Oregon – Riveted

Sun! We’ve got sun!!

Laura Domela — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 01:22:27 +0000

Woke up this morning to a clear blue sky and this hot bright thing poking through the blinds! Such a nice surprise. Similar to yesterday, we did a bunch of work in the morning, and then headed out for a late breakfast and a little exploring.

Today’s destination was the town of Seaside.

It’s been ages since we’ve been to Seaside. We grabbed some food at the Firehouse Grill (where “late breakfast” didn’t turn into lunch because they serve breakfast until 3!) and then walked down to the beach.

We decided to check out the Seaside Aquarium today. The Seaside Aquarium has been open (in this same spot) since 1937.

The building was constructed in 1924, and was originally a saltwater bath house and swimming pool called the “Seaside Baths Natatorium”. The natatorium closed in the early 1930s, underwent major renovations, and in 1937 opened as the Seaside Aquarium. Here’s an early pic of the building:

The aquarium experience was better than we’d expected. As you enter the building, there’s a pool off to your left where maybe a dozen harbor seals hang out waiting to splash water onto the guests be fed by the guests from small trays of herring pieces. For two bucks you can get your own tray of herring (comes in a red/white checked take-out dish, very similar to what you get fish & chips in, for example, so pay attention). Anyway, I thought the whole “seal feeding” gimmick was going to be obnoxious, and it was…a little bit. But it was also kinda fun. The seals work hard to get your attention and are pretty good at clapping, barking, splashing, and looking cute so that you’ll throw some fish their way.

One seal got an eensy bit impatient, however, and could pull some pretty big water with those flippers…throwing it directly at the guests, right through the fence (no glass). Kinda makes you NOT want to give that particular seal a treat, but hey, it apparently works for him.

Anyway, there are a bunch of tanks with cool fish and anemones and eels and other neat things in ’em. Here’s a closeup of grumpy wolf eel:

This octopus was my favorite though:

Its eyes were closed and you could watch (close up in this open, no-touch tank) its breathing. We could look straight down into its gills as they opened and closed, and as water pushed out of the funnel/siphon (the tube on the left, near the “neck” of the octopus in the photo). It was super cool. (Would have been cooler had the octopus been awake and climbing around the tank, but we’ll take what we can get!)

Still sunny outside!

Walking back through town:

From the bridge that crosses over the river at Broadway Street, we could see a bunch of pedal boats shaped like giant swans…which was quite a fantastic image (just google it, you’ll see what I mean). They were all clumped together at the dock, but I had only my wide wide lens with me, we were too far away, and I apparently didn’t want the photo badly enough (but now I wish I’d made the effort).

On our drive back down to Nehalem, we pulled over and got a couple of nice shots back toward town.

Our campground is down there somewhere, hidden behind the dunes:

We got back to camp and took off on our bikes for a nice ride out to the boat launch and beach…a little over 5 miles. And guess what? It’s still sunny!!!

A Rainy Day in Astoria

Laura Domela — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 16:55:42 +0000

Yesterday, after some work in the morning (oh, and more rain…did I mention it’s been raining out here?) we drove north up 101 to Astoria for some late breakfast that turned into lunch at the Bridgewater Bistro. The Bridgewater Bistro is in a 100 year old cannery building, just to the left of where I’m standing to take the above photo.

We had a salmon BLT and some fish and chips…both were great! After lunch (still raining) we went over to the Columbia River Maritime Museum. It’s been a few years since we last visited, and it seems like they’ve really increased the scope and quality of the exhibits since then.

We spent some time reminding ourselves why we don’t really want to cross the Columbia Bar in Airship:

This abalone and sea urchin fishing boat was swept out to sea during the 2011 Japanese tsunami. Two years and 5,000 miles at sea later, it washed ashore at Cape Disappointment in Washington. The boat’s owner, Katuo Saito, 72, was found and contacted, and though grateful his boat had been found, he did not wish for it to be returned to him:

Ships in a line, anchored, waiting to cross the bar. (We counted eight of them.)

The 20 minute movie at the museum right now is a 3D film about hurricanes and had some fantastic “How’d they do that?” footage! Afterwards, we went and toured the lightship Columbia. This lightship was basically a floating lighthouse, stationed about 6 miles off the entrance to the Columbia River, and served as a major navigational aid where it wasn’t feasible to build a lighthouse. Lightship No. 604/Columbia, left her station in November of 1979 after being replaced by an automated navigational buoy. She’s now part of the maritime museum and your entry fee to the museum includes a self guided tour of the Columbia.

