BIG trip is just around the corner

The time has finally arrived for me to head off to Europe for some summer travel and of course to see Nik. I truly felt like this time would never come (it has been over 2 months), but of course it has and I can't wait to be there. The agenda is to arrive into Paderborn and stay for a few days. There I will get to see Nik play ball for one last time. He has been doing really well, by the way, in his games. Hitting well and catching every inning of double headers (that's at least 18 innings depending on the games).

Then, we will head off on our Europe extravaganza. Our trip is pretty flexible as far as an agenda, but we have a pretty good idea of what we will be doing. First stop will be Budva, Montenegro. Nik's dads side of the family is from here, so it will be exciting to see where his family roots lie. Afterwards we plan to hit up parts of Italy, Austria, maybe Switzerland, Czech Republic and of course more Germany. Bavaria and the Alps are kind of the focus, but we are open to everything. Since this will be my first time to really travel Europe, any place is exciting for me. Truly I am most excited to see Nik and everything else it just a perk.

Innsbruck, Austria

I will definitely be posting updates to my blog along the way. But, I am not bringing my computer, so they will probably all be from my phone. Spell check and grammar beware!!!

A day of many hikes

I have been itching to get out and see some of the hiking in the area. I know there is a ton, but I wasn't really sure where to go. On Sunday, I took my Wanda up to Forest Park (the nearby park that is bigger than Golden Gate Park) for a small hike to get her some well needed exercise. She had a blast, but managed to run through all of the mud puddles, so I had the wonderful job of cleaner her up afterward. I'm being sarcastic.

Later I met up with Wanda (my friend) and Andrew and they took me up the 84 highway to a couple different places. The weather was fantastic so it was a perfect opportunity to go out for the day. We did the Wahclella Falls hike. This was a small hike, but beautiful regardless. It felt like I was walking through the rainforest in some far off place. The greenery and the lushness of the land was spectacular. Then we headed up the Eagle Creek Trail. This trail was amazing. At some points we were walking along a thin trail  along a cliff with water coming down from above. Almost as if we were walking under a small waterfall. We didn't have time to go too far up the trail, but it was a great introduction to the places that I can go.

That afternoon I headed with Wanda and Andrew over to their friends house for a BBQ and ladder ball (I think that is what they called it). It was great to be out in the sunshine, meeting new people and enjoying the fantastic weather on my day off. Thanks guys for letting me tag along.

On a side note, work is going great. I'm already in my second week and I am loving the company, the store, the people and the location. I have been riding my bike to work almost everyday (8.5 miles each way) so it has allowed me to get my exercise in as well. Below is a picture of the outside of my store. It is a beautiful historic building in downtown Portland with a few other restaurants and businesses sharing the building with us.

Visit from my Momma

I was really looking forward to this weekend. My mom had the opportunity to schedule a last minute trip to visit and I was very excited. She arrived Thursday afternoon, just in time to head downtown for a little happy hour at the famous Henry's 12th St Tavern. It is the location of the first brewery in Portland, Henry Weinhards, but now is just a great restaurant in the heart of the Pearl District. We had a lot planned for the weekend so we headed home to get some rest and prepare for the next days events.

Friday we woke up to a little rain, but that wasn't going to stop our mission for the day. We were headed down the 84 along the Columbia River Gorge to Multnomah Falls, then on to Hood River to explore the town. First we stopped at Wahkeena Falls and hiked over to the Multnomah Falls. The Wahkeena Falls were beautiful, but when we saw the Multnomah Falls they put the previous ones to shame. The Multnomah Falls are about 620 feet tall. There is a bridge crossing part of the way up the waterfall along a path that is a little over a mile up to the top. We decided to hike it, which proved to be a great butt workout (over 11 switchbacks), but also a great view and amazing watching the water fall from the top.

We had built up quiet an appetite, so afterwards we headed to Hood River to explore the Full Sail Brewery and have some grub. By this time the weather had cleared, and we enjoyed a great lunch over looking the Columbia River. We had just enough time to walk up and down the main street, doing a little window shopping before heading back to the brewery for a tour. The tour was fantastic!! It was about a 40 minute tour of the process of making their beer from start to finish. I have to say, I appreciate beer; the making process, the ingredients and of course the taste. So, learning how it is made was a pretty great experience. They showed us everything from the ingredients used to make it all the way to the bottling of the beer in the end. It was very educational and a lot of fun.

On our way back to the city, we stopped at a Vista lookout and were in aww of the scenery from above the gorge. Being able to look 180 degrees from west to east down the Columbia River was spectacular (see picture at the top of the blog). We then headed back to the city and had a nice dinner at Matadors in NW Portland. This is my favorite neighborhood in Portland and come fall I will live there. The age group of people in the neighborhood is around my age and all the houses have so much character and charm. It has a main strip (23rd) that is filled with great restaurants, shopping and coffee shops. After dinner we decided to walk off all the chips we had eaten, so we walked up and down the street looking and exploring all the great places.

