Once again this year Danielle and Scott hosted a Halloween party in Corvallis and as usual the decorations, costumes, and food were fantastic! We were super excited to visit Alder again whom we hadn’t seen in a very long time since he was a puppy over the summer. We ended up staying with Jen and Jason this year instead of Danielle and Scott’s as we didn’t want to add any stress for them and they have a new pup named Fawn who is a bit skittish. Read on.
With McNeill leaving shortly for the East Coast and then New Zealand for a while and the convenience of being out of work we all decided to head to the coast for the day, despite the bad weather. We loaded up in two cars because we had both dogs with us as well and headed out to Oswald West State Park. Read on..
Once again I kept my promise to Ellie and flew out to see her for her 10th birthday. It of course was a little rougher this year as I had just lost my job and my relationship with her mother and family had deteriorated after Ellie's visit to Oregon over the summer. We were in the middle of a heated debate over how much support I should be sending home and it was a well known fact that I am completely against her being brought up to judge all those who aren't Christian and share her ideals, not to mention her being taught that the Earth was created in just 7 days. Grrrr.... despite all this I love her immensely and always want to be a positive influence on her life so I make the trip to see her when I can. 
This year we did not get lucky with the Enchantments Lottery in Washington. Despite about 6 of us all entering the lottery none of us got any camping spots like we did last fall. Regardless, we were determined to head up to the amazing Bavarian Village to show Emily the beautiful mountains there and eat some sausages at Oktoberfest. Despite some rain and a death march out of the woods well after dark the beauty of the area was worth the effort. Read on..
Well, that was quick. After just over a year with Cardno and through a useless lawsuit against us (see previous post) Cardno was shutting us down. Layne gave us a heads up something was coming and it was pretty rough for all of us knowing that all of our efforts were for nothing. I had literally just organized all of our gear and was finalizing acquisition and project planning protocols for us. Oh well. When they came the current head of America's at the time did say that it was a failure at the upper management level and not any fault of ours but that didn't make it any easier. 
After Emily's parents toured Napa they headed up to Portland for their flight home and to spend a few days with us. Unfortunately, we didn't have any big plans so we made up ideas according to the what the weather allowed. We checked out Top Golf in Hillsboro which we hadn't been to yet and had a great time drinking beers and hittin' golf ball after golf ball out towards targets on the green. 
We also went for a walk in the shopping district of Portland around 25th street and took a tram ride down from the hospital to the trolley as part of the 4T trail. It was a pretty uneventful trip but we enjoyed good food and good company.
