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.