It's a white, white world...

Figuratively and literally here in Stevenson. We have gotten some unexpected snowfall here over the past couple of days, and has it been pretty! I'd say it's the most snow I've ever seen in person. Certainly more than we had around November. It's been super fun playing in it and marveling at it blanketing every surface. The reflection of street lights make the night seem more like day and clear days are blindingly bright. All the trees and plants look like they've grown cotton all of a sudden. When it's overcast, everything is like a living black and white photo, and the cloud cover looks very dramatic and striking. No better description than a photographic one so here it is:

Click here for Snow PICS

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Snow has fallen once again. I can honestly say that now that I have seen snow I can't imagine a winter without it. It is in fact the most wonderful time of year because we are heading into spring soon. The snow has been fun, but I can't wait for the other seasons too! Over the last few days we have gotten almost 20 inches. Most of it melts during the day and you really only see snow at night. Kris and I are night owls however so it's been a playground for us. We took some pictures of things covered in snow. I have learned that there are different types of snow. I will explain the types I like the least first:

1. Slush. This is some snow mixed with water. It's like winter's version of mud. You can't do anything with this type of snow and driving on it is the most dangerous. It's like driving on a slip and slide. The slightest variation in driving speed or angle of the car will cause you to slide. Death will likely occur.

2. Packed Ice. Snowboarders called this Crust. This is basically very wet sleet in freezing temperatures. The ground is frozen, water puddles are frozen, and the snow forms in one solid pack over the surface of the ground. The type of snow is only good for sledding and other light winter recreation if you happen to find a hill steep enough. It is also dangerous to drive on because the car will break off chunks of this packed snow while you are driving and cause trouble. Death will likely occur.

3. Crud. This is a mixture of the good stuff:  powder. . .I will explain that in a minute, and the not so good stuff. When you have just above freezing temperatures and traffic, of any kind, this type of snow occurs. Parts of the snow are compacted when you walk and drive on it and parts of the snow are raised due to the pressure from said traffic. The raised snow is similar to sno-cone ice in texture and the compacted snow is more like wet compacted sand. As a result of it's properties the terrain of this snow is very uneven. This type of snow is excellent for challenging snowboarding, sweet sledding jumps and light snowballing. Driving on it is fine. You will keep your traction as long as you don't speed, otherwise death will likely occur.

4. Powder. This is the best type of snow in my opinion. This is the snow that has just fallen delicately onto the ground. Each individual snow crystal holds an angel's kiss as it floats across the landscape searching for just the right spot to land. Each snow-flake is uniquely designed by a master magician who then, with the care of a nurturing mother, sends the snow-flakes down to earth where they rest gently and subtly one on top of the other until a layer of air forms. This type of snow is anti-gravity. It's perfect for any winter recreation and is the most ideal snow for snowmen or snowballing. It's pretty neutral in temperature, so even if you don't have gloves you can still participate in a spontaneous flash mob snowballing. If you go an entire winter without experiencing this miracle of physics and chemistry. . .death will likely occur.

So that's my take on snow. I am sure Kris will post pictures of all the happenings soon. We have been doing a lot of things with snow: like trying to sled down the hill in front of the courthouse in the middle of the night. I say try because we weren't that successful, but it was fun. This winter has brought out the child in both of us. The sense of play has enriched and deepened our bond with one another. The light-hearted approach to life in our small, sleepy town has made the days fly by. Winter is now going to be over soon and I am sad to see it go, but I am excited for what spring will teach us.

~Ash

Landslide brought you down?

An update upon request...

Lately not too much excitement has taken place, Ash and I have been rather ill for a couple of weeks with some upper respiratory junk and we've been keeping a pretty low profile. Here is a breakdown of what we HAVE been up to:

-Netflix is our friend! We have been catching up with all our favourite shows including but not limited to Mythbusters, Top Gear, Weeds, Rough Science, and of course watching boatloads of interesting documentaries and movies.

-I found a great site on which to watch this season of American idol: Project free TV," leading the free tv revolt!". We had a catch up marathon last night and will finish up tonight.

-We went to see the Adam Sandler flick "Just go with it" at a theater in Vancouver called Cinetopia. The film was good, funnier than expected. the theater was similar to the Cinebistro concept with a few differences. The pillow pit in the "living room" theater was interesting, in lieu of the "orchestra row" of seats in the  front by the screen they have this pit that's padded and full of pillows so you and your friends can go lay around to watch the movie. All the seats are big and made from "ultra leather", and they have ottomans in every row to put your feet up on which was a nice touch. The food was mediocre at best especially for the hefty price. This was my first and so far only disappointing food experience in the pacific northwest so far. If I had to choose, I'd rather go to the Cinebistro back in FL.

- We have found a rather fantastic place to eat sushi in Vancouver. It is one of the many sushi-go-round restaurants out here, AKA "fast food sushi". You sit at a bar and watch as delicious Japanese food rolls past you on different colored plates on a conveyor belt that winds through the restaurant (much like a small scale luggage claim at the airport). Each plate color represents a price ranging from $1.00 to the uber fancy $4.00 plates. Each plate has smaller portions of 2 or 4 pieces of sushi as opposed to the whole 6 piece roll. they also have other things like Age tofu, chicken, edamame soy beans, and desserts like apple egg rolls and sesame balls. Its a cheap way to try all different kinds of foods without having to commit to eating or wasting a whole portion.

