Dad and Daughter day out

Elly and I spent Veteran's Day in Portland. Mom, unfotunately, had to work.

I really enjoy the Portland Classical Chinese Garden, and try to go about once every season. It's becoming a regular outing for Elly and I. I've posted pictures from the garden before, such as this one...



For information about the Garden, and what makes it authentic, here's the link to the website. www.portlandchinesegarden.org If you happen to be in Portland, and haven't seen this, it's worth the price of admission.

The Garden changes with the seasons, of course. On the day we visited, they had displays of art and also chrysanthemums scatterred throughout the Garden, and info on their tie to China. Elly really liked them.



We stopped in the teahouse, which is normally very busy, and had some tea. We saw only four other people while we were in the Garden. Then we ventured out into the neighborhood for lunch. We ate shrimp won ton soup which Elly devoured, chatted and then browsed a gift shop where she bought some trinkets. We rounded out the day with a trip to REI to window shop.

Much fun, all around!

Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh by bike

Those that know me, know I like to bike... mountain, road, tour... and to keep things interesting one has to have a goal to train, plan and drool over... Past tours have been of the Natchez Trace (2004, mellow), and Blue Ridge/Shenandoah Parkway (2007, a beast).

The latest daft (i.e. excellent) idea was posed by a riding partner last year; to ride the Chesapeake and Ohio towpath and Great Allegheny Passage from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh PA. It lets you ride entirely off road for appx 350 miles. The surface varies but is good enough to run a touring bike with 28's or bigger on... sort of. On past tours we have had almost no mechanical issues. This time out we had several, mostly due to the rougher patches on the route. Aside from things working loose, there was a recurring flat, a couple of stripped rack bolts, and a frame whose rack mounts broke. All part of the fun!

Six of us went, ages 65, 62, 58, 52, 41, and the young one-in his 20's. We got to D.C. on a scattered schedule, but two of us flew into Reagan National, put our bikes together in the claim area, and rode off into D.C. along the Potomac to points west.

We started off with weather in the 70's and clear, but as we gained elevation, it got colder and we got into some beautiful leaf displays. The last three days saw temps in the 30's, rainy and windy. One of the places we passed through was supposed to get snow the next night. We rode for eight days, and stayed in a mix of campgrounds, motels and B&B. A good time was had by all.

Now.... Where to go next????


My horse at Reagan Nat'l


At towpath mile "0"


Old Potomac Dam


C & O double track


G.A.P. smooooth riding


After a cold, wet day

October update

It's been a busy month+. Through September I spent nearly every free minute logging miles for the bike tour, eventually managing about 300 or so. That was short of my goal of 450, but considering we lost a little over a week due to a bug of some sort that hit us all, not too bad. Then of course, there was the tour itself (post coming soon) which was very cool. So.... I haven't posted in awhile. Here's some quick photo updates of E dancing, at gymnastis and gettin' a pumpkin this past weekend.


Gymnastics


Tap practice


Ballet practice


Hayride, pumpkins, roasted corn, caramel apple... priceless!


On a beautiful fall Northwest day


I think this is the one... or maybe that one... or that one...

How fast can a teacup run?

So... today I'm ridin' my bike... 15 miles in, it's a beautiful day, sunny and warm, and I'm finally starting to feel like I might be able to do the mileage required on my upcoming tour without absolutely sufferring.

Now in all my riding, I have been paced by a Great Dane (I can't say chased because he would have caught and eaten me if he wanted too), ran over and endo'ed because of a yellow lab, and been chased and/or bitten at by any number of dogs from mutts to Rotties. Being a dog owner myself, I try to give the poor creatures a break. They aren't usually too good at pre-planning an attack, and hence a creature with opposable thumbs can usually avoid getting nipped by sprinting, yelling, or good old H2O.

I ran into a different caliber of dog today.

He must have read Sun Tzu about a weaker force overcoming a stronger.

Because there I was grinding up a climb, when out of a driveway launched a dryer lint ball, a dust bunny, wait... it was a little tea-cup something or other dog. Across both lanes of the road he charged, gaining ground on me and literally nipping at my feet. This continued for a good 50 yards or so. Now, for the answer to the post's headline.... somewhere around 12 mph he either began tiring, or I began to finally outsprint the little bastard and he began to drop back, but not give up, oh no! He continued beligerantly chasing after for another 50 yards or so.

