The last few months...

So......This is why I had been reluctant to start a blog in the first place. When I was in high school/early college I started a blog.  It was supposed to be enthralling.  It is somewhere out there, I think. I posted about ping pong and then tuna and that was clearly about all that was noteworthy in my life.  So I'm sure someone has stumbled upon it and wondered if maybe Tuna (known for being a sketch dish) had done me in.  Or perhaps they assumed I was like 85.6% (*this is based off no statistical data) of novice bloggers who start out naively optimistic and crash in a place between uninteresting and lazy.
So my sabbatical has been due to laziness because Oregon has been fantastic. Without further ado here are the past few months.

September: We went to Seattle to see a buddy.   Brent also impressed me with his navigation skills by finding Amy's old house without directions.  These old eyes saw something in Seattle that can never be unseen.  I will leave you with this bit of advice when you are driving on a lifted highway that comes surprisingly close to condo windows, its best not to peer inside. (I shudder)

October: We made a trip to central Oregon for a weekend. Brent had been told by a patient to check out Smith Rock State Park, so off we went.  Smith Rock is famous for rock climbing and it was amazing how many crazies were hanging from practically nothing.  I counted well over 60 people actively climbing.  So our journey to Smith rock was two fold, do some hiking and hopefully see river otters.  I love most things that are furry but otters are definitely towards the top of the animal kingdom in my not so humble opinion.  We had made the loop around Smith rock and could see our starting point without having glimpsed this majestic beast.  We were in the pits of despair, when all of a sudden we saw a pod (5-7) river otters swimming towards us.  They put on quite a show and caught a bountiful harvest of fish while we were watching. A few of them came to shore for a little extra razzmatazz.  Truly Amazing!

With our heads held high, we took the 30 minute drive to Bend aka (Rich Hippie Land).  Bend has been high on my travel list since I saw it ranked in the top 10 in the nation for outdoor enthusiasts. We caught Bend at a great time: in the middle of leaf change. What is pretty cool about Bend is that it is surrounded by 3 national forests. It's a ski town so some cool stuff rolls through, plenty of breweries, and a very quaint walkable downtown area.  For dinner we went to one of those breweries, 10 Barrel Brewing; it was idyllic with a nice outdoor wood fire.  I made a shocking discovery that there are some sour beers that are surprisingly good.

The DeSutters'

Nancy and Steve decided to spend Thanksgiving this year with us.  I suspect a large reason we gained this visit over the rest of the family was that while the DeSutters have ample grandchildren currently 12, they have only one fur baby, Maggie.  :)

Nancy and Steve definitely showed up ready for adventure.  Some of the highlights were as follows.

Brent took them to the Columbia Gorge, where winds were so high that everyone agreed it was to dangerous to continue. We showed them our favorite doughnut shop, Blue Star. While the marionberry compote with peanut butter remains my favorite, they seemed to be drawn to the old fashioned doughnuts.

We then did a progressive dining experience in one of the bigger food cart areas of Portland.

 Nancy helped me to prepare Thanksgiving dinner by making a delicious cranberry apple pie and yeast rolls.  Steve contributed his part by purchasing wine so no matter how poorly the dinner turned out it would automatically seem better.  He also served as high council when it came to carving of the Turkey. We also were able to go to our favorite brewery tour while they were in town (Widmer Bros Brewery).  

In summary, encouraging conversations, interesting food, and many sight seeing walks. 

Johnson's Trip Fall 2013

Marzi and Pop were able to trek to the great Northwest to visit us this last September.  We were able to have some insightful conversations and get to show them some of our favorite places.
The weather was very... Portland: aka rainy. So we had to adjust our plans some.  Marzi and Pop enjoyed the little neighborhood gardens in Southeast portland and the older style of architecture.

My Aunt JoAnn and her fiancé/now husband James flew in from Canada and were able to join us for a quick trip of a few of the falls in the Columbia Gorge.  James, who was once a chef, cooked the family a delicious dinner that made me seriously think about either A)getting cooking lessons or B) making more money to fund others cooking for me.