Dancing Westward

The blog is getting a new look and and new location! Click here to go to the new page: DANCING WESTWARD.

I'll be posting all new photos and stories on the above blog. I'll leave this current blog up in case you get a hankering to stroll down memory lane though!

Shame on me!

Well well well, it's been almost 5 months since I last posted?!?! Wow how time flies... I've been busy with a lot of challenging "life changes" as many of you know, but believe me the fun adventures have not stopped! Here is a brief re-cap of the major events in my life over the last 5 months:

- Brought our friend Tressa from FL cross country to live with us.
-Moved from Stevenson, WA to Oregon City, OR.
-Ash and I transitioned our relationship from partners to friends/roommates.
-Met a wonderful gal named Casey (next to me in the photo in the last post) and as of now we have been together for a little over 5 months.
-Been hiking and exploring all around oregon.
- I turned 27.
-Enrolled in Clackamas Community College, Starting classes in January.



Even though I had a lapse in blogging, I haven't stopped taking photos. There are a few hundred new ones I have to share with y'all. I know you've been knawing at the bit in anticipation for some new reading material hehe so I'll be doing a series of separate blog posts to go with each set of photos.


I'm glad to be back and I promise to keep the new posts coming in more regularly!


~kris

New Friends!

Getting to know new people who have lived out here for quite some time has been great, We've been seeing places off the beaten path that most folks would have no knowledge of. Recently I got invited to go swimming and BBQ-ing at a park called Rooster Rock. It's a funny place, kinda reminded me of FL in some ways.. there were actually mosquitoes! I never thought I'd think fondly of them but it was novel to get bit for the first time in almost a year. Deeper into the park was a posted clothing optional area we passed through looking for our little stretch of beach. It was really funny to see a bunch of old naked guys sunbathing. We had a great time, swimming in the cold water and making/ eating shish kabobs. The sunset was really nice too.

                                                  From left to right: Sara, Shaun, Casey, Me

                                                         The shish kabob making station

                                                    the meat eaters grilled some salmon

                                                                          River Sunset

Yard Report

Ash and I have been bouncing back and forth between Portland and Stevenson, some weeks spending almost an equal amount of time in both. I've not been keeping as close an eye on the changes in the flora as I had been, but they have still been different every time I look. Here are things that have been blooming in the yard in the last month or so:

 I was told these red and yellow flowers are called Columbines. They have to be the most uniquely shaped wildflower Ive ever seen.

These purple flowers are EVERYWHERE out here. I think they are a highly invasive weedy vine. The flowers resemble something in the pea family. Luckily the bees and pollinators seem to like them.


There's a whole 'nother world of plant life in Portland, mostly every variety of rose you can imagine. They are in every yard, in every planter bed on the roadside... they grow like weeds out here without much care it would seem. Also see edible plants everywhere.. people love their veggie gardens out here and just the other day walking in a regular suburban neighborhood I passed a bed of artichokes and a bush full of ripe blueberries (they were soo good, I plucked a few to try) right by the sidewalk in front of someones house. You know those grassy easements between the street and sidewalk? Many Portlandians see those as perfect garden plots! Photos to come of the edible gardens of PDX.

At Last- The Seattle Conclusion

I know I've been seriously slacking in the blog department... getting a social life can do that to a person lol. But I've really hit the editing table hard and have finished up all the pics from Mom and I's Seattle trip.


 The drive up to Seattle was nice, but overcast unfortunately so we didn't get to see too many of the big mountains like we had hoped, Rainer was particularly playing hard to get. Luckily the drive back was more rewarding and we saw many things we had missed on the way up. Here are the pics from the drive to and fro:

CLICK HERE FOR PICS OF THE DRIVE

When we were up in the city we did quite a bit of walking around and seeing the vibrant energy of it all. Downtown was awesome, really huge buildings, many shops and restaurants, lots of street vendors... we had delicious fried mini doughnuts, mine topped with mango sauce and coconut and moms with chocolate and other yummy-ness. Like Portland, Seattle has a thriving food culture and bears wafting aromas in the air to prove it. There was much interesting public art and grand architecture to be seen on virtually every corner. Mom and I ended up driving out of the downtown at one point and eating at this Irish place with a great view of Mt. Rainer close by. It was a hip neighborhood and the outside patio let us appreciate the perfect weather. We also checked out a freshwater beach covered with more driftwood than I've ever seen, an old abandoned looking lighthouse, a busy fishing port with huge piles of nets, and a cool old but still functional railroad bridge. Also cant forget the space needle :)  Here's some pics of our travels around the city:

CLICK HERE FOR PICS OF THE CITY

One of the main focal points of our trip was the famous Pikes Place Market. It was everything I'd hoped for and more. I really wish I lived in Seattle just so I could frequent it. It was a smorgasbord of color, sound, and smell. There were vendors for everything edible and not, and most all of it was locally grown, made, or caught. I could have spend much more time there wandering around. It was larger than I'd anticipated and we missed a portion of it due to it getting too late in the day. We got to see the men throwing fish, street musicians, hand made arts and crafts, fresh raw seafood of every variety, exotic looking wild foraged mushrooms, beautiful huge bouquets of flowers more, types of produce than I've ever seen in one place, and shoulder to shoulder people, some local, some tourist like us. If you ever find yourself in the rainy city, make sure to go to Pikes Place:

CLICK HERE FOR PIKES PLACE PICS

The last photo album is the view from the top of the Bank of America tower. We had read that most people pay an arm and a leg to go up in the Space Needle, but for a fraction of the cost you could get twice as high in this behemoth of a skyscraper. The elevator ride up to the 73rd floor was a little unnerving for me but it was actually not as bad as I'd feared. We passed a starbucks on the 40th floor when transferring elevators and it made me chuckle to think of lattes being made in the sky. I'm so glad we went up there, it's the best view I've ever had from a building and the best in general second only to an airplane, speaking of which we saw one from the top and it looked really close lol. Also saw a pod of helipads on the roofs of some of the buildings downtown. I'm really happy with the photos I got up so high:

CLICK HERE FOR PICS FROM THE TOP

An addition to the Pride post

I'd almost forgotten about all the video clips I took of the pride parade in Portland. I've made a little video montage to music, feel free to turn it up and have a good time! :

Pride Parade Video
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A Prideful Intermission

Being overwhelmed with the amount of photo editing involved with Mom and I's Seattle trip, I took a few days off and got involved with some of Portland's community activities. The first being a marvelous event called the World Naked Bike Ride. It originally started as a political statement against the overuse of fossil fuels and an awareness of the vulnerability of bicyclists. It has kept it's message but has taken on more of a quirky party/celebratory tradition aspect over the years.  If you are interested in finding out more about it and seeing photos or videos, simply google "WNBR Portland 2011" and you will get a good idea how amazing it was.

The other even was Portland Pride. It was incredible. It was the largest pride celebration I've ever attended. There were sooo many people! The parade was 2 hours long and there were more floats/ marching groups than I could count. Every aspect of the city came out to participate including over 15 churches of different denominations, the city council/ government, the police and sheriff's departments, major corporate retailers, small grassroots charity organizations, marching bands, choruses, and more. It was so vibrant, colorful, and energetic.... you could tell everyone in the crowd was having an amazing time. After the parade everyone filtered down to the waterfront park into a fenced area that contained all the food and merch vendors, as well as 2 separate stages featuring dancers, singers, and comedians. Not once did I see any protesters, which was pretty mind blowing in and of itself. I took lots of photos of the proceedings, if you want to get a taste of this slice of Portland culture, feel free to check out the pics:

PDX Pride 2011- CLICK FOR PICS!!

Seattle Trip- Arboretum and Japanese Garden

Mom and I got lucky and scored one of the most beautiful days I'd experienced up here so far. Clear blue sky, warm sun, and cool breeze. We decided to make the most of it by taking a trip to the Arboretum, a huge free park planted with countless flowers, trees, grasses, and shrubs. We walked a big loop around it but could have spend another whole day taking all the little side trails that ran through it. Towards the back was another attraction we wanted to see, a classical Japanese garden. It wasn't very large but it's intensely manicured perfection was a sight to behold. I could go on and on about all the colors and textures and scents we experienced exploring around that day, but it would pale in comparison to actually seeing it:

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PICS
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Catherine Creek Hike and Driving East