We woke up Saturday to fabulous weather. Our mission for the day was to explore the whole downtown area. We started at Portland State University (my campus starting in the fall) because I wanted to show my mom the school and they have a Farmers Market every Saturday (the same Farmers Market I took Sarah too). I bought some strawberries and asparagus and my mom purchased some morel mushrooms. A rarity, but they are in season right now so she couldn't pass them up. Wanda (not the dog, my friend) joined us for a bit to enjoy the beautiful day, before she had to leave to go study. We then headed down to Pioneer Square, the Saturday Market, the Rose Festival, the Pearl District and everywhere else we could think of going on foot. I think we had to have logged at least 6 miles while spending our time down there. By about 4 pm our feet were beat so we headed home to rest up before going out to a nice dinner in another great neighborhood (Mississippi District). We ended up eating at a place called Lorenzo's, a cute little italian place right on the main street Alberta. We were fortunate enough to get a great seat out on the sidewalk and we enjoyed a delicious dinner together. A lot of people say Portland reminds them of a european city, because of all the little districts and areas of the town. It really is amazing how you can drive 5 minutes in one direction and feel like you are in a completely different town, then head another direction and feel the same way.

Sunday we woke up to the polar opposite of Saturday. It was pouring down rain and it was not letting up. We decided to hang low in the morning, then head to a brunch back in the NW. Our destination was Besaw's, a great breakfast place Nik had taken me too before he left. When we drove by, there was about 30 people standing outside (in the downpour) waiting to get into the restaurant. That was an immediate "Heck No" from the both of us, so we turned around and went to St Honoré Boulangerie instead. I had never been but it looked cute from the outside and it wasn't as crowded. Don't get me wrong it was crowded, but we were lucky to find a seat right away. We both agreed our breakfasts were the best meals we had all weekend. I had a croissant with eggs, herbs, chicken sausage and goat cheese in the middle. I didn't want the tastes to leave my mouth. Since we were in a french bakery, we also both agreed we needed to have a little french dessert to finish the meal off. A canele was the perfect way ending to the perfect brunch.

Mom was leaving that afternoon, so we had time to go to the Japanese Gardens before packing up her stuff and heading to the airport. I really appreciated the gardens. I actually was glad it was raining while we were there, because it kept the crowds away and we were able to experience the piece and tranquility of the beautiful area. The Japanese put so much effort and detail into their gardens and they are so different from what I am used to calling a garden. It was a great way to end the weekend.

Mom thank you so much for coming to visit. I had an incredible weekend with you. It was so much fun exploring the areas I had not been too and of course it was even better with you. I am sad to see you go, but so so happy you came to visit.

My New Gig

After months of looking, applying, interviewing and traveling back and forth from Reno I have found myself with not one but 2 jobs. I can only take one, so I am fortunate that I have the opportunity to take the one that best fits me. I will be working for the clothing company Patagonia. They are based out of Ventura, California, but have a 300,000 sf service center in Reno. I am sure a lot of us have been to their Outlet store in Reno. I will be working at the retail store here in Portland as the Assistant Store Manager. I believe it is their largest store out of 39 stores in 7 countries. Patagonia is a company that focuses on quality of products and the overall well being of the environment. They strive to make as little an impact on the environment as possible. I have followed this company for quite some time and feel very lucky that I have been chosen for the position. It is very hard to get a job with Patagonia. They mainly promote from within and they have been voted as one of the best companies to work for by Outside Magazine. People don't leave the company, because they are so happy with it and they are known for taking care of their employees. Every time they do have an open position the company receives on average 900 resumes. I found that stat in the owner's book (Yvon Chouinard), titled Let My People Go Surfing. It is an exceptional book about the company and it's philosophies. I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity. My first day will be this Monday the 7th.

Also, I just passed my test last Saturday getting re-certified as a personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). I will be personal training on the side to make a little extra cash.

Although I have had the best year of my life being able to travel around the world and meeting the best partner to travel with, I am really looking forward to working and having some responsibility again. Especially since I am with Patagonia. I will, however, be going on one more trip to Europe to travel with Nik during his break in July (Don't worry Patagonia has approved the vacation). I know this new chapter in my life will prove to be just as exciting as all the ones I have had before. So, all I can say with great excitement is, "Bring it On!"

The Torrential Rain Ride

Wanda (my friend) invited me to go on a 30 mile bike ride around the city with her friend Amy along with one of Amy's friends. I thought it sounded like a great idea because, it would give me a great chance to see the city and discover it from the bike riders perspective. It was a little rainy so I decided to put on my best bike gear for the day, just in case we got a little rain along the way.

The ride started out spectacular. We rode from my house downtown to Amy's, then headed south along the river. It was a little cold, but once you got going and built up a sweat it wasn't too bad. After following the river down to Sellwood, we turned and headed east towards the 205. This is were the weather became a little bit worse. It started raining a little harder, but still it was bearable. I was staying dry, because of my gear and my sunglasses were shielding my eyes from water getting in them. Wanda and I found ourselves going a little bit faster than the other ladies, so we would stop every now and then to wait for them to catch up. It was no big deal, because we were just enjoying the ride. Even though we would stop from time to time, I felt like the ride was taking a while. I have done a lot of 30 mile rides and this one just seemed to be going extra slow. Maybe it was the fact that I was new to the area and really I had no idea where we were headed.

