Mary and Doug in PDX

Sam's parents came out for a visit to do some sight-seeing. The weather was rainy, but we made the best of it!

Thursday, October 29th:

First stop upon their arrival was the well-known spot for brunch: Gravy.

Later that evening, we walked around and grabbed a beverage on Alberta Street. Then, headed a favorite spot for dinner at Breakside Brewery.

Friday, October 30th:

Although Sam and Mary had to work, Doug and Mary checked out a few cool places in Portland on Friday morning. After checking out Cargo and Hippo Hardware, we all met up for lunch at McMenamin's Kennedy School for a late lunch. 

That evening, our friend, Pat, came over to trade vehicles. Then, we all went to the famous thai restaurant Pok Pok for dinner. From there, we couldn't resist a few beers at Prost! on the way home.

Saturday, October 31st:

On Saturday, we had a wonderful waffle breakfast with Doug's famous syrup and then packed up for a road trip along the Gorge toward Hood River. Along the way, we ventured on the historic highway starting at the Vista House, winding through the big trees and stopping at 5 waterfalls for a few pictures and a stretch of the legs.

First road trip was out to The Columbia River Gorge and Hood River.

Big trees, Big leaves.

Hiking to some waterfalls.

Multnomah Falls.

Another one at Multnomah Falls. This creepy guy was really awesome. He wasn't taking pictures, in fact his camera wasn't even pointed at the waterfall. Oh well, at least he was standing in everyone's way and he wasn't nice enough to offer to take a picture of the four of us without him in it.

Of course we had to sample some Pacific Northwest beers, so we grabbed lunch at Full Sail Brewery in Hood River. There was also a winery stop at Cathedral Ridge; however, no time for a photo opportunity.

The rain really picked up as we were leaving the winery, so we came home to relax. Later that evening, we met up with our friend, Anna, at Cruz Room for tacos, drinks and to watch for crazy Halloween costumes running around in the rain.

Sunday, November 1st:
Sunday morning we munched on some banana bread and then planned to tour around Portland. First up was Henry's 12th Street Tavern, a fun sports bar and restaurant in downtown. With the Vikings games starting at 10AM PST, we made good timing to enjoy the game, some brunch and a Bloody Mary bar.
With the sun sneaking out of the clouds for a bit, we took advantage to then head up to the Pittock Mansion for a view of the city. Unfortunately, Mt. Hood was not visible, but we did see a rainbow!
After that, we spent some good time in the famous Powell's bookstore, looking for gifts and trying not to get lost. Then, we cruised through Nob Hill (Northwest), making our way to cross the beautiful St. John's bridge. We stopped at New Season's for a few items and delicious samples, then came back to our place to watch a little football and relax for the rest of the night. Munchies and football = a great Sunday evening.

Monday, November 2nd:
Sam, Doug and Mary headed West on a day trip to the Coast, including Tillamook, Cape Meares and Cannon Beach. They had a beautiful sunny day on the coast!

First stop Cape Meares Lighthouse.

For the first time, they got to see some Oregon sun. 

The Octopus Tree

Its 250-300 years old and 46' wide at the base.  Nobody is sure why it decided to grow like this.

When you pass through Tillamook you have to stop for some cheese samples and ice cream at the Tillamook Cheese Factory!

Add your own caption.

Cheese. Cheese. Cheese. Cheese. Cheese. Cheese. Cheese. Cheese. Cheese. Cheese.

Usually its' the other way around.  Tillamook also makes some amazing ice cream.

Hug Point. 

We stopped at Camp 18 on the way home.  It's a big log restaurant/logging museum.  The inside features a massive 85-foot long ridge pole (biggest known) and other impressive wood things and logging tools.  Outside, the property is covered in old logging equipment.

Doug on the left, Sam on the right.

That's a big Band Saw.

When the 3 of them made it back from the Coast, we decided on dinner at Bollywood Theatre, a favorite Indian spot of Mary and Sam's. Delicious!

Thank you for coming to visit, Doug and Mary!

Hood River & Dog Mtn

Friday, July 31st - August 2nd, 2015

A weekend getaway to Hood River with Pat and Emily for camping, windsurfing, shenanigans and hiking Dog Mountain.

Friday, July 31st -

Found a campsite (Tucker) along a river. Nice, quiet spot!

View from our 'backyard'

Saturday, August 1st, 2015 -
Today was windsurfing day! Pat brought and took pictures/videos with his Go Pro; however, very unfortunately, none of them turned out... it was a challenging, but very fun adventure nonetheless!

Hanging on the waterfront prior to windsurfing lessons. Trying to pick up on a few pointers from the pros.

Successful afternoon of windsurfing on the Columbia River.

As per usual, a beer or two at Double Mountain.

Evening camping fun with fajitas and shenanigans.

Sunday, August 2nd, 2015 -
Hiking to the top of Dog Mountain today!

Pat, Emily and Mary at the trailhead.

Legit uphill for the entire hike up.

The Gorge.

Almost to the top.

Photo ops!

Pat and Emily - what lovely company!

Lake Billy Chinook & Smith Rock

Friday, July 24th - Sunday, July 26th, 2015

In our effort to experience the "7 Wonders of Oregon," we took advantage of a free weekend to head towards central Oregon for Smith Rock State Park.

Friday, July 24th - 

Leaving Friday after work, we planned to camp at Cove Palisades in Culver, OR near Lake Billy Chinook. We grabbed our spot, then scoped out a place to view an amazing sunset.

Sunset. Houseboats on Lake Billy Chinook. Sam. Three Sisters (mountains).

Loving the sunset with Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Hood.

Calm, evening waters.

Sam and Mary.

Beautiful!