Sheeeesh!

A brand new 'do!

Before


After

For the last month or so, E’s been getting fussy with her hair, wanting it left down, then getting cranky ‘cause it’s in her face; high pony’s, low pnoy’s, hairbands, sheesh!

After our recent camping trips, and her friend’s sleepover, she started saying she wanted her hair cut short- like her friends. We’d been discussing it too, so we decided to take advantage of her initiative and run with it.

I think this was more of a trauma for mom and our trusted hair wizard than it was for Elly and I. All told, the cuts took place over two nights (of course it had to be done in stages!) and took off about 8” of hair. For those worried that she might now have hair like mine, no worries… as the wizard says… “It may be short, but she still has A LOT of hair”

Sleepover

Some friends of ours who haven’t had a night away from their daughter since bringing her home, took us up on our offer to have a sleepover. Now, even though we live quite a ways apart, we have managed to keep Elly and Jo Jo in contact frequently over the last couple of years, so the girls are close, and talk about each other all the time. But sharing a room, toys, and everything else is new territory, so we didn’t know what to expect. We figured it wouldn’t be too difficult though... Ahhh…. I hear everyone out there (or at least the four faithful followers) sighing and shaking your heads right now, waiting for the “How wrong we were” story. Not so.

The girls played at home for awhile, then we went to the park where they ran around like crazy with Jo Jo leading the charge and Elly at her back. Anyone who knows the two of them can picture this I’m sure. We only had one very brief spat over toy ownership/use the whole time.

Elly, being the recent camping expert, showed JoJo how to make Smores over the firepit in our yard.

As we expected, it took them a long time to go to sleep though. Jo Jo had a short but very manageable melt because she missed mommy and daddy, and the hour leading up to the melt was very humorous.

Quote “Tina… Elly’s not talking to me!!!” (Because she was exhausted and falling asleep).

The next morning we headed north, to a bouncy house we know. The girls again ran around like mad and had a grand time. We met Jo Jo’s mom and dad there, had a good lunch, and agreed to do it all again sometime. All Elly wanted to know on the way home was when she could stay with Jo Jo, and what we were going to do while she did.

Vacation!

Since meeting Elly, we’ve taken numerous short trips- an hour or so away, with the longest being for a couple of nights…. but we haven’t taken an extended vacation. So this was the year- it’s been planned since January. Two weeks off with a week of it on the road.

As the dates neared, our original plan seemed too ambitious. Too many hours in the car, not enough breaks and what would be too tight a timeline. Credit Tina with what turned out to be a great trip.

We drove south, with no real destination other than we needed to make Crescent City, CA eventually. In Roseburg, we side tripped to the wildlife safari, got some great organic beef jerky from a place I just happened to see up and off the main highway, and took a leisurely dinner at the only Restaurant, (i.e. not fast food), around. Then we pushed on to the campground.

We stayed in a “Kabin” and used Crescent City as a base camp for several days, which worked well. We did several trips into Redwoods NP (driving and hiking), walked and climbed on the beaches, took in the lighthouses and history, played in the Smith River, went to a Farmer’s Market, and of course had camp fires and cooked on our camp stove.

We met a man from England in the campground. Nice fellow who was on his Harley with his better half on an extended tour of Canada/US. Elly liked him, probably because of his accent. He had recently had several friends come down with cancer, and decided to retire early and travel as a result. He was nearing the end of a month-long tour of the states and Canada. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do on returning home, but said “It’ll work out”. Safe travels Bob!

On the way home, we made a quick trip through Crater Lake NP. I had planned to do some riding or hiking there, but the way it worked out, we got pressed for time. But now I know how far it is, and know what I want to do there next time.

All in all, a great trip!


How big is it?


Fresh and clean... for the moment!


Stout Grove Jedidiah Smith Park

Camping Excursion

What is camping without this?

We went camping at Mt. Rainier with several friends and co-workers. We had the majority of the camping loop locked up. Two nights and days at the campground. We broke out the new tent (HUGE!!) and packed what seemed like half the house. The site that was supposed to be ours had a tent pad that was too small for our new tent, so we put ours up in the group area. That made our site the group site, which actually worked out very well and was quite enjoyable.



