Today was a quiet day. We left the truck last night parked with the bikes on the rack in one of the extra spaces near the laundry. Today we moved it around to our space and took the bikes and bike rack off. They can't stay on the truck, because our parking space is too small to accommodate them. We had some other cleaning up and rearranging to do. I restocked the first aid kits, which were depleted yesterday attending to Annie's scraped knee. Of course you always hope that you won't need such things, but it's good to have them just in case.
I had set the DVR to record the Olympics, mainly because I wanted to watch Michael Phelps' swimming events. I also enjoy the women's gymnastics and watching the American beach volleyball team. Unfortunately, you can't be specific about which events to record, so the entire drive filled up, and all the older recordings were deleted, except for a few that had been marked to keep. We watched some parts and skipped through most of the recordings. It was disappointing to find that our earlier recordings were gone, especially some of the movies Ken had recorded.
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Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Quiet Monday
Monday, July 30, 2012
Wine Country Bike Tour
Chris and Shawn and Annie and Ken and I set out this morning for a day of adventure: a bike ride around some of the Willamette Valley wineries. We drove first to Anne Amie Vineyards in Carlton, OR. The approach to the winery was a daunting long steep uphill climb. We decided that we'd have to walk our bikes up that drive when we returned to the truck.
One benefit of visiting wineries is that they are typically located on hills in beautiful countryside. The view from Anne Amie was spectacular. We sat on the patio and ate our picnic lunch before starting our wine tasting. (Peanut butter and jelly just don't seem to pair well with wine!). The tasting included a white followed by three reds and finally a sweet dessert wine. Shawn had brought some interesting imported cheeses and crackers to share (yummy). We agreed that the wines were good, but not so good that we felt inspired to buy any of them.
After talking with the tasting hosts about the possibility of parking in their parking lot, we decided to try to find a parking spot close by on our route--but not up on the hill. We did find a pull off at the intersection of Hendricks and Mineral Springs, which cut five miles off our expected route.
Then we set off for Solena Cellars in Yamhill, OR, about four miles away. We found that part of the route was gravel roads, not our favorite riding surface, but we made this first leg of the journey okay. Solena didn't have much that appealed to either Shawn or Ken. Both of them prefer white wines, and pinot noirs dominate the Willamette Valley wine scene.
Our next leg was about 2.5 miles, to Lenne, also in Yamhill. The gentleman pouring at Lenne was an older man evidently doing his job because he loves it. He seemed quite knowledgeable about the wines. The winery was named in honor of Len (a relative of one of the founders who provided some of the funding), from which the Lenne name comes. It's a play on words, since "Le Nez" means "the nose" in French. The logo of the winery is a profile with a prominent nose, appropriate because the nose is so important in the enjoyment of wine. Only the first wine, a Rose Pinot, appealed to Shawn and Ken.
Our final winery, Cana's Feast, was a 5.5 mile bike ride away. One section on Withycombe Road was a steep gravel downhill. Well, if you're going to ride on gravel, having a gentle downhill is definitely preferable, but this steep section challenged our abilities to control the bikes. I was anxious because despite my efforts, I was going faster than I liked. Chris was behind me, followed by Shawn, then Annie, and finally Ken.
Suddenly we heard screams of pain. Annie had fallen and ripped open the right knee of her pants, scraping her knee open across a broad area. Ouch! I hurried back with the first aid kit, and we cleaned the wound, put on some povidone gel, and bandaged the knee as best we could. Annie was very upset and felt that she couldn't put weight on her leg, but Chris encouraged her to stand up.
About that time a neighbor arrived in her car, carrying a water bottle and a towel. She had heard the screams and came to see if she could help. Her kindness did a lot to calm Annie. She poured water over Annie's hands and suggested she might want to put some on her face. She talked about a similar accident she had had and counseled that the best thing for the knee would be to keep moving it. Chris helped Annie was around a bit and then try to ride the bike.
The bike was still rideable, although the front brake was not workable. Annie struggled a bit, but she was able to complete the ride. We went on to Cana's Feast and then biked the remaining couple of miles to the truck. We were all glad to put the bikes up on the truck and head for home.