I was trying to get a shot of Columbia’s pilothouse, but the reflection was a little much. Instead, I got this cool photo of ghosty Kevin with pilothouse and portholes.

We saw a 4:20pm screening of Jordan Peele’s film “Get Out” (good article about it here, without spoilers), which we both enjoyed quite a bit. As we left the theater we noticed it was not raining, so we drove south and out to Ecola State Park for a little walk and some gorgeous views:

Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, taken from the car window:

Hope this non-rain trend continues for a few days!

Showers, Rain, Drizzle, Cloudy with a Shower

Laura Domela — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 18:29:30 +0000

This is what our week sounds like, per Accuweather.

It rained most of the day yesterday, but we got a short break and braved our way to the beach for a walk. This is what our campsite area looked like when we left:

The beach was quiet and beautiful and we had a good walk.

There were all these weird finger-shaped (and sized) things that had washed up on the shore:

I got close and they were definitely organic (but no bones, so…not fingers).

My first thought was starfish legs, but upon closer inspection we decided they were probably small sea cucumbers.

However, once back at the Airstream (and internet) we discovered they were not in fact sea cucumbers, by pyrosomes. They are bioluminescent (when alive) and can get as large as 60 feet long. Each one is actually a colony of cloned creatures called “salps” about 1 cm long each, connected together by tissue to form what looks like a rubbery, plastic tube. Winter storms have caused many of them to wash ashore and they’re apparently all over the Oregon Coast right now. [Source]

Bird-shaped driftwood:

Same driftwood, different angle:

Not many people on the beach today:

Heading over the dunes and back to camp:

When we got back to camp, our moat had mostly disappeared, but I’m thinking we need some Xtratufs for the Airstream as well as the boat!

We went to dinner last night in Manzanita…a restaurant called Blackbird.

For starters we shared a radicchio caesar salad and some bacon-wrapped apricots (stuffed with goat cheese and marcona almond). Both starters were fantastic. For our main course we shared some Ricotta Gnocchi (with lamb bacon, shaved fennel, basil and tarragon pesto, maitake mushroom, parmesan), and a delicious prawn dish , but I don’t have all the ingredients for that one because it wasn’t on the online menu. I’m not sure which entree we liked the best. The portions were perfect, too…perfect enough that we got to share a chocolate pot du creme with sea salt on top for dessert.

It rained like crazy all night last night, and early this morning the wind really kicked up. We slept in a bit, made some late breakfast, and are having a lovely anniversary day at the coast.

We Took the Airstream to the Oregon Coast

Laura Domela — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 19:22:07 +0000

We’re at the Oregon Coast in the Airstream this week. (That shot above is looking back toward Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock.) Remember the Airstream? It’s been so long, but we seem to have retained the skills necessary for hooking the trailer to the truck for towing, running all our systems, and remembering where things are.

We got settled in our campsite yesterday afternoon (arrived around 4pm) and then got out our bikes for a nice bike ride. It was right around 60 degrees F and we rode for an hour or so (without jackets, even!) There’s a nice loop that takes you around the airport and out to the beach…

So pretty!

Last night it started raining and hasn’t quit since (it’s after noon on Monday now). Accuweather shows nothing but rain rain and more rain today (well, and also tomorrow, and maybe Wednesday too), and we’ve got a nice moat developing around the Airstream. Upside? We’re getting a ton of work done here.

Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of the day we got married! On March 14, 1997, we drove downtown to pick up our judge, brought him back to our house, and got married in our living room in front of a fire, with our good friends Jake and Patti as official witnesses and Larra and Christy (daughters from Kevin’s previous marriage, then 8 and 10) as unofficial witnesses. We poured champagne, went to lunch downtown after delivering our judge back to his office, and then had a fantastic trip to Costa Rica. Seems like just yesterday, and seems like forever ago. Best 20 years ever!

The nice restaurant in town wasn’t open tomorrow, so we’re having dinner there tonight. Tomorrow I’ve got a massage scheduled, and if it stops raining, Kevin’s going to fly his new Mavic on the beach for some drone photos. I think we’ll cook dinner for ourselves and open a good bottle of champagne and maybe play some scrabble or something.

Sightseeing at Home

Laura Domela — Sun, 03 Apr 2016 21:31:33 +0000

We had some friends in town a few days ago (hi Sam, Anna, and David!) which as most Portlanders know is a great reason to head out into the Columbia Gorge to get another look at Multnomah Falls:

We took I-84 out of Portland and then exited to take the Old Highway 30 scenic route the rest of the way so we could drive slowly past a number of waterfalls, slot canyons, and viewpoints.