I planned to ride from the campground to Sunrise Saturday morning... but I forgot about Cayuse Pass... So I rode from the campground to the east entrance of the Park where I waited for my ride. Not what I'd originally planned, but I still got in 23 miles of riding, most all of it uphill, a real grinder.

Elysa enjoyed the camp immensely and was dirty most of the time.



I totally lost any outdoor cred I might have had. As I was pumping up the football field sized air mattress for Tina, in the bathrooms where there was 110, another guy had to wait to get in the door. He was patient... and in sheer awe of the size of the thing. I could say "I'm sleeping on the ground on a Therm-a-rest" all I wanted...his smirk said it all. For what it's worth, I did sleep in a bag, on a Thermarest! Really!

PORTLAND BRIDGE PEDAL 2009

This ride is uniquely Portland, claimed to be the most bike friendly city in the USA. The city shuts down motorized traffic for the morning, and allows bikes to literally rule the roads. Very cool to ride your bike ON the freeway, and down the middle of city streets!

Some of you may remember that last year I tried to do this ride with Elly... emphasis on "tried".

Today was a different story. She was in the bike trailer the better part of two hours. The 6-bridge-ride is only 14 miles long, but due to the heavy rider response, and the fact that it is a "family" ride, we only averaged 8.3 mph. In addition, you have to wait in the start mass, which took about 20 minutes and is where she fell apart last year. Out of the entire time, she only had a crisis for about 10 minutes, about 2/3 of the way through. She says she had fun and is ready for more!


That's the "START" line waaaaay up ahead!


Elly's view of the driver and the world. (photo by Elly)


Portland and fireboat from the Ross Island bridge


On the top of the Fremont bridge... the 405, 6 lanes, not a car in sight!

Lewis and Clark State Park camping overnight

I had originally planned to take a short cycle trip/overnight with Elly to Lewis and Clark State Park, which was built by the CCC and is fairly close to us- appx 25 miles. The cycling part of it hasn't happened yet, but since we have a planned weekend car camping trip coming up soon, I figured we needed to see how she did- not just in the backyard.

We waited for mom to get home so Elly could say goodnight, and I packed while they ate. Within an hour of leaving the house, we had the tent set up, and the gear we were going to need laid out. We even had time to brew up a cup of hot chocolate! Walking through the woods to the "potty" was a little bit scary, but Elly was was quite brave.

Wrap yourself in a mummy bag, and go crowd surfing... that's kind of what's it's like to be in a two-man tent with a three-year-old. Boot to the head! Headbutt! Straight-arm, etc... After most of a book, she finally settled down and went to sleep, but woke up cold a couple of times because she kept crawling out of her bag. Still, she woke up her normal happy self, raring to go outside.

We made a freezedried breakfast with bananas, and hot chocolate for her and much needed coffee for me. She took some pictures, and is actually able to use our point-n-shoot pretty good. We went for a short hike/stick and pine cone gathering excursion, and found the playground (swings) and ampitheatre (balance beams). We got packed up and gone just as the short night was catching up to her. Quite a success I think.


Hot chocolate and graham crackers


Elly took this as I was explaining a compass to her...


...and trying to figure it out on her own


I just thought this was funny...

It's a deer, in the yard!

During Elly's birthday party, one of our friends asked if we see deer in our yard. As long as we've lived here, I had to say "no". They're around. I see them while I'm at work. There's a herd of elk down the road. But we've never seen deer in the yard. Raccoons, yep, 'possum, check, snakes and bunnies, lots, rogue dogs and cats, by the herd. But squirrels and deer, nope... And then, just a couple days later, we see this-



He stayed long enough to lie around for awhile, get up, eat some greens, eye me suspiciously, and then slowly wander off.

Seeing as how we live where we do, I fully expected to hear a lone gunshot shortly thereafter... but it never came. I guess he made it another day. Elly was super excited and watched until he left.

Pig pen!!

