Sunday, August 30, 2009
Vacation 2009
Adventure #1 was to go windsurfing. I’ve always wanted to, and now I’m 55, and it won’t get any easier as I get older, and I found a place that was not too expensive – so I signed us up. Bob didn’t want to, but Cait and Soren and I were ready to go. We got to Hood River an hour early for our lesson, only to discover that there wasn’t enough wind to raise a wave, and there was no wind to surf. Instead, we tried stand up paddling. That’s standing on a surfboard, with a really long paddle, and paddling around like a dufflepud on a pond. We paddled to an island, and vegged out a bit, and paddled back. It was hard to keep my balance – Soren fell in at one point, not even accidentally on purpose – and although the board have a keel they don’t keep entirely straight, but you can make them go where you like. It was fun. It felt like going to the Island from the cottage at the Lake.
Then after that, we booked a night in a real hotel on the Oregon coast. I wanted to show Cait and Soren the stuff we’d seen last year, the whales and the seals & puffins and sea lions and the cool coves and rocks. We also thought we’d see the Tillamook cheese place, because people talk about it. Tillamook was a total waste of time and energy, way too commercial and crowded. So we drove down the coast, and found some empty beachy places, and that was good - though it was cloudy. (Here are Cait and Bob).
So we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It’s pretty cool – and a lot of it is outside in the rain, but I snagged an umbrella from the entry people – and we watched them feeding the sea otters, and the puffins were cool, and the seals were fun. The puffins and murres would toddle up to the brink of the rocks, and then cannonball off and blast into the water feet first. They were really funny. Soren and Cait also took the tunnel through the aquarium. They’ve built a t
unnel right through the middle of the aquarium. The walls are clear, the top is clear, there’s a window in the floor like a glass bottom boat. It’s cool and a bit freaky. Bob and I got dizzy last time, so we gave it a pass, but the kids liked it a lot.
After that we came home. Cait and I went to the farmer’s market on Saturday, I hooked her up with a friend who took her to the train station. Bob and I went to a party. And then Sunday, we just recovered from our lazy vacation. I suppose we’re ready to start a new school year. I suppose….
This year we took a low energy vacation. We didn’t go between July and August because Bob was too busy and Andrea was working. So, we planned a vacation to Hells Canyon, but that was when Cait would be here, and we just couldn’t see leaving her HERE while we went AWAY on vacation. So, we opted for two little adventures.
Adventure #1 was to go windsurfing. I’ve always wanted to, and now I’m 55, and it won’t get any easier as I get older, and I found a place that was not too expensive – so I signed us up. Bob didn’t want to, but Cait and Soren and I were ready to go. We got to Hood River an hour early for our lesson, only to discover that there wasn’t enough wind to raise a wave, and there was no wind to surf. Instead, we tried stand up paddling. That’s standing on a surfboard, with a really long paddle, and paddling around like a dufflepud on a pond. We paddled to an island, and vegged out a bit, and paddled back. It was hard to keep my balance – Soren fell in at one point, not even accidentally on purpose – and although the board have a keel they don’t keep entirely straight, but you can make them go where you like. It was fun. It felt like going to the Island from the cottage at the Lake.
Then after that, we booked a night in a real hotel on the Oregon coast. I wanted to show Cait and Soren the stuff we’d seen last year, the whales and the seals & puffins and sea lions and the cool coves and rocks. We also thought we’d see the Tillamook cheese place, because people talk about it. Tillamook was a total waste of time and energy, way too commercial and crowded. So we drove down the coast, and found some empty beachy places, and that was good - though it was cloudy. (Here are Cait and Bob). But our hotel was OK, and we had a really nice dinner, and the next day, when we were ready to climb the rocks and see the animals, it started to rain. And rain. And it kept on raining.
So we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It’s pretty cool – and a lot of it is outside in the rain, but I snagged an umbrella from the entry people – and we watched them feeding the sea otters, and the puffins were cool, and the seals were fun. The puffins and murres would toddle up to the brink of the rocks, and then cannonball off and blast into the water feet first. They were really funny. Soren and Cait also took the tunnel through the aquarium. They’ve built a t
unnel right through the middle of the aquarium. The walls are clear, the top is clear, there’s a window in the floor like a glass bottom boat. It’s cool and a bit freaky. Bob and I got dizzy last time, so we gave it a pass, but the kids liked it a lot. After that we came home. Cait and I went to the farmer’s market on Saturday, I hooked her up with a friend who took her to the train station. Bob and I went to a party. And then Sunday, we just recovered from our lazy vacation. I suppose we’re ready to start a new school year. I suppose….
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Soren
came back from Paris and immediately had too many people wanting to see him. And a drama presentation. And a party every night. So he's been busy.
I
finished the class I was taking and finished the work I was doing, with (finally) success in posting powerpoints to the web page and installation of one new database.
Cait
is arriving today, having finished her quarter and signed up for her final quarter, and preparing to set out for parts unknown as soon as she can.
Elizabeth
resents the price you have to pay for fruit in New England and the fact it doesn't fall off trees and into one's mouth. "Tok, Tok - here we are waiting to be eaten" said the rice and shrimps and other good things. -- "Couldn't you just feed me yourselves, without putting me to so much trouble? " asked Tok. "Well, we'll try" said the rice and shrimps, and so they jumped right into her mouth ..... from "lazy Tok".
Bob
just had his last rehearsal for the summer and is going through music withdrawal. He's also on vacation, and so he's going on work withdrawal. But he's dealing with that fine because he already volunteered half a day yesterday and intends to do the same thing at least one day next week.
Sunday, August 02, 2009
August 2, 2009.
So, the news of the week is that it has been HOT.
So, the news of the week is that it has been HOT.
We saw a picture of Soren in Paris wearing his sweatshirt, but it was 106 degrees here. The big fat slob is lying in the wading pool, with her legs and arms hanging out, drinking her iced tea. The lilies which we’ve been waiting and waiting for finally bloomed – and that very day, in the heat, they BURNT. You can see the brown burn marks on the petals. Raspberries took one breath of the hot air and said “forget it!”, and they’re done for the season. One of the bean plants pretty much gave it up. I thought we’d lost the hanging basket, but we just lost all the flowers on it – the stems and leaves are hanging in there. One of the tomatoes has curled up its leaves and is trying to die. It’s HOT.We’re always so proud of ourselves that we don’t need air conditioning, and when we open the windows at night and close up in the morning, the house doesn’t usually get about 75 and never above 80. Well, welcome to the real world, Andrea. I got home from work one day and it was 82 downstairs. I think it may have gotten to 90 indoors. We had to move a bed downstairs to sleep, and it was STILL too hot. We couldn’t get the house below 74, even at 7 AM, for two or three days.
Hopefully, our “heat wave” is over, and it’s just the normal 90-95 degrees, which we can deal with and keep the house below 75. The lady in the grocery store commented that a few weeks ago, we’d be screaming at 90 degree weather. Now, well, it’s just 90, big deal. She’s right.
This weekend we had to do something, anyway. So on Friday we went for a bike ride along the burnt bridge creek trail. It’s pretty level, which is good. I don’t like going too fast (that’s the downhill part of hills) and I hate going up hills. So level works for me. It was fun – and hot.
And yesterday, we went to Hood River, and drove the fruit loop, which is not a cereal. We stopped at several farm stands and orchards, and picked up 25 pounds of apricots and 20 pounds of peaches. So today I have made 2 batches of apricot jam so far, and I’m getting ready to put up one batch of peaches. This morning we picked a few blackberries, and it’s possible that I’ll make a blackberry apricot pie. Fruit season is on.
And, isn’t that enough? What do you think?