Here's the view from the Vista House, looking east:

Inside the Vista House:

I don't remember which waterfall this was:

My favorite spot out here is Oneonta Gorge: a moss-walled slot canyon where fairies and unicorns live. Later in the summer when it's warmer, you can hike (through water and over a big log jam that wasn't there the first time I came here, but has been the last several times…it's a fun climb-over) all the way to the Oneonta Falls (and if it's really warm, go swimming!). There's no real trail…the river is the trail, so warm weather (or really tall rubber boots) are recommended. We did see a few brave souls wading through in tennies and shorts and no shirts, however, so suit yourself.

Oneonta Gorge Tunnel:

Log jam in Oneonta Gorge:

For a whole lot more photos of this incredible place, check out this link.

After exploring the waterfalls, we stopped at McMenamin's Edgefield to grab a bite and a beer cider (pomegranate cider…so summery!) The weather was gorgeous (as you may have noticed from the above photos) so we sat outside and soaked up the sun.

On Saturday we all went to breakfast over on Mississippi Avenue…a new spot we hadn't tried before called Gravy. Delicious (especially the gravy!). Super fun weekend with super fun friends!

Today we both did rowing workouts in the morning (because, gravy!), and then we headed out to Fisherman's Warehouse to pick up what I'm pretty sure is the Chuck Norris of coolers: the Yeti Tundra 50. We've been using a little Igloo that doesn't keep things cold (or ice ice) for very long, and when it rains, water gets inside. Then we switched to using our shiny metal Coleman that we use with the Airstream, but it's not all stainless steel so a couple of small spots on it are starting to rust. People talk about the Yeti like it's the holy grail of coolers, and so far, it seems to be. For a longer trip (like, Alaska) it's nice to have the extra space for produce and stuff when you need to stock up every couple of weeks.

We're picking up our lithium batteries on Tuesday in Eugene at AM Solar and then will head up to the boat to install them on Wednesday. We've got several more projects we want to finish before heading to Alaska (batteries, removing the last of the carpet and replacing it with Amtico, making sure we have all the spare parts we need, fixing the shower want holder, and oh yeah…attaching our new ring buoy!

This is much cuter than the blue throw cushion, for sure.

Hiking in our Backyard

Laura Domela — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 14:23:39 +0000

One of the nice things about being home in Portland is how close we are to miles and miles of hiking trails. And by close, I mean roughly 200 yards from the nearest trail.

Fall is a great time on the trails because, well, trees! Look at the richness of color in this one shot:

When the petals from the flowers on a Magnolia tree drop, the center of the bloom transforms into a giant fuzzy seed pod.

Magnolia leaves:

The Magnolia leaves are huge. Here's a shot with my muddy trail shoe in it for scale:

I've got a few photo shoots at my studio in town over the next week or two and then we'll be heading up to the boat for a bit. Yay winter cruising!!

More Fun in Wine Country

Laura Domela — Sun, 25 Oct 2015 15:42:20 +0000

Spots 11 and 12 at Willamette Wine Country RV. That's us on the right:

Yesterday we did some work in the morning here and then met up with our friends Lisa and George. They arrived early in the afternoon and the four of us headed first for Seufert Winery and then over to the Dominio IV winery to pick up our wine club shipments (we had about a year's worth!).

Dominio IV:

We met back up with the Hardersens when we returned to the RV park and everyone got together for a fun group dinner. The weather was beautiful and the moon was big and bright. (We also got to ride our bikes around a bit!)

The clouds moved in later in the evening while we were all still out visiting and then suddenly the rain came with those big fat raindrops so we quickly cleared the tables and moved inside. Fun evening!

It rained off and on all night, and this morning it's more of the same. We were going to go home today, but figured we'd get a bunch of work done here instead, cozy and out of the rain, and go home tomorrow.

Airstreamin’ in Wine Country

Laura Domela — Sat, 24 Oct 2015 14:49:27 +0000

We dusted off the Airstream on Thursday morning and headed down to the Willamette Valley wine country (only a little over an hour from our house in Portland) to meet up with some friends for the weekend.

When we got to our RV storage unit, everything was just as we'd left it and there were no big issues. Pretty good after sitting for a year in storage! The tires needed a little air, the clocks needed new batteries, and the fridge light needs a new bulb, but other than that everything was ready to go.

