Mom Riggott Visiting

 This past week Emily’s mom Patti came out for a long weekend visit. She arrived in Portland on Wednesday so Emily took Thursday and Friday off to hang out with her. The two spent the day shopping in Portland on Thursday before driving back to Corvallis Thursday night. When I got out of work on Thursday I met them at home and we went out to dinner at Pastini’s on 9th street for some great pasta as usual and to catch up. By the time we got back to the apartment it was late so we just watched a couple quick episodes of BBC Life on Blu-ray before calling it a night. I took the couch and let the two of them have the comfy bed while she was visiting. I actually think our big red couch is pretty comfy to sleep on!

Moth on Daisy on top of Chip Ross

Emily and Mom on top of Chip Ross

I took a half day of work on Friday and met Emily and her mom at the Flat Tail Brewery for some good lunch and good beer. We then decided instead of driving to the coast to drive up Mary’s Peak but upon getting there found the road to be closed for construction… whoops. Instead we drove back to Corvallis to check out the easy hike up Chip Ross Park instead. On the way I had Emily pull over to grab a huge stalk of the invasive flower Fox Glove to show her mom. Invasive species suck but ironically many of the ones in Oregon are actually pretty yummy or cool looking (yummy Himalayan blackberries, and beautiful purple Fox Glove). We had a nice walk up Chip Ross and hung out at the top for some great views down over Corvallis and east towards the snow-capped Sisters volcanoes. I took the camera with the tripod and got some good shots including some macro shots of a tiny moth on some daisy’s nearby.

Knights beating Walla Walla

We stopped at the Co-op for a variety of good Oregon Beers for her mom to try before heading to the Knights vs. Walla Walla game at OSU. We parked near COAS so that we could walk across the quad for her mom to see a bit of campus. The game was a lot of fun and I think she enjoyed watching some baseball in the nice weather. We almost got hit by a foul ball that went sailing over our heads into the glove of a guy above us who made an amazing catch. We got some hot dogs, beers and I had a great rootbeer float! As usual the Knights won the game. From there we headed back to the house to watch a movie called “The Ghost Writer” with Ewan McGregor who Emily and I have a lot of respect for after watching the documentaries of his round-the-world motorcycle adventures. It was a pretty good movie but both ladies fell asleep before the end… ;)

Mo

Curly

On Saturday we drove out to Gathering Together Farms for a delicious breakfast just like we did a few weeks earlier for Emily’s birthday. My ham steak wasn’t quite as big as last time but the food was just as awesome and Emily and I agreed that we have become big fans of French Press Coffee! As we were leaving we saw an alpaca farm across the street so we decided to go over and check it out. They really are super cute animals and there were a bunch of baby ones hopping around the field as well. Most had just been shaven for their coat so they only had a big tuff of fur on their heads making them look even more ridiculous! We stopped in the store and I chatted a bit with the owner who was jealous of our Nikon and told me she wanted the same exact model. I felt bad we didn’t buy anything but maybe we will go back in the future and pick something up. I did leave with a bunch of really funny alpaca photos though!

Doug and Avery

B.D. and Avery

When we got back to town we walked through the Farmer’s Market which impressed Emily’s mom I think. We then spent a few hours browsing stores around town before heading back to the house for a couple hours to relax. We left at about 5 to head over to Danielle and Scott’s for Eric and Jamie’s BBQ (Eric worked at Watershed Briefly with me before moving to California and they had a very cool son named Rhett). Emily’s mom got to meet literally everyone at Watershed I think and was introduced to the game of washers as well. I brought over the BBQ chicken legs we had been marinating and there was a multitude of other dishes to choose from as well. We definitely ate well and it was a great BBQ. We stayed until about 10pm when I could tell Patti was getting tired and headed back for a relaxing evening.

Emily and Mom Cape Lookout

Emily and Mom Pacific City

On Sunday, the last day of her visit, we decided to head up the northern coast of Oregon which she hadn’t seen yet. We had a quick breakfast in the apartment before driving out to Newport with some coffee we picked up along the way. We first stopped at Nye Beach so Emily and her mom could window shop while I went down to the beach for some photo practice. Next it was on to Devil’s Punchbowl where the wind was whipping so we didn’t stay there long either. By the time we got to Pacific City we were pretty hungry so we decided to stop at the Pelican Brewery there for lunch. The beer was good but the food was so-so and I wasn’t impressed by the very bland pulled-pork sandwich I was served. I was told later by co-workers we should have eaten a couple smaller places there instead. While we were there I saw a beautiful wedding on the beach behind the brewery and we got some great photos of Haystack Rock and the massive sand dune where young people were sandboarding, along with some great shots of Emily and her mom using some photo tricks I’d been learning.

Bee in mid-flight

Cape Meares Lighthouse

From there we headed north along the scenic coast past Cape Lookout and a great overlook where we stopped for a few photos as well all the way to Cape Meares where we pulled in for a walk. I had mentioned to Patti she might see some puffins and I felt bad when we didn’t see any there. It was a cold day and we didn’t see many cormorants on the cliffs either as they were all way out on the rocks offshore instead. I spent some time trying to capture bees in mid-flight as they were pollinating flowers around the Cape Meares lighthouse we walked down to. After walking along the trails and skipping the Giant Octopus tree this time around we drove east to Portland and got her mom to the airport at around 8pm for her 10pm flight home. This was certainly more of a relaxing trip for her than the last time she was out here when I sent her and Keith on a 1,500 mile drive around Oregon. This time she got to experience more of what it is like to live in Corvallis during the beautiful summer and I think she left with an appreciation of why we like it out here so much. Now I hope my mom will come out for another visit soon.