so we ate lunch and decided to head back.

By the time we got back it was 4:00 and we quickly packed everything up and started hiking back to Brushy bar to revisit with our friends at the forest service cabin that we met the day before. They offered us a space to pitch a tent even though their camp was full, and after a quick meal and some cleanup, we were off to sleep again. (Note to self: They have the best job ever. Maintain the trail, get all your supplies boated in, and spend the summer months secluded in the woods with only hikers and animals to interact with. Hellooooo retirement dream.)

The cool thing about Brushy Bar is it's in a dense forest and isolated from the trail. The bad thing is bears are ever present. So having Duke wake us up at 2am growling at something outside the tent was not the most reassuring of feelings. Either way, no bears got our packs so we were fine.
We packed up, and hiked out a few hours later on a beautifully sunny day. See, weather in the NW is witch science afterall! Rain. Pshaw.

Check out more photos here.

Arkan-Sass

2006-06-05T22:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Arkansas. After a bruising sleep on the floor of the Dallas-Fort Worth airport from 5AM to 8AM, we arrived in sunny Little Rock. I will never forget my parents' utter astonishment at paying 50 cents for the airport parking. (What costs 50 cents?) I immediately dragged everyone to a corner of Little Rock with a bakery I'd read about - a European bakery inside a Kroger's, right next to the Kroger's bakery - for some breakfast.

My cousin's wedding was the couple's personal creation, making the affair touching, familiar, welcoming, and fun. Maybe it was my baby cousin's red face or just the bride's father's kareoked belting. Maybe it was the several glasses of wine, which slowed me down by 1am but not my family, who yakked it up in the hotel until at least 4am. (Grandma, we missed you.)

Lesson 1: you cannot recycle a THING in Little Rock.
Lesson 2: there is much skepticism around whether the ivory billed woodpecker truly exists in Brinkley AR
Lesson 3: "Petit Jean" is pronounced "pettyjohn."

Jenny, Nick and I headed up to Petit Jean State Park, a beautiful spot on a hill you can see for miles, in what the locals call "the mountains." Here's Jenny, looking out into the flattest mountains ever.

We took what was described on paper and a huge red sign as a rigorous hike warning WARNING, but didn't find much to twist an ankle on, let alone get us out of breath.

Naturally we disobeyed the caution and the prohibition. The sight at the end of the tunnel was worth it - a durn pretty waterfall. We soaked in it. How could you resist?

From there we booked it down to Hot Springs, pausing only to stare at rock collection that was difficult to pass up. In Hot Springs, our Happy Hollow Motel had all the amenities we needed. Nick had his hair straightened. Would you look at that?!

The next morning, we toured old bathhouses. This is my favorite piece of decadence, a window, next to an extreme oddity, chiropody.

Legal Age for Flyball

2006-05-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

He's 1 year old!

And he's grown incredibly smart since we picked him up from the pound a mere 4 months ago. Besides taking over our blog and lives somewhat, he's picked up a few tricks along the way. Let's recap shall we?

Sit
Wait
Up (kind of came with this one already)
Low Ten (parental favorite)
Lay Down
Roll Over

Now, things he just won't shake the habit of that we're hoping by the time he's 2 will be gone:

Chewing books, mostly the expensive and rare ones
Chasing squirrels, whatever the cost
Shedding (c'monnnnn perma-fur coat)
Jumping up to greet people

So what's next for the bert? Well, how about getting him into agility classes so he can learn to catch a frisbee better (at all) and maybe flyball with his friend Ho-D. Backpacking is soon to be on the agenda. Maybe next year he'll come mountaineering....maybe.

Happy B-day Duke! Here's some peanut butter for you to lick off a knife!

Here's a vid of him opening his gift from Grandma.

(Grandma always buys him the best gifts.)

Some vids of him swimming at 10,000 acres can be found here and here.

Raised Beds, and bonus action shots

2006-04-26T23:39:00.000-07:00

Finally finally, after a month of prep, we got the raised beds together and veggies planted. I came across this nice design a few months ago on the web and thought, "Gee, that would be great to do in our yard." So I immediately went out and got all the supplies I needed. Then I immediately went back out and got all the supplies I forgot the first time around, as well as a few new bits for the router. Since I don't have a table saw, (ahem) I used the router to cut dato edges and grooves in the top portions of the posts. Also had to use a chisel (I'm not very good at that) to "round" the edge of each 2x6 to fit in the grooved notches in the corner posts. The design is solid though, and the boards won't bow by doing it this way. Ambitious project? Maybe, but in the end, I got to use every power tool in my posession to make these things. So at least I can justify having 5 different saws. Go me!