We are camping at the Willamette Wine Country RV Resort and so far, we have mostly remembered how to do everything. Campgrounds are definitely noisier than anchorages and mooring buoys, but it's still fun to be out in the trailer. (And there are no ferry wakes tossing you awake at 7am!)

Kevin and I had a reservation for dinner on Thursday night at the Joel Palmer House (thank you to Kevin's mom for the sweet gift card!)

The Joel Palmer House, in Dayton, Oregon:

Our table:

Because this is truffle country, we did the Mushroom Madness tasting menu, and because we're in pinot noir country, we shared a bottle of Methven Family Vineyards Pinot Noir. All was delicious and it was a nice evening.

In the morning, we met up with our friend Kathy Hardersen and her son Kyle. (Kyle just bought a new Airstream International 25' and is parked right next to us, and Kathy left her Airstream at home and is staying here in one of The Vintages.) We had breakfast at our trailer, and then went over to Sokol Blosser for some wine tasting on the patio.

Sokol Blosser has a gorgeous tasting room and patio, and we couldn't ask for better mid-October weather!

We were there for a couple hours just visiting and playing cards and tasting wine. Kathy is a wine club member at Sokol Blosser, so we got a nice complimentary charcuterie tray during our card game:

We brought back a deck of cards from the Trickster Company in Juneau, Alaska. This is the Tlingit language edition, and they're fabulous to play with!

We had some lunch at the Red Hills Market, then went to Penner-Ash Wine Cellars for another tasting (and met up with more of Kathy's family). I didn't take any photos at Penner-Ash, but they too have a gorgeous place up on the hill with a fantastic view of the valley. We really enjoyed several of their wines, and left with four bottles: a 2013 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, a 2014 Viognier (served at the White House State Dinner a few weeks ago), a 2013 Oregon Syrah, and a 2013 Rubeo (70% pinot noir, 30% syrah).

We decided to finally let Kyle have something HE wanted drink, so we stopped at Deception Brewing for a bit. (Kevin and I didn't try any of their beer though…next time!)

Dinner last night with the entire Hardersen family (table for 9) was at Ruddick/Wood in Newberg and was a blast. We always have so much fun with these guys. So. Much. Laughing!!

We started with a Honey Badger and a Whiskey Sour, and shared the duck confit hushpuppies (the winner) and a grilled octopus salad for starters, and the Fishermen's Stew and the Chicken Roulade (the winner) for entrees.

Today, we've got some more friends (Lisa and George, in their Argosy motorhome) joining us here and we'll probably visit two more wineries today…maybe ride our bikes around a bit, and just spend more time visiting and catching up.

It's definitely nice to be back in the Airstream, but I miss the boat and the water a little bit (and the rocking!). I think we're going to need to revisit the boondocking side of RV travel a bit more next time we set out for a longer trip…get away from the traffic noise and the leaf blowers and lawn mowers.

All of the Bridges

Laura Domela — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 19:00:22 +0000

This morning we got up at 5am and headed down to the Fremont Bridge for the start of the 2014 Providence Bridge Pedal. This is a super fun ride (we've done it once before, on the tandem). There are several options for this ride. There's a 10 bridge option (33 miles), an 8 bridge option (24 miles), a 6 bridge option (13 miles), a kids pedal (3 miles over two bridges), and "Stride" which is a 5.5 mile walk over two bridges).

There's also the Fremont Express option, which is 36 miles, does 10 bridges, but gets to start just after sunrise from the middle of the Fremont Bridge. This is pretty cool because the Fremont Bridge is normally closed to pedestrians and cyclists — only cars allowed. So having a half an hour or so up at the top of the bridge was really neat!

They had water stations and a bunch of food laid out on tables for the riders (bananas, donuts, bagels, etc.), along with a string ensemble playing music for us as we waited for the start time (6:45am).

And we're off:

It's super fun to ride through the city on bikes with the freewyas and bridges all (or mostly) to yourselves.

We met a family who said they do this ride every year together and have done the last 10 in a row. There are friends, couples on tandems, parents with kids on tandem trailer-cycles, kids in Burley trailers, dogs in baskets…as well as quite a few of the "serious cyclists wearing logo jerseys" Geico!!!!! (Okay so what about the jerseys that have written on the back: www.cyclingjerseysdirect.com? That's it. The name of the online store where you buy this logo cycling jersey? I don't get the whole logo jersey thing for regular people who aren't sponsored. I don't. I'll admit it. But the logo for the store where you got it? It's one level removed from Nike, even. Weird.)

