And I would walk 5xx miles . . .

I've always liked I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers. I think it has something to do with the accent. Anyway, even though I think I walked 500 miles today and I would not walk 500 more I would consider hiking the 5.2 miles Jeff and I hiked today some other time.

We decided to go see Multnomah Falls today since it appears that for the foreseeable future we're going to have a good chance of rain every day. I think this means it's winter in Oregon. Or the rainy season. *sigh* :( I'm not very excited about that since near as I can tell the only good thing about a rainy day is taking a nap. And while I'm a huge fan of naps I don't think I need one every single day from October until whenever spring and sunshine come back to Oregon.

Anyway, back to Multnomah. It was a fun day. We saw lots of nifty things. We started at the Return Trail and hiked our way to Wahkeena Falls. On our way, we saw:

These adorable little purple flowers.


This really neat wall of moss that has water trickling down it. Even though it was gray and overcast the wall just sparkled in the light. Next time we go back, we're going to have a new pretty camera that takes better pictures so you can see it. As it is, pretend it's a wall that looks like Edward (or any of his family members) in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series.


Smurf houses! I assume next time we go back I'll actually be able to see the Smurfs in the houses with the new SLR camera we decide on.


And then we saw the Wahkeena Falls.


Then we hiked some more. And saw the Fairy Falls. Can you believe there's not a Wikipedia article about them? They were my favorite falls! And our camera seems to be on it's deathbed and is convinced that all batteries are dead, even if they're brand new so we didn't get a picture of them. Shortly after the Wahkeena Falls our camera died. That left us with pictures taken on our Blackberries. We figured they'd be scary, so we didn't take too many with them. And unfortunately they're not worth posting. :(

Next time I'll listen to Jeff when he suggests being conservative about taking pictures because we still have over 4 miles remaining on our 5.2 mile hike.

The rest of the hike was beautiful. The Wahkeena Springs were fairly unexciting. I was expecting water bubbling up from underground and it was just running out of the ground. There's no Wiki article about those, either. So I'll leave the googling of pictures up to you. On our downhill walk, we saw Ecola Falls which were neat and Weisendanger Falls. And seriously, what is up with Wikipedia?! You'll have to google them yourself, too. They were both gorgeous waterfalls.

At the bottom we finally saw Multnomah Falls, which were kind of the least exciting in my mind. They're very tall. And they're hard to photograph because they're so tall. They have a bridge that goes over the break between the upper and lower falls that is really cool. And at the bottom they have this fantastic little lodge (we're ignoring that I'm slightly miffed that it can be called a lodge but doesn't have rooms to stay overnight in) that has the most amazing smoked salmon fetuccini I have ever had in my life (well, technically it's tied with the crab fetuccini I had in Rapid City, SD when we were driving through there on vacation a million years ago).

Everybody needs to come visit us. My Uncle J did! He stopped by last night and took Jeff and I out for dinner. It was awesome to see him and we had a really good time. Summit performed her tricks and galloped like a horse through the living room. Food was excellent. Stories were amusing. There's plenty of Oregon to share!

Mount Hood Revisited

So Jeff and I decided when we were at Mt. Hood with the Amazing Lady the week before last that we needed to go back and hike on some of the trails. Today was perfect weather for it, so we did.

We tried to hike the Zig Zag Canyon Overlook trail, but it seemed to be MIA. Either that or we just couldn't find the darn thing. And after hiking up a really, really big hill (otherwise known as the side of Mt. Hood) I wasn't willing to walk back up that really, really big hill (aka the side of Mt. Hood). Especially since it was pretty warm out. We did get a couple pictures of Mt. Hood above the treeline which was cool. And we also saw snow which made me happy (it was closer than on Mt. Hood, we had to step over a patch).


Here's a view from above the Timberline Lodge. The mountain that you can faintly see is Mount Jefferson. No, it's not named after Jeff even though people call him Jefferson. But we like to pretend that it is.


We drove back down and did the Mirror Lake Hike which was very pretty. It was a much cooler hike and had some beautiful foliage. Mirror Lake isn't nearly as cool as Trillium Lake for reflecting Mt. Hood purposes, but it was pretty good. Here's me on the way with some pretty trees.


Here's Jeff at Mirror Lake with Mount Hood reflecting nicely in the water.

