Vancouver B.C.

Last weekend I was in Vancouver watching Jon compete in the triathlon World Championships. The weather was so foul on the day of the race that they cancelled the swimming portion (after the women, elderly and handicapped got hypothermia) so in reality a 'triathlon' it wasn't. Still, it was fun to catch up with old friends and wander around Vancouver.

I discovered that Vancouver has a branch of my favorite bakery from Australia, Baker's Delight. Although in Canada it is called Cobb's. I bought two loaves of the Cape Seed Bread which I ate almost every day while in Melbourne. Apparently Seattle has some of these bakeries as well. I can only hope they will make their way down to Portland. The boys tasted the bread and sort of curled their lips at it, declaring it 'too seedy' and 'having too much stuff in it.' While the girls liked the idea of having seeds and stuff in their bread. It must be a guy thing. Except Trevor liked it as well...

Going with the 'commonwealth' link theory, I made the mistake of buying 16 cans of Heinz 'original' beans in tomato sauce, assuming the taste would be the same as the 'orginals' in the blue can I have bought in the UK and Australia. Unfortunately, Canada seems to be doing something quite different with their beans in tomato sauce as they taste nothing like their UK counterpart. I should have guessed by the labelling which is not the same. So now I have 16 cans of not very good beans sitting in my kitchen. Maybe I will give them away as presents...

Summer fun

Even though I'm excited to be leaving for Nicaragua and to see family and friends back home in Wisconsin, I also can't wait to come back to Oregon in July. I've made a list of things I want to do this summer once I get back. Come August, I expect most will be checked off as done!

1. wind or kitesurfing in Hood River
2. sleep in a yurt
3. hike the Rogue River area
4. visit silverton
5. find out what's in Eastern Oregon
6. eat a lot of fried calamari
   
7. go to Bend
8. pick berries on Sauvie Island
9. go kayaking (not sure where yet)
10. buy a mountain bike
11. drink a (Rogue) beer float at Elephant's Deli
12. surf somewhere in the freezing waters of the Oregon coast
13. try the fondue at that restaurant on Glisan and 21st
14. BBQ (lots)
15. tailgate
16. go to Crater Lake
17. go to a soccer and baseball game at PGE Park
18. enjoy summery drinks on my balcony
19. drink a lot of sun tea
20. visit the Dunes
21. learn to make fresh mozzerela
22. take a cooking class
23. go on some waterfall hikes
24. eat at Eleni Philoxenia
25. try most of the menu at Rogue Brewery
26. go to Seattle
27. make my own ciabatta rolls
28. go to the Japanese gardens
29. make lemonade with real lemons
30. go crabbing
    

Camping in the Gorge

Last weekend I experienced my first night of camping in Oregon.  Although my hopes to sleep in a yurt were dashed (maybe next time), I spent a fine night underneath the stars in Wyeth National Park with Rosemary and Matt.  We managed to ration our seven pieces of wood long enough for me to roast a cheddarwurst and Matt a hotdog before turning to bed.

Writing in reverse chronological order, I stopped in Hood River for a couple hours before meeting up with Rosemary and Matt.  I've passed through Hood River before, once I saw it only from the freeway as I made the final stretch of the journey from Wisconsin to Portland.  This time, however, I stayed for about 3 hours, grumpily working on an assignment needing to be finished this Friday.  The sun emerged for the first time in days, so I worked as long as my attention span could take (about 45 minutes) and then threw my bags in the car and walked around the (very small) town.  Sage's cafe, where I'd been working, it turns out, was not the most desirable location to type away.  It was more of a grandmotherly restaurant of sorts.  The food wasn't bad, but on my walk I discovered Doppio, an open-walled cafe with plenty of interesting coffee and gelato on the menu.  I will definitely be back for me, maybe when I learn kite surfing.  Then I can also check out the $1 happy hour at the Victorian-esque brewery on the hill.