The ride had been fun and the scenery lovely. Except for Annie's accident, we had all had a good time, though it would have been better if more of the wines had appealed to everyone--and if there had been at least some soft drinks available for Annie. We were surprised at the limited gift shops and the lack of even crackers and in some cases even water to clear the palate between tastings. By the end of the day, we were having trouble distinguishing all the wines we had tasted--it was all a blur. Chris had bought one bottle of wine, and that was it.
As we drove toward home, we all agreed that we didn't want to cook dinner. Chris called an ordered pizza and salads from the Sizzle Pie. They were ready just as we arrived to pick them up and quite enjoyable. We ordered one "Slaughter of the Soil" (spinach, tomato, and artichoke hearts) and one Francesca (fresh jalapenos, pineapple, and smoked mozzarella). Excellent pizza and surprisingly good salad too.
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Sunday, July 29, 2012
Enso New Release Party
Chris and Shawn have a trendy artisan winery in their neighborhood: Enso Urban Winery and Wine Bar. It's right around the corner from the duplex, and they are members of the wine club, "The Inner Circle." That means they get benefits like discounts on purchases and invitations to special quarterly pre-release parties to taste Enso's newest wines (and they also make a commitment to buy a minimum number of bottles each quarter). This afternoon was one of those parties, and we were invited guests.
As you can see, Enso's space is a former garage which has been converted into a quirky bar and lounge. The new wines included a variety of whites and reds, so something for everyone--plus cheese and crackers to add to the festive atmosphere. Enso's motto is "We make the grapes do the commuting, so you don't have to."
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Saturday, July 28, 2012
Sandy Delta Exploration
Our adventure today was a bike ride to the nearby Sandy Delta Park. It's a mainly undeveloped recreation area, but there are Forest Service roads and some official trails. There are lots more ad hoc trails, and the signage is not very helpful.
We followed some of the trails. We started off along the 1000 Acre Road, but at some point lost track of it and followed smaller trails toward the Sandy River. We finally got to the bank of the river, where we found a couple of women and their kids. They had collected several aluminum cans, which they found "decorating" a small tree.
A lot of the trails were quite primitive, with tree roots and washouts and such, so the biking was not like our usual paved surface experience. My leg muscles are letting me know that they're not used to this kind of workout. On the way home we stopped by the Lewis and Clark State Park and explored, trying to find a trailhead for a hike up on the cliff side, since we've seen people up there. Ken found an indication on the map that there is a "butte trail." We'll plan to check it out another time.
This evening we watched parts of the Olympics opening ceremony in London. (We have the DVR set to record all the Olympics programming.) The show was a fantastic celebration, but so diverse and quirky it's difficult to take away any single theme, except maybe that the Brits are great. One bit of technology that really wowed us was the electronic pixel arrays in the audience, which flashed huge animations on a "screen" of people in the stadium.
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Friday, July 27, 2012
Congratulations, Ed!
Ed has a new job with Pasch Digital as a consultant to auto dealers. He signed on today, and their house goes on the market next Tuesday. They hope it will sell at a good price in a week or two, and if it does they'll move to Atlanta post haste and stay in the basement apartment of their best friends who moved to Atlanta earlier.
If the house doesn't sell immediately, they'll pull it from the market and wait until next spring. They have some flexibility about when to move. Ed can actually live pretty much anywhere for his job. He'll be working from home and traveling every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, so Dallas will work as well as Atlanta if the house doesn't sell right away. They're actually pretty confident that it will sell quickly, since the market in their area seems to be hot right now.
All the quick changes make my head spin, but it's an exciting opportunity for Ed and for the whole family.
We went to Rooster Rock State Park today. As we drove in, a sign announced "No beach today." We were able to hike along the river, but I made the mistake of wearing my Tevas. They're not the best footwear for hiking, and after a few minutes I realized I was developing a blister. Of course I hadn't brought any hiking essentials, so the moleskin and band aids weren't available. I put a handkerchief between the offending sandal strap and the blister, which eased the pressure. When we got home, I cleaned the blister with peroxide {which hurt like the dickens!) and applied antibiotic ointment and a band aid. It's still painful, but not unbearable, and I was able to go biking this evening.