And here's a craggly cliffy thing that looks way cooler reflecting than any of the pictures we got of Mt. Hood reflecting. Really, Trillium Lake seems to be the best for that.

On our way home we found a BBQ place and man did that hit the spot. It's been a long while since we've had real BBQ. It just didn't seem to exist in Boston. The last good BBQ we had was in Ames at Bufford's. And before that it would have been in Ames at Hickory Park. Oh how I love Hickory Park. Their BBQ is great and their dessert menu? Well let's just say that it's an entire placemat. And it's aaaaallllll ice cream. How can you go wrong with that?

Monsta Tricks

Here are Summit & Mitzie doing their tricks. Please excuse the penguin pajamas, glasses and hair, thanks in advance! :)



(Mitzie doesn't shake. She's a germ-o-phobe or something.)

I'm a legal OR driver!

Jeff and I went to the DMV last week to get our driver's licenses. I was surprised how quickly everything went. And goodness the people were so nice! I've never meet such cheerful, happy, chatty people at the DMV before. Our licenses showed up in the mail, so now we don't have to carry around our ugly paper copies. I still look like a felon in mine, which I'm pretty sad about. I've never had a bad license picture taken before. The lady who took the pictures told everyone else to smile, but she didn't tell me to. :( But it's better in color on the license than the paper copy. And no, I'm not posting a picture. So stop asking! :)

It was cold and chilly and foggy and rainy this morning. So Jeff and I decided to walk to the grocery store to pick up stuff for chili (because my Uncle was posting about making chili and it sounded fantastic for such a dreary day). And now (well sort of - the sun is setting) it's bright and sunny and warm out. But we're still having chili and it smells a.m.a.z.i.n.g. in here! We found some corn chips sorta like Fritos (our store is kind of Whole Foods like and doesn't carry many main-stream brands) and got some Tilamook Extra-Sharp Cheddar to put on top. Life is good!

So what'd *you* do today?

Because I bet it wasn't nearly as cool as what I got to do today! :) Let me tell you about it as I unwind with a glass of white wine.

This morning Jeff and I headed into Portland to pick up the Amazing Lady from her conference. We decided to get lunch, and her hotel (the Ace Hotel which gets rave reviews from her, by the way)was in the Pearl District which has amazing food everywhere you go. Since it was near her hotel we settled on Kenny & Zuke's. The Amazing Lady had latkes that looked amazing. Jeff had a burger and I had a pastrami and egg salad sandwich which was incredible.

Then, we headed out of Portland to see Mt. Hood. We had high hopes of getting to watch salmon swim up river, but it was not something we saw. Doesn't that sound like a fun thing to do? Isn't the description of the dam and the viewing windows interesting? I don't know if we were in the wrong spot, but we saw a big area with some sturgeon in it. Which was neat, because they were huge. And we saw salmon. But they weren't swimming in the river, they were in tanks. And the tanks were crowded. And the tanks at the bottom? Yeah, they had nice concrete and wooden doors that they kept jumping into and slamming their heads on, in addition to a metal ladder that clanged loudly when they hit their lil' heads. :( It was not the highlight of the day.

While we were there, though, we got to see part of the Oregon Trail. Jeff died of dysentery, which is why he isn't in the picture with the Amazing Lady and me (he has a shirt that proves it!). And though I don't look sad about it please realize that Jeff dying of dysentery would break my heart. So we kept driving along, and eventually we saw this: Mount Hood in the distance! And yes, we made Jeff pull over so we could get our first mountain picture of the day. But wait! It gets better! A little bit down the road, we saw the sign for Trillium Lake which seemed like it would be promising. So after bumping along on a scary road that gave me a quick panic attack we found Trillium Lake. And it was so much better than we thought it would be. I mean look! It's just like the Wikipedia picture! Isn't it the prettiest natural thing you've ever seen (please note that I'm ignoring the fact that the Wikipedia article just pointed out that the lake was man made in the 60s - I prefer to think that it's a natural reflecting-the-mountain-pool rather than a man made one). And hey, check this out! Maybe Jeff didn't die from dysentery after all! I think that's excellent news, don't you? After that, we headed back to town. We made good time driving through the mountains, so we were back in Portland earlier than expected. So we detoured home, went out to eat, and then dropped the Amazing Lady off at the airport.

