Walkabout Day 20: Pictures

Pictures from Boise through Ogden to Cheyenne. It was too dark after that to take anymore pix.

Walkabout Day 19: Pictures

Tivo for Sale

I've just upgraded my DishNetwork package to include an HD DVR. Thus, I am looking for a loving and caring home for my dear dear precious Tivo. So, I am offering it to you, my dear dear precious readers before I offer it to the hoopleheads over on Craigslist. It is an 80 Hour Tivo with a lifetime subscription (so no additional cost after this purchase) and a DVD player/burner. I figure the subscription and DVD burner alone is worth $100.

Anyone?

Seasons Greetings

I won't be able to post much today as I'll be outside putting up the National Alpaca Farm Day lights and trimming my National Alpaca Farm Day tree. Is there anything more exciting than National Alpaca Farm Day eve? I'll barely be able to sleep tonight in anticipation of opening presents followed by a giant feast of alpaca with all the fixins. Oh how I love fixins.

Really???

This is how I'm welcomed back -- temperatures in the mid 90s???? I've just spent 2 weeks in places where the high and low combined barely broke a hundred. I guess on the positive side, I no longer have to worry about finding new microbrews to try.

Walkabout Day 21: Home

Somewhere yesterday in Wyoming or maybe it was Utah, I decided to forego anymore nights in hotel rooms and just drive straight home. I did just that except for a couple of roadside naps. Over the next few days I'll upload the last few sets of pictures, summaries, reviews and overal trip observations. Additionally I will be presenting the coveted Walkie awards for the best and worst of the walkabout.

The End of the Summer of Steve

Well, duh. Summer's over. It's now the Fall Autumn of Steve. However, with my departing Portland and heading home, the walkabout is nearly over. I'm in Get the Hell Home mode right now. I'm tired. I miss my dog. I miss my friends. I miss my Tivo. I miss the Lib.

Hopefully I'll be home by tomorrow.

Walkabout Day 19: Summary

Let the driving restart. After pretty much staying put for over a week, it’s back on the road. Today, the Xterra and I went from Hood River back to Portland to drop V off at the airport and then to Nampa, Idaho – just outside of Boise.

There was an operator error with the GPS. So no elevation graph. Also, the software has been upgraded, so prettier maps.

Walkabout Day 18: Pictures

Walkabout Day 18: Summary

Today's entire adventure took place in what I have dubbed the greatest small town in America -- Hood River, Oregon. So special was this day, that there were not one, not two but three things today that I had never ever done in my entire life. Hey, once you've stared down a 10 point buck, you start to feel like you can do just about anything.

My first new activity I had never done was mountain biking. Yes, I've been road biking for 20 years. But despite Big Gulp's numerous invitations, I had yet to hit a trail. After renting bikes at a local shop, Vanessa and I headed to a nearby trail. Things started off pretty rough. I wasn't used to the flexibility of the mountain bike and the path was largely uphill. Once we hit a series of steep switchbacks I said "No mas!", but V headed up for a bit. The downhill trip back was a whole lot of fun, though. I ate it once and almost ate it a couple of other times. As of yet, there is no giant bruise on my ass where that same ass flew off the bike and onto the hard ground on a steep downhill. But, good times, right?

Afterwards we biked to a nearby winery and sampled their wares. The Syrah and Marionberry port were standouts and I bought a bottle of each. The syrah had an interesting flavor with a strong note of pepper. FYI marionberry is not named for the former DC mayor, but is a blackberry first grown in Marion County.

Well it was time for lunch and we sat on the deck of the Three Rivers Inn looking out onto historic downtown Hood River and the majestic Columbia River. In my continuing quest to consume as much of the Pacific Ocean as I can while I was up there, I had the fish and chips with several glasses of a local Pinot Noir from the O'Reilly winery. Both were very good.

While eating, but mostly drinking, we noticed the kites of the board surfers down on the river and suggest we do the second thing I had never done before -- fly a kite. Kites were paper and wood and never flew when I was a kid. Friends would have kites and I never remember them going much about 10 feet. So, I never did it.

Well, as anyone can attest, flying kites not only will fetch a powerful hunger but an even more powerful thirst. And to sate (no, I didn't use the thesauraus) ourselves we climbed up the many stairs to get to Horsefeathers Brew Pub. To my delight, we got there just in time to see the first quarter of the Cowboy/Bears game. After eating (I had the grilled rockfish on a bed israli couscous and several of their IPAs) a quasi-bored V, returned from one of her frequent potty trips with Jenga. That's right, I've never played Jenga. And thus completes my NeverDoneBefore trifecta.

The moral of the story -- you're never too old to learn to fly a kite, play Jenga or fall on your ass.

Walkabout Day 17: Summary

The Hood River Comfort Suites is being renovated and this seems to have resulted in very poor internet connections -- thus the late posts.

Day 17 took us out of Portland to the beautiful Oregon coast to the towns of Seaside and Cannon Beach. Afterward, we headed to Hood River to prepare for tomorrow's adventure.

Quick Hits

• A woman at the office Vanessa was auditing suggest these two spot saying that Seaside had more things to do and Cannon Beach was prettier. Unfortunately we went to Seaside first, spent a good deal of time throwing on the beach and even ate. By the time we got to the far superior Cannon Beach, we barely had time for anything. And the restaurant/bar choice looked much more interesting.
• While walking along the Cannon Beach beach toward the giant rock, we noticed a large group of people gathered around something. We wondered what it could be and speculated that it must be a washed up carcass of some sort: a giant jelly fish, a dolphin or even a manatee. As we got closer, we finally got a glimpse of what everyone was huddled around. It was a bride and a groom. So, indeed, there was a dead carcass on the beach that day -- the dead carcass of freedom.
• All the kids in Seaside were extremely tall. I guess they breed for beach volleyball out there.