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Thursday, July 26, 2012
Hardy and Judy Visit
We were delighted to have our friends Hardy and Judy stop by to visit on their way to Crescent Lake. Judy did laundry this morning, so they arrived at noon. After a couple of crossed signals, they parked at the Glenn Otto Community Park and walked over with us to Sandy Riverfront.
We showed them around our new home--they said we had enough room now to host some of our gatherings in the RGV. We ate lunch out at the picnic table and made plans to get together when we go to the Escapade in Missouri in September.
This evening we took a short bike ride along the Historic Columbia River Highway. We noticed that the Glenn Otto Community Park parking lot was full of cars. It turned out that most of the people were on "the beach" playing in the Sandy River.
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Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Friends and More Friends!
Today we finally got together with our friends Tom and Donna, who spend summers at Fairview RV Park in Portland. We haven't seen them in some time, but we keep in touch via email and the blog. It was great to have a chance to see them again and to show off our new home.
Tom brought some delicious cocktail wienies in his special recipe sauce to share, and they brought us a nice bottle of Yellowtail Shiraz. We haven't had that before, so of course we had to open and try it out--it was delicious. The conversation flowed and time passed before we knew it. We're hoping to have a chance to see their new (to us) Excel, which they named "Charm." It's a 2012 model, but they got it in April 2011, and we've been eager to see it ever since they posted the first pictures on their blog.
Today is our good friend Judy Pottinger's birthday, so of course I called to wish her a happy birthday. It was later in the day because we were busy earlier with Tom and Donna's visit, so I caught her at dinner. When I asked where she was, she said "having dinner at the Nite Hawk Cafe in Portland." Yup, she was sitting not 20 miles away! Last we heard she and Hardy were in Montana. They are spending the night at Jantzen Beach RV Park on an island in the Columbia River between Portland and Vancouver.
Of course we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to wish Judy a happy birthday in person, so we drove over and spent a couple of hours catching up. What an unexpected pleasure! They'll be passing by our park on their way tomorrow, so we invited them to stop by for a visit. They'll be the first of our RGV friends to see our new home.
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Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Airport Runs
We started out early this morning. First we went by the duplex, where we dropped off some stuff and picked up Annie and Edie to take them to the airport for their trip to Yellowstone for Edie's family get-together. After we dropped them off, we went to the cell phone waiting lot and waited to hear from Chris and Shawn, who were flying in from Montana. We picked them up and headed to the duplex again.
Shawn needed to get ready for her 1:00 p.m. interview, and Chris had a conference call, so we dropped them at the house, and we went to the Outer Rim bike shop to drop off my Electra. I've had shifting problems fixed twice before. Each time it seemed okay, only to quit working soon afterward. Of course we've moved on by the time I figure out that the repairs haven't worked. This shop had some great online reviews, so we're hopeful that the bike will really be fixed this time.
After lunch we got a call that the bike was ready, so Ken and Chris and I went to pick it up. Afterward we met Shawn at the townhouse she is having built. She brought along some paint samples to meet with the builder and with her real estate agent. She had gotten a call over the weekend while they were in Montana saying she had to come in right away to decide on paint colors.
Shawn's new townhouse is on the right.
Today was Wes Johnson's birthday. We called to wish him a happy birthday but got their voicemail, so we left a greeting.
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Monday, July 23, 2012
Leisurely Sunday
We stopped by the office this morning and asked about hikes in the area. The nice couple who run the office suggested a trail that starts behind the big white historical house. We walked over (it's quite near the RV park) and found a trail starting up the hillside behind the house. At the top of the hill there's a sign indicating that the trail, called Robin's Way, is part of a historic wagon trail in the area. We followed it as it wound along the cliffside behind some residences and finally came out in a Troutdale residential area.
The entire area is green and beautiful, with lots of wildflowers as well as cultivated flowers. We walked down Buxton back to the Historic Columbia River Highway and explored the Depot Park a bit. The Depot Museum was closed, but we walked down under the railroad bridge, and Ken took this photo across the Sandy River looking at our RV park.
