Family Trekster

By now most of you have seen or at least heard about how bike friendly Portland can be. What amazes me, as i ride my daily commute, is the number of teens riding themselves to school. They almost out number the adult commuters. On my way to work today i saw the Oregonian equivalent of Clark W. Griswold's "Family Truckster." No it was not the beloved "metallic pea" that graced the American roadways in the 80's. Like i said. . .it was the Oregonian version. I regularly see parents toting their children along in their kiddie carts but this time, mom threw in a new twist. It was mom pedaling the Trek hybrid, child #1 pedaling along on her "trail-a-bike" and children #2 and 3 riding behind in the kiddie cart. This. . .my friends. . .is the Oregonian version of the infamous "Family Truckster."


Now onto more social affairs. As those of you who read my last post know. . .i recently purchased a new piece of furniture. To commemorate our newest addition to the home we threw a party but not just any party, a. . .Dash of Trash party. Those of you who know me, know i despise themed parties. This theme was close to my heart however. Dan and i decided that we didn't want to go too far out with the theme (aka we're too lazy to decorate and make the appropriate food) so we, with the help of our neighbor, threw in the "dash" provision. Everyone was to dress as they normally do but add a little trailer trash spice. In most cases people just brought cheap beer but in other cases (including my own but no picture exists to prove it) a little more dash was employed. The party was a success and everyone went home feeling. . .well. . .a bit trashier than before. I was told by another party goer that i looked "far too comfortable" in my sleeveless, collared, plaid shirt and bare feet. This coming from the guy standing next to Dan in this picture.

Note: Dan's lack of trash. He claims it has something to do with being a Canasian.

I truly wish i had more pictures to share but the camera man ended up hitting the sauce a little earlier than he probably should have. The rest of the evening's footage will have to remain in the minds of the participants. Sorry.

The first step to recover starts with. . .

I'll start this post off with an adventure i wasn't even a part of. But since i'm family i can tell the story. While i was "busy" in Southern Oregon winning over the heart of a promicuous cougar, my very own Riley was having an adventure of his own. Uncle Dan being the draft, fresh breeze loving individual that he is, left a window cracked one afternoon. Before he knew it, Riley was out of the house and no where to be found (at least that's the story). I believe his offical escape was on Thursday, time uknown, and returned early Sunday morning. Apparently, Riley sat outside of Dan's bedroom window and screamed until he was let into the house. He ran straight to his food bowl, devoured it's contents and headed to the bedroom for a day long rest. Since his little weekend adventure in the quiet streets of southeast Portland, Riley has been venturing outside daily. He comes home every night for dinner and then again shortly after dark to cuddle up in a nice warm bed. In the morning, he's off again. So far he's managed to keep out of trouble but he's an Everline through and through, it's bound to happen sometime.

The ferocious Riley sneaking back into the house.

I've heard, usually jokingly, that the first step to confronting addction is admitting that you have a problem. Well. . .i'm an addict. I have a problem and i'm not in any rush to turn my back on myself now. Trish, Willy, Shawn and Todd. . .it's all your fault. Ever since i was told to "walk it off," when i broke my leg playing soccer, i've been hooked. The weekend following Memorial Day i was asked to participate in the PSU 5-a-side tournament, a prestigous tournament that brings some of the best Portland has to offer in football. I cautiously accepted, seeing as i've been playing coed and haven't felt a heavy tackle in nearly two years. The tourney started on Saturday at 9.30 with our first game. We walked away with a pretty simple victory and continued winning throughout the day. It has been a long time since i've been involved in a soccer tournament. I forget how much i love being surrounded by soccer. There is always a good vibe and plenty of hooliganism going on. We entered the knockout round top seed for our group. Our first game was pretty easy but the second game of the day looked like it was going to be a blood bath. The team we were set to play had just punished the 2nd place team in Group B 15-2. Anxiously awaiting a challenge we got behind early to start the game. We slowly got our feet under us and by the final whistle we had the advantage 6-2. The team was poised for the finals. Our competition was the Concordia University's Men's team. The kids were no slouches. To start. . .they were kids, quick, fit, physical, kids. Fortunately, the team i was playing for was the Condordia University's Alumni team. In the end youth won out over experience 6-4.