After Mom got all settled in our first item on the agenda was a hike. I chose Catherine Creek in WA for several reasons. Firstly was the difficulty level, various sections are 1- 3 pies, the 3 pie part is an incline that sucks, ask mom lol. The effort would pay off with a view of the east end of the gorge and a slew of native blooming wildflowers. She did really well, I personally think it makes the sense of accomplishment greater when you finally do reach the top if you had to work a bit to get there. I think/ hope she agreed lol. She really got into it, even found herself a hiking stick! She had been asking about the frequency of snake sightings... We've ever only seen 2 and they were together on a completely different trail in OR.. Leave it to the most snake phobic person I know to almost step on the only known one in WA! It was a little garter snake but by her reaction you would have thought it was the worlds largest rattler! Once she spotted it she was off and running faster than I've ever seen her move. I felt really bad for her in the situation but I think it's comical it retrospect (she probably wouldn't agree lol). When we made it to the top we found ourselves a place to sit and take in the view, sun, and breeze. The wind was blowing the tall grasses all around and I was inspired to make a crop circle while Mom laughed at me.

After we hiked back to the car we set out for Goldendale with plans to see the Marryhill Art Museam and the wind turbine fields. Before going too much further we stopped at a the only place to eat in miles, a cute neighborhood mom n pop place that served Americana on a plate. Yummy Americana shaped like the most beautiful lemon pie you've ever seen. I though pie was quite appropriate beings that mom had gotten her first taste of our hiking pie rating system:

Bellies full we hopped back in the car and proceeded East. Mom got to see the awesome topography changes as you leave the Gorge. Tall green mountains giving way to large sloping grass covered and arid hills. The sky gets bigger and bigger as do the views. You feel like you can see forever when you look towards the horizon. It all looks rather fake and is truly hard to grasp the scope of.  We arrived at the museum, took a look around the beautiful property and sculpture garden, admired the peacock/peahens and saw what we could of the exhibits before it closed. From there we proceeded to drive north into Goldendale where we got our first view of Mt. Rainier and Mom marveled at the huge white spinning wind turbines. I enjoyed watching her go on and on about how huge they were. We ate at dairy queen in Goldendale which is about the only thing there is to do in that town, then back home we drove only stopping to eat mexican food in Hood River.
We did see by far the most spectacular sunset that evening. Mom's visit was off to a nice start.



CLICK HERE FOR PICS
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Almost a month

Wow, I've really been slacking in the blog department.. Sorry! Lots of things have been happening around here, mainly revolving around the preparations for Mom's visit and the week that she was here, but more on that later. First I want to share with you a photo of a sunset that I too here recently, it was a pretty nice one:

Ash has been busy workin' hard but during one of her days off (I had to work) she decided to go on a solo hike of Falls Creek. She wrote a blog and took photos. Here is her experience:

"On a day that I had off I decided to find a hike. Sadly Kris could not attend. I settled on a hike just up the road from our house in Carson in the Gifford Pichot National Forest Area. Lower Falls Creek Falls is about 3.4 miles round trip and is rated easy. I would give this hike 3 1/2 pies. Originally I thought I would only give it two but there were some obstacles. The trail is not one of the more maintained trails in this forest system. There were a couple of trees that were downed and I had to crawl under them. It's fitting because it seems I cannot go into the forest without bringing back all the dirt. I started the hike and it was mostly flat. A little creek flowed along the trail and the sounds of the water gently flowing over the rocks was tranquil. As I looked around I noticed some Ponderosa Pines and dense fern ground cover. Ironically, the sun at 8am over this setting reminded me of places in Florida. As a result I thought about family for the entire trip. I continued to walk along the trail and crossed a small cable suspension bridge. Precarious but I forged forward. At this point the trail began to ascend. I was the only one on the trail and in some places it was quiet. I could hear myself breathing and hear the wind as it brushed through the trees. The further along the trail I hiked, the louder the water became. It was a slow build. Halfway through it sounded like static. I had read a little about the trail before going on it and had read that the reward for this hike was  3 tier 250 foot waterfall. I continued to walk contemplating that this fall would probably only be marginally different from other falls hikes I have done in the same area. I was wrong. At times on the trail, I felt so alone that I could have been the only one around for miles. I was comforted by the isolation. Trekking forward the creek became more like rapids and the water was rushing in volumes. I hiked to the sounds of dull roar and I appreciated the white noise because I was unable to think. I was unable to think about how much I missed my family or how I wished Kris were with me. I was unable to think about how I was a little cold from the shaded trail and how I really wanted to get to the end so I could turn around and go back. I just kept walking until the white noise turned into  what sounded like a rock concert. I rounded a corner and caught a glimpse of the falls and I had to grasp my chest because it took my breath away. I stood there for a moment almost afraid that I wouldn't be able to handle getting close. A few hundred yards more and I arrived at the mouth of the beast. The only other person was a photographer and his dog. I stood behind him on large moss covered rocks and he didn't even notice I was there. The sound of the water was so loud and powerful it was reverberating through my chest and the forest floor beneath my feet. I craned my neck so I could gaze on the expanse of how tall 250 feet really is. The water was falling fast and hard and it was plentiful. I sat eye level with the falls and ate an apple. The noise was intense and it drowned out even the sounds of my eating. Shortly after my snack I headed back and was left awe stricken all the way to the car. I couldn't wait to go home and tell Kris about it and I hope to take her on it soon. The pictures do the trail no justice as with most places here, but the images are forever ingrained in my mind and I know if you hike it the images will be with you forever too."