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Sunday, July 22, 2012
Troutdale Summerfest!
This morning the entrances to the RV park were closed from 10:15 a.m. until noon for the parade for the 40th annual Troutdale Summerfest. We biked over to town to watch the parade, but on the way we found the Troutdale Open Air Market. We couldn't pass up the fresh organic produce (one booth), so we made a quick trip home to put the food away before returning to town.
The Love Bomb Marching Band was playing at the fountain, and kids lining the street were making creative use of sidewalk chalk provided by the Plaid Pantry.
We talked with Buttons the Clown, who was also on a bike (somewhat different from ours). He jokingly challenged us to a race. His bike had a giant front wheel and no brakes (which made it interesting to ride downhill). He had retired from the Coast Guard and gone to clown college. He worked full time as a clown for a while, but now that he's over 62 he only works locally.
Another marching band, all wearing purple tee-shirts was called The Beat Goes On. I talked with one of the members of the band, who said they were just a bunch of old guys. He asked Ken if he had ever played an instrument. The band members are an eclectic group, mostly from the Portland area, and mostly it seems nostalgic high school marching band members.
The parade featured lots of local martial arts and dance studios, politicians, businesses, civic groups and such. The Shriners appeared in their traditional costumes, but on somewhat non-traditional vehicles. Instead of mini-bikes, they rode full-sized ATVs. One unusual entry was Pedro and his world class trick horse.
After the parade we did some biking and then went down to the Glenn Otto Community Park to see what was going on at the Summerfest. There were booths for community organizations and also for crafts, jewelry, food and other items to buy. We listened to the Worn Out Shoes, an old timey string band we enjoyed.
While we were eating dinner, Ken noticed a pair of osprey flying around the trees on the cliffside above the park. They were easy to spot with their white underparts and heads, because they conveniently perched on outer branches.
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Saturday, July 21, 2012
Edgefield
The weather forecast this morning called for rain likely during the morning, so we opted to walk. Some of the highways have nice bike lanes that make good hiking lanes too, but the historic highway into the Gorge is quite narrow and has almost no shoulders, so we turned around.
This sign is by the east end of the bridge near Sandy Riverfront RV Park
Yesterday on our bike ride we passed a place called "McMenamins Edgefield" on S. W. Halsey St. It caught our attention because we heard music, but the place was set back from the road, and we couldn't see what was going on. I looked it up on the Internet and found out that there is free live music every night at 7:00 p.m. Yelpers offered very positive reviews of the Winery, which is the venue for many of the live music events.
We biked over to check things out this afternoon. It's quite a place: historically the county poor farm, the 74 acre property has been restored and re-purposed to a resort destination. We decided to go over this evening and do some wine tasting and listen to the music of the Flat Rock String Band.
We chose the Classic Favorites Flight, which includes their 2010 Pinot Gris, 2009 Chardonnay, 2009 White Riesling, 2009 Pinot Noir, and 2009 Black Rabbit Red. They were all good, but nothing really special. We're planning to go back and try one of their other tasting lists another time, possibly with Chris and Shawn and Annie.
They also have movies in a theater in the Power House, and they screen free outdoor movies. We walked around the grounds, enjoying the gardens. I found a few ripe blackberries and mulberries. It will be another week or so before it will be blackberry picking time.
We didn't get any photos. Ken forgot his camera, and his cell phone was out of power. I left my cell phone at home, but it wouldn't have helped, since its camera takes only blurry pics.
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Friday, July 20, 2012
On the Bikes
We are gearing up for a bike trip around some of the local wine country next weekend. It's only about 19 miles, and Chris says it has no significant hills, but we haven't been on the bikes much recently. That was painfully clear to me when I had to walk the bike up a small hill on our bike excursion in Skagway. So we took two rides today, each about 5.5 miles, and we'll get out on the bikes tomorrow.
We stopped along the way at the Premium Outlets, where I bought some vented pourers that looked like they might fit my olive oil jar. That didn't pan out, so they were returned. Ken found some deck shoes that he plans to keep in the entry closet for quick trips outside.