And now I'm unwinding with a glass of wine (that is not very good, unfortunately). And I need to feed the monstas. And pass out. Because I'm exhausted from my awesome day!

Wa, Kei, Sei, Jyaku

So Jeff and I have had a busy couple of days. :)

Tuesday we went to the zoo. They're trying to pass a bond to do some updates on it, and it does need it. Some of the exhibits are 50 years old or more and could use some work. The sea lions were awesome. They'd swim right by and stare at you. And the sea otters were adorable. The highlight of the day was their baby elephant named Samudra that's about 2 months old. He is the cutest, funniest little guy. We also saw some baby Warthogs and a couple of fat Meercats.



See? A little tubby. Totally not like the ones on Animal Planet's Meerkat Manor. Oh! And there's a fudge shop in the gift shop. And it is fabulous fudge.

On Thursday one of the Amazing Ladies flew in for an animal law conference here in Portland. I convinced Jeff that it would be cool for her to stay with us so I could finally meet an Amazing Lady in real life. And let me tell you she is not only amazing but super awesome.

We went to McMeniman's to eat and it was goooood stuff! They have beer that they brew on site that was amazingly good. I had one called Ruby which is raspberry beer and it was delicious! The food was good and there were so many things on the menu I wanted to try that we're going to be visiting there a lot.

Friday morning we dropped the Amazing Lady off in Portland for her conference and ran some errands. And then we went to the Smart Car dealership to look at Smart cars. I am soooo dying to have one. They're so cute! And if I'm the only person driving or it's just Jeff and I it seems like such a waste to be using a full sized car to drive around. Most of the time it will be just Jeff and I. So I'm working really hard on convincing Jeff we both need one. They can park in the same parking spot together and keep each other company! And I'll feel less wasteful. If we have people come to visit we can rent a car for the weekend down the street. Or heck, even at the airport if they fly in. So far no luck on that. But he hasn't come up with an option that I'm happy with, either, so we'll keep working on it!

Today Jeff and I went to the Saturday Farmer's Market so he could see one. It wasn't as good as the one close to our house, but it still had a lot of my favorite vendors to show him. The Cactus Lady was there. And of course the German Sausage guy was there. Plus a guy who has never been at our market - a BBQ guy! So we had a BBQ sandwich for brunch.

Then we went to the Japanese Gardens which were amazing. They had several different types of gardens and they were all so quiet and relaxing. The leaves on lots of the trees were changing, and the maples were especially pretty. We saw a tea ceremony which was neat, but would probably make me impatient to wait for my cup of tea. :) The principles of a tea ceremony are Harmony, Respect, Purity & Tranquility. The title of the post is Japanese for each of those words.

There are these bushes all around Portland (and especially around one of the Intel Campuses) that are just amazing right now. I think they're my favorite fall color this year. Here's a few more pictures of the Japanese Garden.

*phew*

Jeff's finally home! He made it home safely on Tuesday. I'm so glad he's back and I have my own personal chef again. :) We've had a busy week.

We finished our guest bathroom. I have a friend coming to visit soon, so I thought she would probably appreciate having towels and a shower curtain. Now we just need to finish our bathroom and we'll be all set.

I also just remembered we need to hang pictures, but that sounds like a lot of work right now.

On Friday we went to the Chinese Gardens in Portland. They were pretty, but it wasn't anything spectacular this time of year. It was also a little chilly, but it was nice in the sun. I can't wait to go back in the spring and see what it looks like with everything blooming. It seemed crazy to have such a peaceful, quiet area in the middle of the Pearl district and Chinatown.

Yesterday we went to an apple festival. That was fun, too. They had tons of varieties of apples and apple cider and caramel apples. And caramel apple suckers. And pumpkins and squash. And also hay rides to tour the orchard, that we didn't do for unknown reasons, and a couple of small hay mazes. It was beautiful weather and there were beautiful views all around. I want to build a house out in that area. It was nice and quiet and there were big, beautiful, old trees and mountains all around.

It's like Christmas!

Jeff comes home tomorrow. I pick him up at 11 tomorrow morning. I'm so excited I feel like it's Christmas Eve!

He passed his defense with flying colors, so now I'm married to a doctor. *swoon*

Obviously, there are lots of great things about him coming home. But have you ever wondered why I'm glad he's not around? Here's the list of things I'll miss and won't be able to do when he gets back.