I don't know if anyone is counting here but that's 6 games for the weekend so far. But it's not over. Like a meth addict who just scored a new box of Sudafed, i had more football in front of me. I ran to Pizzacatto to refuel and head off for my coed indoor double header. I thought to myself. . .about the only good thing that can come out if this is me still standing with no sprains, strains, or broken bones. I was just about there, only two more games to go. What i didn't realize is that playing those young bucks make the coed circuit seem like the game was in slow motion. Even though i was exhausted i was still holding my own. We won our first game 17-1, by the end of the game our opponents had two extra players on the field. The second game proved to be a little more of a challenge but we still came out victorious, 9-4. By the time the whistle blew for the second game i had weathered 8 games over the course of two days. I won't throw in the mix the 3 other games i was scheduled to play in before week's end. All-in-all i walked away with nothing more than a great sense of pride that my old, joint creaking body, managed 8 matches in two days, a 2nd place finish in a difficult tournament, my first goal via header (i had two that weekend and another off my boot) and back to back hatricks in indoor. Not bad for a junkie.

Soccer-holics. Finally there is a place to meet.

So back to Memorial Day weekend. I didn't really do too much for my extended weekend. Spring was in the air so Dan and i did some minor "improvements" around the house/yard. Optomisitic (but terribly wrong) that the nice weather would hold, we decided to work on the lighting (or lack there of) situation in the backyard. We settled on large christmas like bulbs to string over the span of our brick patio. After looking over the logistics we opted more for the classic tree stringing effect. After a game of twister in the tree it was time to plant some veggies and herbs. Plenty of tomatoes, some peppers (which i hear don't grow in Oregon) and a few standard herbs. To break away from homely duties, Dan, the Newlyweds, myself and a couple other friends went spectating at the Timbers game. It was a highly contested match but in the end Portland walked away with their first loss of the season. After the game we went out for some drinks at one of the many McMenamin Brother's joints around the city. The McMenamin's have built a an entire empire of funky bars, hotels, and movie theaters all over the Pacific Northwest, including our beloved neighborhood movie theater, the Bagdad. They took a funeral parlour and turned it into a bar and an old elemtary school into several bars, movie theater, resturaunt and hotel. They've done it all. I took a break from drinking, housekeeping and more drinking to take a hike through Portland jewel Forest Park. The trails were essentially empty so Michelle and i enjoyed the quiet wilderness and fog filled treetops.

Here i am playing a game of tree top twister trying to string up some backyard lighting. I know. . .it's not nearly as impressive as topping a dead hickory tree but i'm trying here.

I wish i could say the backyard is always this light and bright all Spring but i'd be lying. I'll take what i can get though.

Here's captain ferocious holding down the fort.

Nothing like a friendly game of snooker after a football match and a flask of whiskey.

This is just and example of some of the quirky artwork the McMenamin Brothers put in their establishments. This was done in chalk on a 12 foot wide chalkboard.

The Timber Army taunting in full effect.

The fog filled canopy of Forest Park.

As we get futher into the "spring" here in the Pacific Northwest the rain continues to fall. We scored a nice day this past Sunday but i was running on two whole hours of sleep so some of it was spent napping. The rest of it i was. . .believe it or not. . .playing soccer. I hope this finds you all in good health, good spirits and good weather. Don't let a little rain scare you, we like it wet here, so should you.

Naughty Boy

I hear the thing about blogging (if that's what you would call this) is that you need to put stuff up if you want people to visit. I haven't been very good about that lately. But. . .i'm back with a vengence. . .okay, maybe not such a vengence but at least i return bearing pictures. Enough to keep me up to the wee hours of the night loading on to this new post.

When i left my homeland for the far reaches of the Pacific Northwest there are many things i could have become; homeless (creating off smelling summer puddles), mascarading as a homeless man (accepting gourmet pizzas from unsuspecting nice folk [bastard]), a nike employee, or. . .as the history channel has recently revealed. . .an "AxMan." I became none of the above. What i have become in my "senior" twenties is something i never saw coming; the voice of reason. I don't know what has happened to my deviantly minded old self but i think i may have lost him. A companion of mine, knowing my historical. . .let's call it "moral flexibility. . .has been pushing her limits. The other day on a camping trip she attempted to steal newspaper from the wood guy and me, of all people, said, "no, let's just play by the rules (or something lame like that)." You could have possibly convinced me i would become one of the things listed about but the "voice of reason" i never would have believed you. Getting old sucks. What's next? A rascal scooter or a Craft-matic adjustable bed?

