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!!