We hadn’t been to Goat Rocks in quite some time so Emily and I decided to grab McNeill and try a new way into the mountains to check out Conrad Basin and perhaps even run up Mount Curtis Gilbert, the highpoint, if we had time. We didn’t want to take too much time off of work with Africa coming up so it had to be a quick overnight. Well, what I had planned as an easy loop overnight turned into quite the journey… read on…
This Labor Day weekend Emily and I decided to head out to the Wallowas in Eastern Oregon. A year ago I had done an amazing loop hike with Anna and Nate but Emily couldn’t go because she couldn’t get the time off for that longer hike. This time we chose a shorter out and back hike up to Ice Lake and convinced Conrad and Jason W. to meet us up there. The trip turned out to be one of the most beautiful I’d been on in a long time and was a great introduction for Emily to the “Alps of Oregon”. Read on….
Lindsay got a job studying sea birds in Mexico on the Pacific Coast for a year so we drove down to Corvallis to say goodbye to her temporarily with a party at Scott and Danielle's. It was a great party and we also got to see Garrett and Cassie who were visiting with their new adorable son Felix. After Garrett's defense they had moved to Vermont to live. Cassie still works for QSI so she was in town for a work meeting. Great to see them, sad to say goodby to Lindsay, and great to totally beat the shit out of a piñata of Donald Trump that Scott made :)
This weekend Emily I decided to not lose any more time of the summer due to the lawsuit and decided to venture out of cell phone reach of the lawyers to do a hike around the north side of Mount Hood with Leo. We decided on an out and back from the Top Spur Trailhead to Elk Cove for the night. Read on...
With the lawsuit in full swing against us and a lot of stress in my life Emily and I decided we needed to get out of the house with Leo so we headed to the dog park at the Sandy River Delta to take Leo for a long walk. I had literally been living at home ready to answer any needs the lawyers had for a while and I needed to get out. We walked far out onto the delta and actually waded out through some shallow water to an island on the Columbia River. Leo of course had a great time and Emily was as supportive as ever for me. Both her and her parents realized what I couldn't at the time - the lawsuit was a bunch of horse shit and would eventually go away. The night before was a low point in my life but thankfully my friends and future co-workers were incredibly supportive of me and I felt better about things in the morning.
This week Kevin and Alexa made it back to Oregon for Kevin's PhD defense and everyone was super excited to see them and Ronan. When they got to Portland they stayed with us for a night before heading down to Corvallis. Their visit was right in the middle of the ugly QSI lawsuit against us which was super unfortunate but it didn't stop us from having a good time with them and our friends in Corvallis who still work for that horrid company. Read on
Today Emily and I decided to float the Sandy River from Oxbow Park to the Lewis and Clark State Park on the Columbia. I guess the entire 7.5 mile float would take about 5 hours and with us getting to Oxbow at 2pm I new it would be cutting it close to float the river and then drive back to Oxbow to pick up the other Prius by the 8:40 sunset gate closure. The water was super low and very slow. We barely felt like we were moving at all! It was a beautiful day though and we saw lots of wildlife including eagles, tons of ospreys fishing, a deer and plenty of ducks.
When we passed Dabney Park at around 7 I new we still had about an hour and half left so I needed to speed things up. This involved me pushing Emily along on the inflatable mattress she was riding, running my feet along the river bottom to keep us moving in the slow current, as well as kicking and breast-stroke kicking us along the way. It was exhausting and I got very tired, and… very chaffed. When we got to the takeout it was 8:25pm and I sprinted to get the Prius and raced down the road to Oxbow Park. We got to the park at 8:50pm and thankfully, they let us in to get the car which also thankfully didn’t have a citation! I think next time we’ll plan a full 8 hour day for this float to play it safe!
Today was our 2 year wedding anniversary. As usual we wanted to head out to Hood River to pick some berries and get some dinner but this year we invited Eric along. We chose not to tell him it was our special day because we knew he wouldn’t go! On the way we stopped to explore Oneonta Gorge as well. Read on…
Today Tom, Banjo, and Eric joined us for a hike up Hamilton Mountain. Tom had been on the hike before but not Eric so we thought it was a great place close by to check out and get some sunshine and exercise the dogs. Read on…
After an exhausting and hot hike up Elks and Kings Mountains in the Tillamook Forest of the Coast Range Emily and I were absolutely starving so we were super excited to get to Tillamook and find the Old Oregon Smokehouse along 101 just north of the city. We had a great dinner of clam chowder and an oyster po’boy sandwich. The owners even closed up and left for drinks while we were still there! From there it was an hour drive down the coast to our secret beach location where we would camp for the next two wonderful nights. Read on…
With Fourth of July weekend upon us and temperatures predicted to reach 100 degrees in Portland once again, we decided it was time to head to the coast with Leo to stay cool and enjoy the ocean breezes. We also wanted to get some exercise in so we planned a 10 mile loop hike over Elk Mountain and Kings Mountain in the Tillamook Forest of the Coast Range. It turned out nearly to be too much for poor Leo. Read on…
Emily and I today drove 2 hours from Portland to check out these Pools along Opal Creek.. what a mistake. Took these photos in 5 minutes, then walked away and drove all the way home. = FAIL.
Tonight my mom had talked us into joining her at the Alberta Rose Theatre for an aerial acrobatics show entitled Sea of Dreams. Chris Holm was coming up to visit so he joined us as well. At first the story line was absolutely crazy and the dorky overacting almost had me ready to leave my seat for the whiskey bar down the road, but then… the acrobatics started with some great EDM music and I decided to stick around.
Overall it was a pretty cool performance, but I wish they had completely just left out the dialogue between changing out the rope systems and just played good music to fill the time instead.
Ashley, one of Emily’s best friends from high school was having her wedding on Martha’s Vineyard at a Yacht Club. To be completely honest Emily and I were expecting this to be a “big money wedding” because lobster was on menu, but to our surprise it was incredibly planned, amazingly beautiful, and probably even cost less than our wedding! And it couldn’t have been at a better location! Read on..
Between weddings Emily and I got to finally really spend some quality time with our new nieces. We got to go with Sophie to her morning book reading, as well as a morning music class where all the children played with toys and sang various songs. Sophie is still very much attached to Jen at all times but slowly she opened up to both Emily and I when we got to play with her at their house. Read on…
Emily and I flew home for a week and a day for two East Coast weddings. The first was Danny and Sarah in Connecticut and the second was Ashley and Matt on Martha’s Vineyard. In between we had a very relaxing week with Emily’s family, our nieces, and even a long overdue visit with Kenny in Boston. Read on…
On Saturday morning we headed down to Corvallis to hit up the Beaver Tailgate with Doug and others. Although we didn't have tickets for the game it was always good to see Shiloh and others at the tailgate and of course there would be a delicious BBQ meat of some type for us to eat! I'm writing this several months later so I can't remember if the Beavers lost or won that game..
Later that night Danielle and Scott threw a party for Jen's 30th birthday complete with cake and balloons. Pretty much all of our Corvallis friends showed up and Jen had a wonderful time. Colin of course brought over a bunch or marinated salmon that Tim had caught as well for some late night BBQ action as he is known for! Great party, and the video of BD dancing I got is simply priceless.