 Saturday, July 25th -
Next morning, we headed south for some mountain biking in Bend near Mt. Bachelor.
Trails: Funner and Tiddlywinks.

After biking and before heading back into town, we drove a ways to check out Sparks Lake.
Downtown Bend was hosting a crit bike race, so we checked it out. Our friend, Anna, had a teammate racing, who took 2nd place in the women's pro!

After tasting a few local beers, we drove north a bit to meet Mary's friend, Amy, who lives in Redmond.

Sunday, July 26th -
We grabbed breakfast and chai tea to go, and drove to Smith Rock State Park. Gorgeous weather and great sights.

If you look close enough, you can see many, many humans scaling the walls of rock!

The famous rock climbing destination: Monkey Face. Do you see it? (Hint: it's facing towards the right)

Crazy people climbing Monkey Face

View from close to the top

View from the top - and the other side of Monkey Face.

More from the top.

Rock cliffs to a long ways down... 

Cross Smith Rock State Park off of the list!

7 Wonders of Oregon:

1. Crater Lake
2. Painted Hills
3. Smith Rock
4. Wallowas
5. Mt. Hood
6. Columbia River Gorge
7. Oregon coast

Sisters Week in Boston

Monday, June 8th - Friday, June 12th

Sisters Week: BOSTON

Finally, Laura and I were able to pick some dates and make a Boston trip happen! Albeit during the work week, Betty was able to take time off :)

6 / 8 / 2015 - Fiesta dinner

Betty picked Laura and I up from the airport around 5PM. We made the quick drive back to Betty & Spencer's awesome new place in Chelsea, MA. This night, was fiesta dinner: to celebrate our reunion! Fajitas (chicken and chorizo), Corona's all around and Laura's famous guacamole. After dinner, we took to making plans for our week together!

Selfie time - cheers!

6 / 9 / 2015 - To the Cape + Lobster Dinner

Tuesday was Cape Cod day! This included the Cape Cod kettle chip factory tour in Hyannis, Chapin beach, a taste of the famous clam chowdah, Scargo tower, and picking out yummy lobsters in Orleans to take home and cook for dinner. Also, we took are adventurous selves on a few geocache attempts: with success!

To the tour!

Slinger girls

We didn't really understand the duck feet, but it was a nice visual to get us started on the self-guided tour!

Our free bag of chips! Unfortunately for us, today they were making Reduced Fat. We figured they wait to make the good ones, Jalepeno, BBQ, etc., on the weekends for the big rush of tourists. They were tasty nonetheless!

We stopped in Dennis to grab lunch and a bottle of wine, then headed to the beach!

Empty Chapin Beach was beautiful with a warm breeze on this overcast afternoon.

Low tide: we made the trek to the water!

Cool lines in the sand from the wind.

The water was a good temp.

From there we headed farther up the Cape to Orleans to hunt down a few lobsters for dinner.

Choices, choices.

Our dinner! And, yes, we named them.

Orleans is also the place where we successfully completed our FIRST EVER geocache attempt!

"Billboard magnet" - great find, Ella!

Back to Betty & Spencer's to cook our lobster dinner! Laura led the way :)

Betty: "It's still alive."

Laura: "No, he's just like death-thriving."

Delicious!

Our amazing feast: lobster and sweet corn; dessert = strawberry shortcake.

6 / 10 / 2015 - To downtown Boston

We started out at Boston College to see Betty's lab. She learned a package had arrived for her, making today a FANTASTIC day to start! Betty had a little work to do, so Laura and I walked around the beautiful campus.

Fancy, pretty buildings on Boston College campus.

Fun.

They're proud of their Doug Flutie.

Library straight out of Hogwarts!

After our BC tour, we head to downtown Boston, park and take on the "Walking-est City in America." Lunch at the Globe, a walk to the Common and a quick trip on the Freedom Trail.

These are so cool! Look like massive purple dandelions right out of Dr. Seuss!

Man-powered Swan boats on the lake at the Common.

Freedom Trail!

Interesting rope art.

 At Faneuil Marketplace, we decide to take on another geocache attempt - and with more success!

Tiny Thomas :) Nice find, Bia!

We then take the "T" back to the car and head toward Fenway for apps and beers - and to meet up with Mary's friend, Sadie, and her boyfriend, Brian.

Bleacher Bar: with seats in center field!

Sisters at Bleacher Bar.

Look who we found! SADE!

After Bleacher Bar, we walked to Go Home for drinks and then to Cornwall's. Our next activity was the Coit Observatory at Boston University, to which we run to, and make it in time for their 8PM public night... except, it was apparently "called off due to clouds." Sad day.

We totally made it in time, though!

6 / 11 / 2015 - Kayaking on the Charles + Paint Nite

We began Thursday morning by relaxing and watching Tarzan. Then, around noon, we suited up and made our way toward the kayak rental spot on the Charles River. En route, we were lucky enough to drive under Spencer's infamous bridge that turned a U-Haul into a convertible :)

Laura has pictures from the kayaking - will add soon!!

After kayaking, El Pelon for lunch and a few episodes of American Horror Story, it came time to clean up for our Paint Nite at Two Three Zero!

Pretty sisters.

Half-time of our masterpiece-making.

Sadie Lynn and I!

Turned out great!

Gametime decision to add Sam and I (two kayakers) into my painting, at least that is the intent.

Final picture of our paintings :)

6 / 12 / 2015 - Mary has to leave :(

On the way to the airport, we ate an amazing breakfast at Donna's Restaurant! Laura and Betty had the rest of the weekend to hang, while Mary sat in class.

Thanks for the AMAZING adventure trip, Betty! Next 'Sisters Week' ideas and planning shall start soon :)