CLICK HERE FOR THE PICS

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Surprise! More Flowers

I swear every time I walk outside something different is going on with the flora.. It's amazing.... many of the flowering plants shown in previous pics have dropped their petals and new green growth is taking its place... but the color show is far from over it would appear.. Here's some new stuff I saw while out refinishing the new bed for the spare bedroom (pics of that to come):

Since the weather has been so nice, I've been outside quite a bit and this is one result... a new fire pit! (that huge tree trunk in the background is large enough to seat 3 people):

And here's another quick wire commission I did recently.. photographed TERRIBLY:

More wire stuff, these were inventory I had to retrieve from Bahma, the coffee house I was selling my work through as they have closed down :( So now I have to find another place to sell them:

 The "hope" and "peace" candle lanterns are made from recycled pickle jars. Will ship if you know anyone who might be interested in them.



Craigslist deal of the day: Got a aquarium, a bit larger than a 55 gallon, for only 20 bucks! As I assemble all the parts to get it set up (filter, plants, fish etc..) I'll put up some photos.


Craigslist deal of a couple weeks ago: our new groovy retro double oven stove (I picked it out, can you tell? LOL) .. it was only $50 and works perfectly.. our landlord bought it, picked it up, and delivered it for us!: 

Well that's all for now folks....

Warmth

A sunny spring day means so much more now than I ever knew it could. I can feel and truly appreciate the radiant warmth of the sun on my back as I muck about in the garden. I have both doors open on the house now and the sweet smelling breeze is coming through bringing a little of that beautiful outdoors in. I was communing with the earthworms earlier today... we have so many in the veggie garden, no matter what spot you turn up you find them. While weeding the veg patch I realized the tomato cages I had put over the pea plants weren't gonna do so I walked to the hardware store and got some bamboo stakes and built pea trellises. Ash bought me some seedling plants to put in the garden (squash, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, & romaine lettuce) and now I'm out of space! I had to dig up one of the planter beds beside the house to have room for the squash.

I started eyeballing other parts of the yard to dig up to house any other veg that we start inside. While surveying possible new garden locations I checked on the lettuce boxes. I'm coming to the realization that I put them outside too early in the season. One box didn't make it. I'm guessing the cold got it. The other box is doing swell though!  In case you are wondering why I've no photos of the garden yet, it's because I've been saving them up to make a little movie/ slide presentation. I want to be able to show the growth progress all the way to harvest, so stay tuned for that.

A small victory that I will share as far as the garden is concerned, a sneak peek of sorts... we unintentionally grew some green onion!! I saw it popping up sporadically in the veg patch but I let it be, figured it wouldn't hurt anything, and today I felt it was large enough to take so into the house it went, and will be included in tonight's dinner:

Here's some other pics I snapped while out in  the yard today:

Friendly Faces

We've been on the friend hunt especially hard lately, as our Stevenson buddies have been busy with their lives or out of town. On our search for cool new people we've come across three particularly awesome gals..