• drink orange juice out of the carton
• pee with the door open
• have the whole bed to myself
• eat vegetarian every single night
• use his clothes basket for my pajamas so I don't have to put them away as soon as I wake up
  
• have day old popcorn (when Jeff's around, the whole bowl gets eaten at once which makes me sad because I really love day old popcorn)
  

That's about it. I'm willing to sacrifice all of those things to have him back. Marriage is all about sacrifice, I tell ya! ;)

I have skills of awesome

I can change the temperature on my water heater.

Know what that means? Here's a hint - it involves this thing (And yes, mine has arm rests like this. It's such a cheap thrill. Actually, except that it's facing the wrong way, the spiky looking stems in the vase, and there's more attractive tile than I have [I have fake tile - it should be easy to clean what with the fake grout and all, I suppose, but that's about as far as the advantages go] it's just like mine.)



I finally have enough hot water in our stupid water heater to fill up my nice big bathtub all the way with warm water.

Imagine my shock the first time I took a bath in my nice new bathtub when it didn't even get a quarter of the way full before running out of water.

You'd be miffed too if you were already in the water with your glass of wine and book waiting for your toes to get covered up with water when it suddenly got cold.

Trust me.

If you don't mind . . .

my cousin M.Moo just had surgery today. She's been having some issues lately, and doctors found a tumor near her ovaries and uterus. She had surgery this morning to remove it, and things went well. "Large Marge" as she nicknamed it, weighed 6 pounds! The doctors are pretty sure that it's not cancerous and won't need additional treatment, but it will take a few days for the labs to come back.

She just started college this fall. Moo was elected President of her dorm? Hall? Something along those lines. She's super upbeat about the whole thing, and she's too awesome to have anything bad happen to her.

So, if you have any extra prayers or good thoughts you can send her way we'd all really appreciate it!

I have . . .

Here's my easy blog, since people keep telling me I need to update my blog.

If it's bold, I have...

1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby's diaper
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said "I love you" and meant it
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty (been to NYC many times, never went onto the island, though..do Empire State Building and World Trade Center count?)
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb (don't think I HELD one, but pet and hugged one)
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Taken an ice cold bath
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster
31. Hit a home run (not a home run, but I think I hit a double once...)
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
33. Adopted an accent for fun
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited India
45. Bench-pressed your own weight
46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files (not alphabetized, but organized properly)
48. Ever worn a superhero costume (does the Mario Princess count?)
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don't
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy (I REALLY want a skip-it)
70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did (Samuel Prescott finished Paul Revere's ride)
71. Called or written your Congress person
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over (contemplating this currently)
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge (planning to go soon, on my 101 list)
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (only saw it from above)
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover (on my 101 list also)
86. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions (had to fire someone...=/ )
88. Gone back to school
89. Changed your name
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
92. Read The Iliad
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch (learn to knit is on my 101 list)
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language (dance).
97. Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care (really hope this never gets bolded..)
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103 Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all fours
106. Raked your carpet
107. Brought out the best in people
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring (of course, I am a 90's girl at heart!)
110. Ridden a horse
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Prepared a dish where four people asked for the recipe
113. Buried a child (not a child of mine, but a friend who was only 13)
114. Gone to a Broadway play
115. Been inside the pyramids (on my 101 list)
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
126. Ridden a giraffe or ELEPHANT
127. Published a book (my work has been published many times, but not my very own book)
128. Pieced a quilt
129. Lived in an historic place (Maine has a lot of history)
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise
132. Made a hole-in-one (mini-golf counts, right?)
133. Gone deep sea fishing
134. Gone roller skating
135. Run a marathon (5k is on my 101 list)
136. Learned to surf
137. Invented something
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo (does dancing a solo count, I did a lot of those...)
143. Gone spelunking
144. Learned how to take a compliment (working on it)
145. Written a love-story
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away
152. Learned to juggle
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem
159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox (loved my metal Muppet Babies lunchbox)
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
164. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous
166. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz and polka.
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books (Boxcar Children)
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hostel
184. Been a cashier
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a campfire
189. Kept a blog (trying!)
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes or boots (tap shoes count, right?)
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube
196. Know CPR
197. Ridden in or owned a convertible
198. Found a long lost friend
199. Helped solve a crime
200. Responded to a NJP newsletter