Jun 28, 2012 | life around portland, live
While my parents were here a few weeks back, we visited the Bonneville Dam and Fish Hatcheries. Our original plans were to visit Multnomah Falls, however, a hot tip on the dam from the friendly neighborhood gas station attendant led us to change our plans and head a bit further up the highway.
(Yes, we took activity tips from the gas station attendant. Yup – that’s pretty funny. What can I say? He was nice, and I am clearly very trusting – hahaha.)
It was actually awesome and we were all so glad we went. First, it was free. Second, it had a neat little ‘museum’ celebrating Native Americans and early settlers and how the local rivers were a life line for them. (Gavin especially liked this because it had old rifles displayed AND he got to pet a beaver pelt.) Third, it had a ‘viewing window’ where you could – in theory – watch salmon and other fish climb the fish ladder. We saw one fish – actually a fish shadow. That’s it. Hilariously, this article about record numbers of sockeye salmon climbing the very fish ladders which were vacant just a few weeks ago was released today.
Our experience at the end of May:
And here’s what’s happening at that very site now.
A little bit different, yea? Hahaha. We’ll have to go back when the fish are actually running. (Like tomorrow…)
I think my favorite part of the whole trip was discovering that it’s someone’s job to sit in a dark room, in front of a window in the fish ladder and COUNT / record the number of each different fish that passes through. I found that pretty incredible – especially when you see the number of fish that pass through this thing annually. Check out the pics!
More the on the fish hatcheries to follow.
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Jun 18, 2012 | life around portland, trying to raise humans
I overheard this conversation yesterday:
Gavin: “Grace, I saw a guy riding his bike in pants and no shirt yesterday.”
Grace: nothing
Gavin: “And, then there was one with no shirt and just underpants.”
Grace: starts laughing.
Gavin: “And then behind him, there were NAKED guys riding bikes. With no clothes on.”
Grace: hysterical.
I looked at Kenny with a raised eyebrow, and asked why I didn’t hear this story. Kenny’s response was that he hoped it evaporated from both his and Gavin’s memories. Apparently not. And now I had to know the story so I made Kenny tell me. Here goes:
The boys were stopped at a red light downtown on the way home from a birthday party on Saturday. First car behind the line, of course. Optimal placement for naked bike rider viewing. Gavin calls out: “Hey, dad! Look at that guy – he’s riding his bike with just pants on.” (pause) “Wait. THAT guy has no pants and no shirt – he’s riding in his underwear.” (pause) “And THOSE guys are just riding in their privates.” By this point, Gavin was cracking up and declaring he couldn’t wait to tell Grace. And knowing Kenny, I am sure he was mortified beyond belief for a few reasons, namely that he had to see naked men riding bikes, then had to settle his hysterical five-year-old after they rode in front of their stopped car, then had to re-live two re-tellings of the story. (We can bank on him adding another layer of mortification when he has to read the story again on the blog.)
“Those guys are just riding in their privates.” Now THAT is just awesome. HAHAHA!
Jun 2, 2012 | life around portland, live
Last Saturday, after our visit to VooDoo Doughnut, Too!, we went to Portland’s Saturday Market. It was interesting – artisans, food vendors, and plenty of people watching. The closet thing I can compare it to would be the Columbus Flea Market or Rice’s Flea Market back home but with the artisan offerings and people watching dialed up big time.
The kids had fun walking around. Not as much as my mom, though. She couldn’t get enough of the people watching and was brazenly snapping photos of those folks she found most intriguing. I am more of a shy type (ok, scared type) and worry about what a guy holding a sign that says “Punch a punk in the junk for a buck” will do to me if I stand in his face with my camera. I mean, he’s a self-stated punk who’s already inviting ME to punch him – if I make him mad do I risk HIM punching me and then dropping a dollar on my stomach as I’m laid out on the street? Yea, my mom doesn’t share that same fear. She told me she’s fine because she has street smarts. Hilarious! I told her, “Yea, so do I and that’s why I am not taking a picture of him.” I wrapped up the fun about five minutes after I was solicited for $5 in return for incense to help stop gang violence. Not that I don’t want to help, but I am notorious for not carrying cash – ever – and I had two pre-schoolers in tow who would have questioned me about the exchange for the rest of my life. (They’re good like that. We let them drop a dollar in a guitar case of a street musician a few weeks back and Gavin still asks why he did that. Haha.)
Jun 1, 2012 | life around portland, live
I finally made it to VooDoo Doughnut! In fact – I made it to VooDoo Doughnut (original) and VooDoo Doughnut, Too! A few times over.
Long story.
We accidentally went to VooDoo Doughnut, Too! instead of the Original. Because I wanted to deliver an authentic Portland experience, I insisted that we go to the Original, not Too! So we set off. And ended up getting a bit turned around and headed back across the Burnside Bridge accidentally. We passed Too! again. Gavin – “Mom, can I just like, have a doughnut?” Not yet, sweetie. Mom’s slightly neurotic and is trying to make the VooDoo Doughnut experience perfect for Gram and Pop.
In effect, over the next hour or so, I got my Chevy Chase on and turned the Burnside Bridge and the pretty view of Portland into our version of Big Ben and Parliament. “Look, Dad! It’s the White Stag sign!” This quickly turned into “Ugh. It’s the White. Stag. Sign. Again. Where are the doughnuts?!” Somehow, I don’t think my mom got a decent picture of this iconic sign (the one in my header) despite all this. We finally did make it past the Original, saw the crowds (like insanely huge, gigantic crowds waiting in line to get a lil powdered-sugar delight) and headed BACK over the Burnside Bridge to Too!. I drove around so much that my kids eventually fell asleep and abandoned all hope of actually getting to eat a doughnut.
Cool fact about the Burnside Bridge: there’s a skatepark under the east end of the bridge that’s featured in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and Free Willy.
Luckily, I delivered. Eventually. We arrived at Too! and ordered up a few Apple Fritters, a few Arnold Palmers, vanilla frosted (Grace), chocolate frosted (Gavin) and quite possibly the world’s biggest glazed doughnut to take home as a treat for Kenny. Our trip was totally PG, so we didn’t try any of the naughty ones, nor did we try the maple bacon bar. Hey – we have to save something for next time!
The verdict? A fun place to visit. +Bonus points for properly spelling doughnut and playing cool music.