Overall we think they came out really nice. But it was a serious effort to get them constructed. It took us a half day just to assemble the pieces, and then the other half to move the "NEVER DWINDLING MOUNTAIN OF DIRT" we had delivered. Using a wheelbarrow to transport dirt from the curb to the backyard entailed trudging up a hill, over the patio, up some steps and over the stones. Two days later though, we were planting veggies and admiring the views of the newly renovated backyard. Here are some pics. And yes, that's sun you see in the background. Who knew.

Uh yeah, that's not going anywhere anytime soon.

A man, his dog, (obviously being blinded by the sun) and 3 cubic yards of dirt

The beds, and a very tired pooch (tired from waiting around for us to finish building these things)

Close-up view of what's in store for the summer. We've got eggplant, broccoli, scallions, endive, spinach, peppers, herbs, and lettuce heads a'growing. We'll add tomatoes, tomatillos, strawberries, cantaloupe and potatoes to more raised beds on the other side of the house. Needless to say, we should eat well all summer long. Now, if only I could grow burgers....

And now, some action shots of the bert in flight.

Please notice the disc is at least 15 feet away from his mouth and the direction he chose to jump. Sigh, we have so much to work on.

After quickly changing in a phonebooth, he's off to save the day! Or chew on some plastic recycling, either or. Maybe we should have named him Elsie for those ears?

AKA

2006-04-26T21:24:00.000-07:00

Gratuitous pictures of Duke, AKA Poopsie, AKA The Bert. Let me give you a sense of when which name applies:

This is clearly Poopsie.

The Bert.

His Duke.

Dog update for Grandma

2006-03-28T20:07:00.000-08:00

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

2006-03-28T19:42:00.000-08:00

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

2006-03-18T19:56:00.000-08:00

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

2006-03-13T19:21:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-03-06T00:26:00.000-08:00

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!

Guess what? More dog

2006-02-04T22:34:00.000-08:00

ok, so he's taken over more than a fair portion of our lives. And the home repair is slowing to a crawl, but we're still working on it...sort of. I realize the last three posts have all been dog-centered, so we'll mix it up a bit next time.

We took him snowshoeing again for the third weekend in a row. He's still passed out as I type this, 5 hours after we got home. Unfortunately I think he wakes up every day hoping we're off to the mountain. But alas, it's crate time more often than not.

Updated the snowshoe pics with our Trillium Lake hike we did today. It was really windy and snowing in our faces almost the entire time. Still, it was nice to be outdoors and not in rain. We broke the record for rainfall in January last week (woohoo?) so hoping February brings us some more sun. Anyway, check out some pics here.

**Bonus video clip of Duke trying to retrieve a bone from a Holee Roller ball. Hilarity ensues here.

Winter Wonderpup

2006-01-16T20:51:00.000-08:00

First time in the snow, and he absolutely loves it. Hooray! I thought he would be tired out and cold after a few minutes, but 2 hours later he was still going strong. Snowshoing around Hood is awesome and if we wanted to, we could go most of the day without seeing anyone else. Duke of course, greeted everyone he saw like they were the first humans he had come across in ages. Check out a video of him here.

And of course, we took pics.

And yes, that's a stopsign at the beginning of the video. Can we say moneymaker for the mountain this year? Cha-ching!

d.u.k.e.

2006-01-06T16:41:00.000-08:00

he's here. and he's already stolen my boyfriend.

more scandalous pics here

And this is where bourbon comes from, son.

2005-12-28T16:25:00.000-08:00

Our visit to Woodford Reserve distillery in Woodford County, Kentucky in the heart of horse country....

...and of burnt-out old bourbon distilleries from before Prohibition.

Scooby-Doo moment: we were told a man would come and chase us if we got out of the car, so Nick took pictures from a moving vehicle.

Christmas Time, is hereeee...

2005-12-25T15:54:00.000-08:00

Nick and I took off for balmier places to spend our Christmas together: Kentucky. Credit for capturing the ultimate Hess Christmas experience goes to my cousin, Jeremy.

Bob fixes us a cosmo.

Talia gets a Rudy ride. I used to get these when I was her size.

Grandma Rosie does a duck-dance hello.