Oh. . .and i became one of these too.

I have been pretty busy the last few weeks/month. I've gotten a year older, co-hosted a cooking lesson (really i just pay rent and my roommate did all the work), nearly rear-ended an SUV on my bike, and got a tan (maybe not such a big deal for those in my sunny locals but here in the NW it's unheard of [at least natural tans are]). Instead of writing your eyes loose, i'll just post some pics.

Dan, my well liked roommate from the north country, has a friend who is a cook at a resturaunt that has been rated Resturaunt of the Year for 2007 by both the Willamette Week and Portland Monthly. She kindly volunteered to come into our cramped little kitchen and teach several of us how to cook just like her (aka have us watch her cook delicous food). Now for those of you who haven't visited Portland, our food scene is out of this world! Words do it no justice, so to have such a distinguished chef in the house was quite an honor. Here are a few shots from that night.

Dan is supervises the kitchen operations.
Bria scopes out the menu for the evening. As you can see. . .bachelors don't really keep wine glasses handy.
I have no idea what the hell this leafy green is but it was damn tastey.

A stovetop full of goodies.

Dan's drunk and i'm sober. . .go figure :)

For those of you who may have not known. . .i had a birthday recently. Being the pooper i always am, i didn't really do much. The weekend prior to the big day i decided to get away and head to the coast. As you can see in this video it was a perfect weekend to lay on the beach and catch what the Pac NW is best known for this time of year, some liquid (frozen solid) sunshine.

No March trip to the coast is right without a snow covered trip through the costal range

Even my beloved Toyota felt the nip in the air.

The video above was brought to you by this little off-shore storm.

Fiona eat your heart out.
I took a four day weekend this past week; a chance to get away from the office and enjoy myself. I had planned on a backpacking trip in the Olympics or something in the less snow ridden, eastern Oregon. Instead i ended up in Salem, my state's fine capitol. All-in-all a gross, hideous sight; a puss filled zit on the chin of a young girl getting ready for prom, if you will. Who ever would have though that this same hideous town is so close to one of Oregon's many gems. Instead of venturing off, on battered feet, into the wilderness, i parked my truck about 30 yards from my tent (and my f'ing neighbors), pulled out the ol' Coleman 2-burner, and a cooler full of delicousness. Yes. . .i car camped. A friend and I went to Silver Falls state park for our little weekend getaway. Silver Falls is Oregon's largest state park and just as majestic as it is massive. The Canyon Trail is a 7 mile loop that follows a meandering creek. The low-flowing creek provides it's guests with 10 waterfalls. Pictures say a thousand words (not that i haven't already used more than that by now, but i'll save you another thousand).

Every good camp trip needs a good chef. Bria prepares our feast for the first night, halibut with lemon zest (done via pocket knife) dill and vegan butter. Dinner is served. A side of brown basmati rice and salad pulls the meal together. Oh and a little Henry McKenna to wet the palate
And for dessert. . .what else but S'mores

A fireside jam session completed the night.

And in the morning. . .toast, potatoes, and a delicious smoked salmon egg scramble. . .
. . .and tea. . .
. . .and sunshine, glorious sunshine.
I think the phrase "pictures don't do it justice" is over played so. . .for perspective. . .those little white things you see to the left are specators

Safety first. This was taken as we made our way behind the first falls.

. . .and for lunch. . .water and mojo bars (actually we had a delicous turkey, avacado, tomato and spicy mustard sandwhich, not pictured)

This was the last waterfall before the trail turned into the woods. Hopefully you can get a feel for how deep the overhang is. The defined line that arcs from left to right is the trail as it sweeps behind the falls.

With lots of moisture comes a lot of moss, green, fuzzy moss. These were the stairs taking us out of the canyon and back up to the Rim Trail.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. It's not just rouding midnight and i have people to micro manage tomorrow and a soccer game to cry over. If you made it this far. . .i hope all is well.