So I decided to build a flagstone patio out back... Seemed like a good idea at the time. Actually it turned out pretty good... but I digress. Once I got it cut down and leveled, I was left with our wonderful northwest red clay base- DRY. Elly, being the prim and proper young lady she is, promptly sat down and began to play with said dry, red clay. Naturally, there was a light breeze to help things along. She was actually quite happy with herself.

4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

0400 hours
05 minutes
06 seconds
July
8th
2009

I can't take credit for realizing this point in time was coming up... Tina heard it somewhere... but I got up early and took the photo of Elly at that point in time.

Elly's got a brand new bike!

"Mom, I want to pedal".

So much for the Like-a-bike we got her last year.

A trip to River City Bikes in Portland, a fitting and test ride (kind of), and a week later a brand new bike.

And yes, somehow, she figured out how to pedal. The turning thing is still a bit tricky though...


"I'm here for my bike" (patiently waiting in the shop on pick-up day).


"The seat's 2mm too high, the stem needs to come back 5mm, and I'd like some clipless pedals please, oh, and I'll take the purple horn"


Look! A trackstand! (never mind the training wheels) I think she likes it...

Our Anniversary

Tina and I got away to Astoria for an overnight trip on our anniversary. Thanks to grandma Roxie for watching Elly for us. For those that don't know, Astoria is a pretty cool town on the Oregon side of the Columbia, near the mouth of the river. There are many cool things there. The maritime museum, Columbia River bar pilots, the Astoria column, and lots of history tucked away in every corner. When we moved to Washington, Astoria was pretty rundown, with remnants of old canneries falling in, lots of eyesores, dilapidated historical buildings, etc. It has turned itself around, or pimped itself out, depending on how you view it. It now boasts a cruise ship- not the little ones, in port each week, there are fancy eateries as well as hip ones. Three brew pubs, rejuvinated historial buildings, restored theatre, etc. We stayed the night in the Cannery Pier Hotel, which was outstanding. It is built in an old cannery, and sits on a pier, right under the Astoria-Megler bridge on the Columbia River. This was a great, relaxing trip, although too short.


I got lucky with this shot, taken right off the deck at the hotel!


Also taken from the deck, looking west towards Cape Disappointment

For more on the history of Astoria and the Hotel, go to www.cannerypierhotel.com and check out the Astoria and history tabs.

Great American Campout

I hope to do a short bike tour/overnight camp with Elly this summer, and we have a camping trip planned for August. So we figured we should see how she handled a night in a tent. I set my trusty touring tent up in the backyard, got out a therma-rest, and her butterfly bag, and her flashlight, and her books, and her stuffed animal, and... well you get the drift. All in all it was a big hit. She didn't go to sleep until late, thanks to our many hours of summer daylight, but she didn't wig out in the tent either. I think we're ready for more adventures.


Our home for the night. Note the play structure in the background, thanks Tracy!


Showing mom how she was going to sleep, what turned out to be much, much later!

Cousin Tracy's annual visit

Elly's Kansas cousin Tracy came to stay for a couple of weeks again this year. As usual, we all had a great time. He helped me do some projects around the house, rode his bike every day, and played the X-box... oh and texted non-stop.


New benches out front, finished with lots 'o Tracy's help


In Elly's new play structure, under construction in this photo


After Elly's Mandarin class, hangin' out

A big thanks to Tracy for all his help. The swings were a HUGE hit. She's on that thing every chance she gets.

Silver Star hike-Brrrrrrr!

If any of the followers still are, I'm going to try and catch up the last few months activities. So first...

Silver Star is a high point in SW Washington. This was supposed to be a great hike with a great view. It was 70's and clear in town, but, well the pics speak volumes. It was a good hike in any case. Fun is what you make of it. We went through part sun, rain, sleet, snow, and back down to pouring rain. Ahh, variety!


Yep, that's snow we're "hiking" on


My partner's at the summit... I know you can't see it but it really is


The view on the way down, there's caves in those rocks


A little side trip of rock-hopping up to explore the caves

HAMILTON MT. HIKE

On 04-25-2009, four of us completed the second hike in our little series. This time out it was Hamilton Mt. in the Gorge, and the weather was perfect... not too hot or cold, no rain, no wind, great views.




Looking back up on the way down


Bonneville Dam and Bridge of the Gods