My new nephew Benjamin gets a sad look as his pops holds him and bourbon up.

The folks: Rudy, John, Bob, G-ma, Maman, and Mike (Yankees lover!).

Black and Blue...and well, Sage Green too

2005-11-28T19:39:00.000-08:00

Holy house repair Batman, we've been lacking on posting. These past few months have seen a flurry of house activity, since ultimate is done for the season and the weather is not so hot for camping, we actually have weekends to do...well, work. Yay? Anyway, we've accomplished the following during the spare time we've had:

- Added a top piece to the baseboard in the dining room (and soon the living room) to make it more than a mere block of wood.
- Painted the dining room the color we wanted, steel blue-y.
- Ripped down the wallpaper in the inerstitial hallway and painted it a slightly lighter brown than the filbert room.
- Tore off the front door frame, sanded, stripped, primed and painted the door black, cut new trim and frame moulding and re-installed it. Whew.
- Re-hung the front door and bathroom door with some fancy hinges from Rejuvination. (Expensivo)
- Created a doorbell out of a door knob plate that works with a piece of a doorbell we found at Rejuvination. (Thank you Dremel)
- Took a nap. Actually several of them.
- Made our heat bill skyrocket with the unfinished job on the front door. Hellooooo weatherstripping.
- Pruned the rosebushes back for winter (and by pruned I mean, decimated)
- Poured concrete overlay onto the crappy existing concrete sidewalk on the side of the house and embedded blue tiles in the top layer.
-Painted the living room Sage/Moss green thus eliminating all traces of what I like to call tuberculosis yellow from our house.
- Came up with 14 other projects to do...oi.

As with all the above projects, we thought, "Saturday...maybe Sunday tops to do it" and a week later we were still working on it. An onion house for sure. But it's nice to get some small victories done and feel like you're actually making progress. Plus, painting rooms means you can hang things in them now, which we've been holding off on doing until the walls were done. Now we're in the furniture buying frenzy mode of making the place comfortable to live in.

James is coming into town next week and I'll try to sucker...I mean, encourage him into helping us build a faux beam and column to separate the living room and dining room colors. Look for the future post of, "two men, one saw, so few fingers."

In the meantime, check out some more repair pics here.

Regionals!

2005-10-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

This post is long overdue. Our ultimate team made it to Regionals this year down in Palo Alto, CA. Being one of the top three teams in our section was sweet, especially since this was our first year playing together. Plus, our team's goal was to have fun this season and it just turned out that we were good enough to go.

So after months of practicing, travelling, and strategizing galore, we qualified for regionals and decided to take the trip to CA. I won't lie, it's pretty cool to get on board a plane witha group of friends all going to play ultimate in another state. Kind of like a gang, but without all the tattoos.

Some pics to check out:

Nick enjoying the non-stop action.

Beck enjoying Nick's hat. And the fact that is was currently raining up a storm in Portland, but sunny and 70° down in Cali.

Pretty fantastico!

A couple of other shots can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96718142@N00/sets/1470280/

Oh Deschute!

2005-09-18T22:32:00.000-07:00

So American Rivers has their annual river trip which Rebecca gets invited on, (cause she rocks) and thusly, so do I. Which is very lucky for me, as these river trips not only are stacked with cool people who know a ton about the river, surrounding environment and proper paddling behavior, but also they pack a fantastic array of meals each and every day.

I do love the food, as does Rebecca as we can see below:

This year they chose the Deschutes river to do a 4-day rafting/kayacking/paddling trip down. Unlike last year, (which was on the John Day and required 4 days of paddling against headwinds, using a groover, and covering major nautical distances) this year's trip was going to be mellow and relaxing.

Luckily, there was never a shortage of good booze.

Beck and the river....and the steel reserve. Classy.

Red Door! Red Door!

2005-09-06T00:05:00.000-07:00

Finally, after two weeks or scraping, sanding, hammering, and painting, the back door, (including doggie door and all) is back up and lookin' good. Check it out. Our most prized accomplishment yet...and it's a door.

Men, 0...Mountain, 1

2005-09-05T23:37:00.000-07:00

3-day weekends are rare. Even more rare is a 3-day weekend where I'm actually around to do something. This Labor day, while Beck went back home to visit friends, folks, and farms, I went climbing with Sean out in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness. The plan was hatched early on in the week to go climbing. And, at about 5:00 PM on Friday, we finally decided where to go. Mt. Jefferson. Beers and steak all around.