We also stopped at a produce stand in Troutdale that sells local produce from four farms in the area. Just couldn't pass up the raspberries and blackberries, or the green beans, tomatoes, and peaches. We'll be eating lots of fruit.
We'll have to take my bike to a bike shop for repairs to the derailleur/shifting system (again--we've already paid two people to fix it, and it still won't shift properly). Ken found a shop called the Outer Rim that has great reviews and is on the way to Chris's place, so we're planning to take it over on Monday.
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Wednesday, July 18, 2012
The Help
We went to Gresham Ford this morning. They gave us a "deal" on a 2.5" to 2" receiver hitch adapter: only $50.03! They said the MSRP is over $65. We'll certainly be very careful not to "lose" this one. Until we find a locking pin, we're planning to keep it in the truck when we're not carrying the bikes.
We also got a replacement for the key I lost. It's just a key without the built-in remotes of the original, so it only cost $25 for the blank and $45 to cut and program it. Ouch! To program your own extra keys, you have to have two factory master keys. If you lose one, as I did, then you have to go to the dealer, always an expensive proposition, plus we had to wait 45 minutes or so. I sure hope my original key turns up.
While we were out we stopped at Safeway and then went to Home Depot to pick up some closet pole sockets to stabilize another one of the shower rods in our entry closet shoe rack. While we were there of course we looked around. Then we stopped at Camping World to look for a locking hitch pin (no luck). We also wanted to check out their sewer hose storage tubes. We ended up buying an insulated bike rack bag to try out on my bike.
After lunch we headed over to the duplex in time to get our final load of laundry started before walking over to Guardian Games so that we could walk home with Annie after her D&D camp. She was happy about the group's progress during the day. They had exploded a troll, I think, vaporizing it into thin air.
When we got to the duplex, Shawn was busy making chocolate chip cookies for her dad. They're one of his favorites (especially when extra browned and crispy), and she's leaving for Montana for the family reunion tomorrow. She did make some extras for us to sample--very yummy.
When Chris got home, he was ready for a nap--he'd gotten up very early. Shawn was starting to pack and planning to head out to cut someone's hair. Meanwhile, we put in the DVD of "The Help" (which Shawn had bought used at Movie Madness Video). It started out fine, but 12 minutes in, it froze. Chris tried to get past that point and even tried cleaning the disc, but it was too badly scratched. So Ken and Chris headed to the video store to rent another copy of the movie while I started fixing supper.
We ate supper before settling in to watch the rest of the movie. It was a powerful drama, with moments of humor--but more tragic moments. At the end, I don't think there was a dry eye in the room. I imagine that the book filled in some of the holes in the movie--like what motivated Skeeter and how she turned out so different from her peers. But the two central black characters are the heart of the movie, and they seem to have courage and dignity enough to carry the whole film.
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OMSI Science Pub
We have lost both an adapter sleeve for our receiver hitch and my truck key, so we spent some time this morning researching possible replacements. We found that U-Haul carries a nice black powder coated 2.5" to 2" adapter, and we located a U-Haul dealer that had two in stock. However, when we got there, the darned thing didn't fit. So we called a couple of Ford dealers. The cheapest Ford adapter we found is $50, a definite ripoff, since the U-Haul version is only $14.99.
We thought we might be able to find a locksmith to make an ignition key for the truck, but after calling three, we decided that we'll need to get a new key from the Ford dealer: $119 plus $45 for programming it. Another ripoff. Sigh.
We gathered up our laundry from the past week and a half and headed over to "the duplex" (Chris and Shawn downstairs, Edie upstairs, and Annie both). We started a load of laundry before walking over to Guardian Games where Annie was attending D & D camp afternoons this week. She was psyched about the group's having accomplished what they considered a miracle: they talked a greedy dwarf into giving them something. Her character is a druid, one of whose special abilities is being able to take the shape of an animal. Annie has a special affinity with animals, so that suits her well.
