Back from the beach!

Tom, Satchel, and I headed to the beach to celebrate my 30th birthday. The cottage we rented this time wasn't as nice, but it did have a nice outdoor area for reading. The owner had fixed it up in a charming fashion, but it had some interesting quirks i.e. slanting floor and some odd angles, but was had a fun time.

We also caught some nice sunsets as the weather was perfect Friday and Saturday.

Satchel got lots of off leash time at the beach. By the end of Sunday, he was tired out.

We partook at some wine tasting on the way back to town and found a few interesting wineries.

Sand in the City

Portland puts on an annual fundraiser called Sand In The City. Tons of sand is hauled into the square and local companies (including mine) create sand sculptures themed by children's books.

Bystanders purchase coins and use those to vote for their favorite sculptures. All the proceeds go to charity.

Given that this is a once a year event and the sculptors have day jobs, it's pretty amazing what they're able to produce.

Tom and I made it more of an adventure by riding our bikes the 4 miles from our house to downtown. Portland's designed a pretty amazing bike network. You can get most places in town without having to be on a main road without a bike lane for more then a few minutes. Below are a few of my favorite sculptures.

Portland skyline including Mt. Hood and the tram

Berries, berries, and more berries!

Today I went berry picking with a friend on Sauvie Island which is a little island in the Willamette River about 10 miles due north of Portland. I great up on the east coast, and I've never seen anything quite like it.

Part of the island is a nature reserve, but much of it is used for agriculture. You name it, there's a good chance they grow it. Raspberries, marionberries, corn, apricots, beans, etc. The picture on the right is of the blueberry fields, as you can see, they grow more like trees! Some of the raspberries were more like small strawberries.


Between myself and my friend, we walked away with about 20 pounds of berries, two heads of cabbage and about a pound of string beans.


I see some raspberry jam and marionberry tarts in my future.

Well here it is!

After much foot dragging, I've finally accepted that I need to sign up for one of these blog sites to keep family and friends in better touch with some of our more notable life events. For those of ya'll that know me well know I'm a bad correspondent but well meaning none the less.

Tom celebrated his 34th birthday yesterday, and today has completed a week long celebration. Here are some pics from our time at the beach.



While the humans had a relaxing time, it's pretty clear from the pictures, that Satchel had the best time!



He even managed to be on good behavior, which for those of you that know him is a pretty impressive feat!