So a little history on Mt. Jefferson. It's the oldest mountain in the cascades, (a little foreshadowing) it tops out at 10, 497ft, and it has been described as the hardest of the Oregon cascades to summit. So our plan was to see how close we could get, and summiting was a goal, but realizing that the crux of the climb entailed a steep traverse at around 10,000ft, we decided that if we got close to the top, we'd be happy.

Up and out the door at around 6:15. The road into Jefferson is beautiful, with old growth all around, and nice little towns along the way. A quick stop in at the ranger station gives us the bad news that all permits to enter the Pamelia lake trailhead are gone, and we can't park and/or even hike there. Limited entry point. So we decide on Woodpecker Ridge, which adds about a mile to our hike. Hike in was pretty nice. Good mix of uphill and downhill, and a beautiful day to be outside. We get to Milk Creek on the PCT and are told by some dudes washing in the river that the way up the mountain is just along the left bank. We take their advice....I don't know why.

The Jefferson topo map we bought showed the trail directly in the creek. Now, I don't know if that was the actual trail or not, but if it is, ho boy is that ridiculous. The river is basically a bed of debris, and steep slopes on either side make traversing alongside it a real challenge. We have to scale a few waterfalls, (utilizing our new buddy system of skills...namely, "give me a boost and I'll get the pack up") and use our trusty ice axe, (more words of endearment on equipment later) and finally make it up to the glacier...or what we think is the glacier.

Since snow this time of the year is rare, most of the glacier has receded way up to about 8,500ft, and only some leftover melting snow and ice is left for us to walk on. Crevasses are all abundant, but the potential fall is only a few feet to the rocks below so we're not too worried (not like falling into a bergschrund and not knowing where it ends). The rest of the trek is along the loosest rock ever. I really don't know how this mountain is still standing. Every step knocks down debris and the traverses, (god help you if you have to traverse as much as we did) are steep, loose, and annoyingly long. Nonetheless, it's beautiful out and we're doing fine on time.

Around 6:00 we end up making camp at about 8,000ft on a beautiful bluf and take in the views in between passing clouds. It's pretty cool to watch the clouds come into the valley below us and then receded again.

We fool around with the cameras, make some Tasty Bites, (a product you should buy stock in for sure if you're a backpacker) and settle in around 11:00. Sean spots some hikers descending on the next ridge at around 10:30 which is freaking late to be descending, especially this loose piece of rock. We flash a headlamp in case they're in trouble to know there is help nearby. Of course by help I mean, we have some tasty bites and bandaids we could lend them at most. Don't know what exactly we could have done if they were in bad shape, but figured it's comforting to know you're not alone.

Speaking of not alone, luckily no goats buzzed our tent this time, although wind and rocks up at that elevation make sleeping a bit unnerving. At one point you could hear a huge gust of wind coming and we quickly opened up all the doors to try to keep our tent from becoming a kite. Good times.

The next morning is beautiful and we start our hike up to see what is the highest point we can get to. The summit is not possible by this time, so we get as high as we can, (around 9,000 ft) and eat some lunch...all the while swatting bees (alpine bees?).

Getting back is a lesson in bushwhacking, and after deciding to take a different ridge line back down, we stumble on a trail that looks like it COULD be the milk creek trail we thought we were on coming up. It's to the left of the creek (if you're heading up) and it follows a dry creek bed and is much easier for navigating. Getting to the end is a sweet sight and the water feels so good.

As we get out we see a trail marker right at the point where we met those dudes the day before. Lesson learned. Should have asked them more about the trail because I'm sure the conversation would have gone something like,

Dude: This is the trail to the summit right through here.
Me: Really? How is it? Doable without crampons and such?
Dude: Uh, well I don't really know becuase I haven't acutally gone up but I was....
Me: Uh thanks. How about I look at the map and see if you're even close.... ok, and you're not.

All in all a great weekend and a real good experience even though we didn't make the summit. My ice axe has become the best purchase I've made so far. There were many occasions on this trip where I couldn't have gone a step further without it. Well worth the money. I hope I can say the same when I finally drop the big bucks on tele boots.

Check out more pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/96718142@N00/sets/897413/

Nancy gets married.

2005-09-04T21:20:00.000-07:00

and Whitney takes a picture of Porter and me. Pretty day on the Ohio.

Hammock - it's that comfortable

2005-08-29T22:24:00.000-07:00

See Nick's legs dropping from the hammock's edge.

