Manzanita for a long weekend

Dave, Mira, and I headed out to spend a long weekend on the Oregon Coast with my mom (Nana) and her friends Karin and Sheri to celebrate my mom’s birthday. We rented a fantastic house just a block off the beach in Manzanita – it was a perfect distance to the beach and a nice [...]

The season for biking the coast

Morgan and I are part of a network of bicycle tourists that are willing to host other bicycle tourers as they pass through our town, called Warm Showers. During our travels, we’ve stayed with other Warm Showers hosts, and as payback, we host folks as they pass through Portland. This time of year brings lots [...]

A nice long weekend in Bend, OR

Dave and I joined our friends Kurt and Nathalie in Bend for a nice long weekend. Dave and Kurt rode on many of the mountain bike trails and came back every day dirty and happy. Nathalie and I spent the days snooping around Bend and getting in some needed R&R. We didn’t take many pictures [...]

Mt Adams – awesome skiing in mid-July?

I spent pretty much every daylight minute on Mt Adams last Sunday. Me and two friends drove up Saturday night, camped where the dirt turned to snow, and got up early Sunday to climb Mt Adams and ski down. It’s been a huge snow year. Usually the road to the south climb trailhead is open [...]

Can you canoe?

Last month, Dave and I took a trip to the Midwest to visit a bunch of family. We started our adventure by taking the train from Portland to Chicago, and then catching another train from there to Michigan. A long journey, but it was a scenic one! We were enjoying the scenery so much that [...]

Home!

We are back in Portland!  We flew from Buenos Aires to Washington DC on to Seattle and finally landed ourselves in Portland. Dave and I put the bikes back together at the PDX airport (with many curious onlookers) and rode ourselves home.  It feels good to be home with our sweet kitty and in our [...]

Graffiti is not a crime

When you think of graffiti, what do you think of? This: Or this: Most North Americans and Europeans probably think of something like the first image, but for porteños (people from Buenos Aires), it’s probably a mix of the two. Morgan and I went on a tour of Buenos Aires graffiti yesterday afternoon, and it [...]

Muddy Waters

Buenos Aires is located on the banks of the Río de la Plata – the “river of silver”. Just upstream of Buenos Aires, the Río Paraná and Río Uruguay, two huge rivers that drain a monstrous area covering Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, merge to form the Río de la Plata. Such a huge [...]

For the love of empanadas

It didn’t take Dave and I long to fall in love with empanadas on this trip.  If you are unfamiliar with empanadas they are a stuffed bread or pastry that are baked or fried. They vary by region in how they are made, what they are filled with, and if they come with salsa (aji) [...]

Theater turned bookstore

If only Powells Bookstore was in such a romantic setting! Located on Santa Fe Ave this bookstore company has converted an old theater into their main branch. There is a little cafe on the stage and it is rumored they have small concerts there as well.  I am sure hours could be spent here looking [...]