Anyway. This is a very well-managed ride. There are several different routes, several starting times and places, with routes merging and peeling off from each other like diagrams of DNA strands, and there are so many helpful volunteers and policemen working the traffic and the cyclists…it's pretty fantastic how smooth it flows.

At the start of the ride, the administrators reminded everyone (several times) to remember, "It's a ride, not a race." For some people though, those are just words. There are "those guys" in every ride like this (all levels, all ages), who just can't help themselves.

At one point when it got a little congested downtown and cycling traffic slowed, two guys in red jerseys (matching) came up on the left and I heard one say "Really? REALLY??" as if he couldn't believe there was congestion during a ride with OVER 10,000 RIDERS. Then his red jersey twin yelled out "On your LEFT PEOPLE! On your LEFT!" What a dick.

Beautiful morning view of downtown from the Marquam Bridge:

View from the Sellwood Bridge (back toward downtown, far in the distance):

On the Hawthorne Bridge:

View of the Marquam Bridge from the Hawthorne Bridge:

Riders on the Hawthorne Bridge:

Next up: the Ross Island Bridge, then the Marquam Bridge (again!), and then Burnside. The new (not yet finished) Tilikum Crossing, taken from the Burnside Bridge:

(Next year's bridge pedal will get to ride across the Tilikum Crossing before it's open to the public.)

Steel Bridge from the Burnside Bridge:

Ooooh, arty:

Burnside Bridge heading west:

After the Burnside Bridge, we crossed the Broadway Bridge, then the Fremont Bridge again, and headed out Highway 30 to conquer the St. Johns Bridge:

View back toward downtown from the St. Johns Bridge:

Details, looking down:

Steel Bridge:

The finish line was after the Steel Bridge, down at the Portland waterfront:

The Bite of Oregon is going on down at the waterfront this weekend (see below, food booths, music), and though we did get free admission tickets with our ride registration, we opted to ride back to our car (a few miles away at the base of the Fremont Bridge) and go home for a bite instead (crossing the Morrison Bridge on the way, since it was the only one we didn't do as part of our official ride).

Oh yeah, here's our route:

Ten bridges (two of them crossed twice!), 42.9 miles. Finished and home by noon. Nap time!

My Mom Flew the Plane!

Laura Domela — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 02:26:41 +0000

We took off late this morning and flew the Cirrus to Kelso, WA to pick up my mom for a flight up to Orcas Island for lunch. My mom has been flying with us a couple times, but she's not so much of a flyer, normally. She's only been in the Cirrus once when we first got it, and before that she flew once with me in our previous plane (an Aerocommander Lark, kinda like a Cessna 172) after I got my pilot's license (because really, how could she not? I got a PILOT'S LICENSE!!!!!) I think the whole-plane parachute that comes with the Cirrus is a great feature for people who are bit scared about flying.

Anyway, look at this — (L to R) Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Hood, on the way to Kelso:

Here we are coming into the San Juan Islands:

Approaching the runway at Eastsound on Orcas Island:

Parked and ready to head to lunch:

There's a nice public path from the airport right to town:

We had lunch at the Madrona Bar & Grill. Right there. Right out there on that little top deck:

With this view:

All three of us ordered the halibut fish & chips and it was…well…it was fantastic. My mom is the one who originally told us about the Bandon Fish House fish & chips (our favorite, still) but we all agreed that the halibut fish & chips we had today were right up there in the top 5. Pretty cool!

After lunch we walked around Eastsound a bit, in and out of a few shops, checking out the bay, etc. We had such a nice day and the weather was just perfect!

Leaving the San Juans:

On the way home, after we took off from Eastsound, Kevin showed my mom how to use the stick and rudders to fly the plane, and she flew us all around the back side of Orcas Island and then pointed us toward home. Did you catch that??? SHE FLEW!!THE PLANE!! She was super smooth and seemed perfectly calm, and…kinda like she LIKED it! It was so cool. (You've come a long way, mom!!!) :)

Mount Rainier off the wing on the way home:

Traffic, high, no factor (and I was totally zoomed in, don't worry):

The Lewis & Clark Bridge, across the Columbia River, just before we landed back at Kelso to drop my mom off:

We had such a great day with my mom, and it was fun to fly over several of the spots where we'd recently spent time in the Airstream (Port Townsend, hi Kerri!, Hood Canal, Victoria…from a little bit further away).