Favorite Frisbee Pictures

2005-08-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

Lower Salmon R in Idaho: rugged but hospitable

2005-07-29T21:39:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of my job and the relative cheapness of hitting the river for a meeting instead of hitting the conference room, a group of river rats took to the Lower Salmon. Me included - paddling on the duckie (a formal name for it is an IK - inflatable kayak), rowing in a cataraft, or dunking my head off the oarboat. And yes! We did have a meeting!

The rock is exposed at the river, and according to a geology brochure distributed by the Forest Service, there are two distinct classes of rock exhibited on the Lower Salmon. One is the basalt shafts pictured here behind Kevin and John, formed from the geologically recent Columbia/Snake River lava flows. (You can also see evidence of the scouring floods that hurtled down the Salmon River corridor when Lake Missoula's ice dam released incomprehensively large floods that molded the entire eastern half of Washington into rolling hills.) The other type is an ancient, exotic rock that migrated east 200 million years ago from the Aleutian Islands area, "slamming" into the western rim of the continent and pushing inland. It marks a major fault line in the earth's crust. Seven Devils Mountains in Idaho is composed of this material - gives 'em that spooky dark look.

Volcanic Eruption!...and then food

2005-07-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

It's 10:00AM on Saturday. Natalie calls. We're going hiking in Mt. St. Helens. Meet at Winchel's donuts and head up together. Deal.

I have postponed my Adams climb because my leg is not feeling so good. So what better way to heal than...go hiking. By 12:00 Rebecca and I are at the donut place, ordering a'plenty. The drive up is very scenic and the day is perfect for hiking; crisp, cool, low humidity, all the things I like in a day.

We get to Johnson ridge and are treated to a new view of the lava dome, with clouds of steam emenating from it.
Apparently it just experienced a 3.1 earthquake an hour before we arrived. At its current rate, it will completely rebuild itself in 42 years.

Science geeks everywhere rejoice.

After a few moments inside the observatory, a viewing of the movie, and a look at the seismographs recording the recent activity, we head out for some hiking.

The trail was a short one; down to a viewpoint of the mountain and back to the observatory. Just around 4 miles total, but plenty for us to take in view after view of the valley below.

On the left is the valley floor and the remnants of the Toutle river, where pyroclastic flows (coolest word ever) tore through the valley and erradicated the landscape around the river. There used to be a forest all throughout the valley.

Overlooking Spirit lake with a view of Mt. Adams, where some friends were climbing that very day. There are still dead trees floating in the lake, which is a few hundred feet higher than it was before the 1980 eruption that filled the 150ft deep lake with debris.

After our short hike we ate some food, converted Brady and Natalie to buy Trader Joes peanut butter filled pretzels as soon as they got back to PDX, and headed down to the hummoks, which are giant debris piles of mountain left on the valley floor after the eruption.

The hummoks trail was interesting mainly because a completely new forest was growing out of this barren landscape. Near creeks and streams flowing into the Toutle, trees and moss were plentiful. A good sign the forest is regenerating itself. Along the trail you can see huge piles of debris, some with tree trunks sticking vertically out of them.

After the hiking, and a coyote sighting on the way back, we stopped and ate tons of food at the local diner. Sorry, no pictures of the huckleberry cobbler.

Champoeg is the birthplace of Oregon politics. It is pronounced "sham-POO-ee."

2005-07-09T22:31:00.000-07:00

on Saturday, Nick and I took our friends' dogs Blondie and Osito to Champoeg State Park. this historical park was lovely, right on the river, and was established to commemorate two events:

(1) the 1843 vote of 52-50 to organize the Oregon territory under America instead of maintaining a commercial quasi-independence under the British Hudson's Bay Company (want to know more? it's fascinating);

(2) the destruction of the entire town of Champoeg - named after a Native American word for a root? - by a Willamette River flood. the plain where the town stood is flat, with posts to mark the old streets. eerie.

a miracle: i put a bag with my wallet, nick's wallet, the cell phone, and other dear and important items on top of the car when we left the park. in the hubbub with the dogs, we drove at least 15 miles of backroads and some major roads and managed NOT to lose the bag. it was heavy enough to stay put? or maybe the bike rack frame fenced it in? whatever it was, we did a jig and a prayer when we discovered the bag on top of the car in the parking lot of Pasquale's.

we waited outside Pasquale's in Newberg (thanks for the fantastic veggie pizza), playing our new Oregon Trail trivia game in the parking lot. if you remember the ancient computer game Oregon Trail, this game will bring back some really confusing memories as your mind tries to make its 4th grade computer truths ("never ford the big rivers to keep the kids alive!") compatible with its adult knowledge of western history. i will give $10 to the person who can tell me what place on the Trail was the most mentioned in pioneer diaries.