Shawn made some really great enchiladas and cornbread for dinner. The cornbread included corn kernels and green chilies. Michael, a friend of Chris's who is in town for the day, joined us for dinner and the Science Pub afterward. He's from Seattle and works for the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (which Chris worked for when he was in Chicago).
The Science Pub program was presented by Dr. Ted Scambos on the topic of Antarctica. We're sure Blake would have enjoyed the program, since one of his specialties is snow and ice. We got to the Bagdad Theater early, but the lower level was already completely full, except for some seats in the back row, which we took. Chris and Michael stood in a long line to purchase beer for everyone (Sprite for Annie) and we sat back to enjoy the presentation.
The first thing on the program was a ten-question trivia quiz on the Antarctic. One audience member scored a 10 and another scored a nine. There were several sevens and eights. The two top scorers got tickets to an upcoming science pub presented by the "Bad Astronomer." Chris got a Science Pub pint beer glass.
Dr. Scambos is an engaging presenter, and he clearly has a special love for Antarctica (hard for us sun lovers to totally understand). He was quite eloquent in describing the spiritual experience of being surrounded by the Antarctic--very similar to the stories told by the Glacier Bay NP rangers about their experiences of the vast wilderness of the Arctic.
As an aside, he burst my bubble about penguins: he says they are very noisy and spend lots of time in one place, which means piles of penguin poop! In fact, scientists estimate the populations of penguins by the brown spots on the ice.....
When we got home, Shawn cut Chris's hair and we talked about Kathryn and Michael's wedding, which they attended yesterday evening. It was held in Cathedral Park, so named because its iconic bridge has arches resembling those of a cathedral.
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Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Quiet Monday
We took our paperwork over to the office this morning, so we're official residents of Sandy Riverfront RV Park for one month, until August 15. Our walk this morning took us to the historic bridge over the Sandy River, where we watched these rafters having fun. We walked over to the beach, where we talked with the River Rescue crew. They said the river is pretty tame, but people do get into trouble when they start out too late in the day and end up on the river at night.
On our walk this evening we headed the opposite direction, toward town (Troutdale). Ken couldn't resist getting a few shots of this fountain which features, what else: rainbow trout.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Debarkation Day [draft]
Our cruise came to an end this morning as the Norwegian Pearl pulled in to its berth at Pier 66 in Seattle at 7:00 a.m. We had one last breakfast at the Summer Palace, but the view from the windows was not picturesque snow capped mountains or spectacular glaciers. We did get to watch two men in a small boat deploying a boom, presumably to protect the harbor during refueling of the Pearl.
Just before 9:00 a.m. we stepped into line at the gangplank and handed over our key cards one last time to document our leaving the ship. Then we held our passports in hand as we walked through U.S. Customs and Ken handed over our Customs Declarations form. We collected our luggage and walked out to meet our limo driver, Bruce from Puget Sound Limousines, who was waiting for us in front of the deli as he had said.
We arrived at Lake Pleasant RV Park around 10:00 a.m. and put all the luggage in the coach, mostly stacked on the bed. As Ken drove out of our storage space, another cruiser was waiting to take it. Leaving the RV at Lake Pleasant and taking the shuttle downtown worked out very well for us. Thanks to the Boomers for giving us this tip.
The trip was mostly uneventful, except that we bounced around more than was comfortable, especially for Chris and Annie in the back seat. We got to Sandy Riverfront just before 4:00 p.m., only to find that they have a new office and a new entry road for the park. It took us a few minutes to figure out that the new entry was just at the other end of the park from the old one.
We're in site #158. It's a pull-thru and rather narrow, but adequate. We were sorry not to get a site along the creek like we did last visit (in 2009). About the time we got set up, Shawn arrived. She had driven from the coast and came bearing gifts: a couple of bottles of Oregon wine, some marionberry jam, and some lovely notecards designed by her mom, a well known Oregon artist.
Chris, of course, was delighted to be reunited with Shawn. Ken showed trip photos on the TV while I fixed chili. He made coleslaw, and we had tortilla chips on the side and strawberries and blueberries for desert. We went for a quick walk around the park before dessert, and then it was time for them to head back to Portland to deliver Annie to her mom.
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