Cassandra from Eugene is currently attending esthetician school and has been a great texting and phone buddy, even though she's 2 hrs away : (

Lauren from Gresham is a horse trainer/breeder and Saddlebred shower. We hope to be able to go hiking and kayaking with her and maybe trail riding too:

Roo from Portland  is a crafty chick like me and shares our love of hiking and chickens. She's gonna be coming out here tomorrow for a hiking trek to Catherine Creek (stay tuned for pics):

 She also gave us some wonderful eggs from her cute chickens, really love the banty and the green ones!:

Thunder Rolls

Heard the first thunder since we've lived here accompanied by a very brief downpour, then there appeared a huge double rainbow over the gorge. The rainbow only lasted about 15 minute and I may have missed it had I not been doing the dishes looking out the window. 

Fat Girl Hikes #1

 This is the beginning of a blog within a blog. While Ash and I have been scrambling up and down the western landscape we have come to the conclusion that the difficulty ratings given by most hiker's guidebooks assume that you are already in top physical shape. We have the mental ambition to be fit but we were, shall we say, behind the curve when we arrived here so we have decided to start a more realistic rating system of our own. This one will give you the skinny on pacific northwest hikes if you aren't.. well... all that skinny. The rating system we have is 1 - 4 pies. Yes, Pies. A 1 pie rating would mean the trail is "easy as pie". You will
hardly break a sweat and only have minimal calorie burning. A 4 pie rating would mean you will be gasping for breath, wanting to die, and wishing you could just go home and stuff your face with pies to make up for all the calories you just lost. There may be a rare 5 pie rating if we come across a trail that us fat girls can't make it up, but luckily we haven't encountered one of those yet.

Our first Fat Girl Hikes blog will cover Wind Mountain trail in Washington.
This 2.7 mile hike is short and be thankful, because you will be climbing up nearly 2000 feet of elevation. Basically starting from the base of the mountain at sea level, trekking all the way up to the top. This trail was built by the Girl Scouts but is currently unmaintained and one of the most overlooked hikes in the Gorge. The trailhead is unmarked and you probably wouldn't know it was there if you hadn't heard about it. We look at this mountain every day from our house, and had been itching to climb it from day one. Here it is from the office window:

                                       *Things in photo are much larger than they appear*


 Upon researching this hike, we found descriptions ranging from easy and kid friendly, to moderate. We here at the Fat Girl Hikes headquarters say "yeah right!". We give it 3 pies. As we were dragging our sizable behinds up the steep switchbacks, over the treacherous talus rock slopes, and through the beautiful but mostly unchanging forest we were debating on giving it a 4 pie rating but we changed our minds when we finally reached the summit and were rewarded with one of the most spectacular views of the Gorge we have seen yet. The utterly breathtaking panoramic view went on for miles through the clear sunny skies. Caution was required while navigating the summit due to the jagged and loose talus rocks covering the ground but the handy walking sticks we'd picked up at the beginning of the trail helped. Once seated on some of the larger stones we were able to see Dog Mountain, Mitchell Point, Mount Defiance, Table Mountain, Greenleaf Peak, and most spectacularly, the snow covered Mount Saint Helens. And if that wasn't enough there is a big shiny red cherry topping this pie.... the fact that Wind Mountain is a site of significant historical importance. It has been and is still used as a Native American spirit quest location and has at its peak several delicate archaeological areas that are up to a thousand years old. Delicious! We urge the rest of you big girls and boys out there to give this hike a try, just take it slow, bring lots of water, and maybe a *healthy* snack or two ;)

CLICK HERE for pics!!!

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The Yard Evolves

It seems like every time I look at the yard around the house there is something new in the way of plant life. Especially now that Spring is coaxing flowers of many colors out into the sunshine. Here's some pics I took today while I was out tending the veggie garden:

Wild flowers in the grass.. Yellow is dandelion, Purple is wild grape hyacinth:

 

 Japanese Magnolia tree:

These flowers look suspiciously like those from a peach tree, but since they are growing on a shrub they could be a variety of rhododendron maybe:

I believe this to be a type of geranium but I'm not certain:

This small tree has red wispy flower type appendages.. I have no clue what it is:

These plants are growing in an area behind the shed, they look like they may have been intentionally planted due to their grouping but I haven't a clue what they are either, they look like a veggie crop of some sort.. more research is in order:

I'm sure the next time I turn around there will be more exciting things to see and report. I'll try to keep on top of it!