Read a couple nerdy love-y memories about the electronic Oregon Trail (one, two).

the pizza was a 100% necessary prerequisite for the ultimate destination: the 99W drive in! Kentucky's drive-ins have nothing to fear from this tiny setup, but the popcorn - and admission, for that matter - is still half the price of an indoor movie theater. the spirit of the drive-in owner, who got on the mike to cajole us to the concession stand, to remind us of a midnight showing of willy wonka next week, or to mother us into our best exiting behavior - he was the most endearing part of the experience.

Osito uses his wicking tongue for drag when he runs.

Blondie has one of the most beguiling grins I've ever seen on a dog.

Up Up and...back down again

2005-06-23T16:48:00.000-07:00

After months of prep, dodging bad weather, and coordinating schedules, Sean, Ben and Nick finally made the push to summit Mt. Hood. (super detailed page about the mountain here) I'd like to say we made record time, and were ready to face anything the mountain threw at us, but in reality we took forever and slept for 15 hours the next day. I passed out no less than 37 times on the ride home. Not a hard climb technically, but after no sleep and a hectic work week, my body wasn't quite as ready as I had hoped.

Conditions were amazing and we summited around 8:00 after getting a late start and slogging up in the dark next to ski lifts, while sno-cats buzzed us every so often. Our reward, (other than sulfer smells up until 10,000ft) was a fantastic view at the top of the entire valley, including Mt. Adams, Rainier, and a smokin' St. Helens. Well worth the trip.

Check out the adventure pics here.

My niece is better than your niece.

2005-06-10T23:23:00.000-07:00

I am the last person to point out a cute baby, since most of them frankly are ugly things. My niece Talia has been beautiful from her earliest morning, with the smarts and positively fun disposition to match. Top this.

Nick meets the Enchantments

2005-06-01T22:47:00.000-07:00

After a trip to the desert concert Sasquatch, Nick and Sean scaled Mt. Dangertoothtailpeak. They hit a goat, a glacier, and a gdarn good time.

After traveling through the strictly Bavarian town of Leavenworth, (weird...just plain weird) we arrived at the Enchanted Lakes wilderness area trailhead and started our trek to the 5,400 ft campsite at Colchuck lake. The weather was beautiful but some cloud cover was coming in. We got to the campsite around 6:00, (after hiking since 11:30) and just managed to set the tent up before it started hailing. Kids and older folk were heading back at about the same time we were setting up, which means they got a face full of hail, wind and rain for about 2 hours. Proceeded to pass out and not wake up until the next morning at 6:00. No space age indian food in a bag for us till tomorrow.

Hike up in the morning was fantastic. Saw a majestic mountain goat in the morning, and made our way up colchuck glacier before the sun was out. Then a traverse over to dragontail just as the snow was starting to warm up. An 80Â° day made hiking in leather boots and a base layer just perfect. Plus it protected my body from serious sunburn. (My neck was not so lucky however, as I discovered the next day in the shower.)

Sean kicked steps all the way up a 55Â° slope and we made our way to the peak to enjoy some lunch overlooking the frozen lakes, Mt. Stewart and the entire valley (able to see Mt. Glacier eclipsing the view).

Getting back was long, but shrink wrapped indian dinner, cookies, and pringles made the whole slog downhill worthwhile. Later we were treated to that same mountain goat eating a bush where we (accidentally) peed on earlier. Note to self, do not pee near camp ever again, as the goat returned over and over for a taste of the sweet, sweet urine. Mmm.

Long drive home from Washington, but worth the trip to see the Enchantment wilderness.

Check out more photos here.

Green Green Everywhere!

2005-04-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

It's finally done!!! Well almost. After a month of sanding, painting and curs...I mean, cutting molding, we finished the green guest bedroom and it looks be-u-tiful. Check it out:

We are here!

2005-03-20T23:41:00.000-08:00

We have moved into our new place in Portland, 5417 SE 45th Avenue. Once the hottub is cranked up, we'll be in heaven. Come visit!