-We got our first emergency response call from the Rowena Wildlife clinic. A jogger called in a report of a large heron with a broken wing out in North Bonneville which is right up the road from Stevenson. We were in Portland at the time but checked it out on our way home. Unfortunately there was no sign of the bird when we arrived, either it moved on or was taken by a predator (we heard tell that there are many coyotes in this area). Better luck next time.

-Gotta love tax return time! Got a nice sized one that has let us have a bit of fun.. there's a HUGE outdoor store in portland that also sells used equipment. We got an excellent deal on 2 rigid frame hiking packs, some Merrel hiking boots, a pair of ear warmers, and two pairs of gators (leg wraps that keep your pants dry). We are almost completely geared now for longer duration hikes.. from few days to a week or two.  We are in the market for a couple of kayaks now and I'm also keeping my eye out for a mountain bike.

-The weather has been variable. Today its 50 degrees, but it's gotten down in the 30s too. Some days it rains, and other days like today its beautiful outside. We still haven't gotten any more snow on the ground but last week it was sleeting/hailing when we were driving to the market. There is still some snow on the mountain tops around us.

-A couple weeks ago we had two great thrift store finds. The first was an amazing sight, a near replica of a metal tin that I'd gotten from my grandma. The original one I had rusted through and I had to dispose of it... this one looks identical with the only difference being the handle on the lid. I was SO HAPPY to find this, I never thought I'd be able to replace it.

The next one is an excellent solution to the dark dining room cove we have, this groovy retro swag light! It goes so well with our decor....

Earlier in the month I'd been looking around some of portland's cool retro furniture shops and seen a few examples of almost this exact lamp costing anywhere from $70-$90. Guess how much this one was?.. $9.99!
Thrift stores for the win!


- Last but not least, the reason for the title of this blog. We went and revisited a place we checked out shortly after moving here, the site of a local landslide that took out half of a road. This one happened a year ago and while it wasn't a very large one, it still had visual impact to us. It was interesting for a few reasons, one is getting to see what a cross section of a road looks like. Another was seeing trees growing sideways. Also, making us ponder what were people thinking building a road on the side of such a steep cliff and not bolstering it better? It was solid visual evidence of how powerful mother nature can be. Even though this happened a year ago, we haven't seen anything that would elude to the county attempting to repair the road... Who knows, maybe you can't build again on land where a slide has happened. The clay under the asphalt was very fine, moist and spongy, and could possibly be used for making pottery. No wonder it slid after the rainy season.

Click here to see the Land Slide

Multnomah Falls and such

I think anyone who comes to the Columbia Gorge will see these falls at some point. You can get a pretty good glimpse of them from one of the major highways out here. It's the tallest waterfall in OR and is said to be the third tallest year round waterfall in the US. There are all sorts of paths and trails all around it, most are highly accessible to the general public. We had a great time exploring the icy surroundings and taking in the massive beauty of these falls. The hike to the bridge was relatively mild and very rewarding as the view of the falls and the gorge was stunning. The falls were partially frozen and glittering, and the ice forming in the crystal clear mountain stream was glacier blue. If you come out to visit us, we will be taking you here.


 CLICK HERE to see pics of the falls

While we were in the gift shop at the falls we unexpectedly found a pair of silver and opal rings that were exactly what we were looking for to serve as our "promise" rings... basically to symbolize our 3+ years together and our interest in legally formalizing the relationship at some point...
(it's legal for us to get married in WA) They aren't our proper engagement/wedding rings but more like a pre-engagement ring.. lol.

Rowena Wildlife Clinic

As scheduled, we took ourselves a little road trip to somewhere we've yet to go.. The Dalles OR. It's a little less than an hour from our house but driving to that part of Oregon was truly like entering entering another world. The topography changed as we went away from the river into rolling hillsides with HUGE SKIES. It was extremely dramatic and breathtaking. Unfortunately alot of the day was overcast so some of the photos didn't turn out that great. Our reason for this little jaunt was to attend our first day orientation at the Rowena Wildlife Clinic. A wonderful volunteer showed us around and introduced us to their current charges, some of whom are life long residents, and others who are only there until they recover well enough to be released back to the wild. We saw owls, hawks, a vulture, parrots, doves, cockatiels, a cockatoo, a goat, an opossum, a duck, and a few other types of birds. We got to see where they do their surgeries and met the vet who performs them. They have a huge property with many large outdoor aviaries. Some of the long term resident birds are used in educational programs and are shown by the volunteers who work with them. We were told that many of the birds who were found, treated, and released locally often come back for free food handouts. It was really amazing to be able to be within inches of some powerful apex predators. We even got to touch one of the horned owl's feet (his name is One eyed Jack) as a way to introduce ourselves to him. We were given the lowdown on the volunteer's jobs of slicing and dicing mice, rats, chicks, and fish to feed to the animals and shown a little bit about how they keep the animal pens clean and tidy. We made sure to let them know all the ways we would be able to help. They put us down as emergency contacts so if a bird or animal is found injured on the WA side of the river we could be the first response to pick them up and transport them to the clinic. Good thing we have a van! Hopefully they will take us up on our other offers to volunteer our time in the clinic too :)

Check out their website to see some of the work they have done and see how you can help : http://rowenawildlifeclinic.org/

Click here to see the video of our time at the clinic: CLICK HERE

Click here to see the pics from the road trip: CLICK HERE