When we hit the 205, we followed a path along the freeway north. The weather actually started to get better and the sun came out. Our clothes had a chance to dry and I could feel the temp warming up. We were all the way out in Clackamas, which by the way is a horrendous place to call home if you live in Portland. The neighborhoods aren't the best, so I was happy to be in a group. As we were heading north, Wanda and I noticed this abnormally dark cloud ahead of us. I thought this might get interesting, but continued on the course that Amy had mapped out for us before we left. We were headed to the Columbia River, where we would then turn our direction again to head west. We continued on our path heading straight for the dark cloud. Just before we got to the river the rain started. It wasn't too bad at first, but gradually became heavier and heavier. By the time we hit the river, it was an absolute down pour. The other ladies weren't to far behind us but there was no place to stop out of the rain. So, Wanda and I made an executive decision to put our heads down and power through the rain. We laughed saying there is no friends in a rain storm (kind of stolen from the phrase, "There is no friends on a powder day"). Meaning you aren't going to wait around for someone, it is every man for themselves. Everything from my waist down was completely soaked. My shoes felt like their were puddles in them and they were completely numb from the cold. We still didn't stop, we actually kept pushing harder and harder trying to push through the storm. There was surprisingly a few more people out there. Wanda and I passed them with our lightening speed, but as we passed I made sure to say, "We must be crazy." I didn't even listen for a response I just kept going. The other girls were long gone in the distance behind us.

Finally the rain started to let up a bit and we left the Columbia heading south trying to find our way home. At this point all we wanted to do was get home and jump in a warm shower. We were pretty miserable and our happy faces weren't so happy anymore, except for the fact that the sun was coming out. I knew that we were still pretty far from our houses, because we were by the airport. Thank God Wanda knows the area because she weaved us through the streets back to an area that I was familiar with. All of a sudden the rain hit us again. It didn't matter at this point I couldn't be more wet and I was still frozen from the last burst of rain. We kept riding anyway, hoping that the stop lights would turn in our favor so we wouldn't have to stop.

After 4 hours of riding I made it home. I immediately jumped in the shower and stood there thawing for about 20 minutes. I was so tired, hungry and worn out from my body taking such a beating. I was also shocked that it took me so long to go 30 miles. I wasn't convinced. I went to mapmyride.com and mapped out the route we did. Turns out it was a little over 47 miles. No wonder!!! I informed Wanda and her response was, " We're pretty much rockstars!" That is the truth! We took a hard beating on a long bike ride and made it through. The other girls on the other hand, found a restaurant to stop at. Even though they were sopping wet, they had lunch and waited for Amy's parents to pick them up. I would have been miserable if I had to stay in my wet clothes like that. Overall it was quite an experience and glad I finished it. One I will not soon forget.

Picnics and bike rides

With the weather becoming so nice around here, I felt like this weekend needed to be taken advantage of. On Saturday, I went for a great run down Willamette Blvd. past University of Portland and back totaling a little over 5 miles. This is a great road to run on, because of the fantastic views of the city and the cute houses along the way. Then, Martina, Wanda (my friend), Susie and I packed some food and headed over to Council Crest Park for a picnic. Council Crest is a park situated above the city of Portland with spectacular views of both Mt Hood and Mt Rainier.

It has a very large grassy area and views almost 360 degrees around. We laid out a couple blankets and had a nice lunch of chicken wraps and salad with brownies for dessert. We enjoyed our time chatting, reading and just laying out soaking up the sunshine. In the evening Martina and I sat out on our front porch playing scrabble and hanging out. This was her last night here before she heads to Austria for a month.

The next morning I decided to ride my bike to Sauvie Island to meet up with Wanda and Andrew. From there we were going to ride around the island totaling about 25 miles. Sauvie Island is just north of Portland and is occupied by many organics produce farms. They have a corn maze, pumpkin patch, farmers market and many farms that you can go too to pick your own produce. I absolutely loved the ride and enjoyed seeing all the wonderful farms along the way. Going with people that knew the way definitely made the ride more pleasurable because I didn't have to worry about where I was supposed to go. Now I feel like I could do the ride whenever I want, solo or with friends. I will definitely be making more trips out to the island for a ride, the farmers market or the pumpkin patch in the fall (I am really looking forward to that).

Portland Spring

Coming from the dry high desert, I feel like Portland has florescent colors of greens, pinks, purples and reds. The flowers seem to amaze me every time I step outside. Really! I walk around my block with Wanda and every other house has beautiful flowered trees, bushes and gardens. Just this morning Wanda and I were taking a walk and these are the colors I was impressed to see.

The weather around here has been fantastic all week. Everyone keeps telling me that this is how the summers are around here (except hotter). I have to admit I am very surprised, because I didn't think Portland had blue skies days on end. Apparently it stays like this (most of the time) until the end of September. I already really like Portland, but with the beautiful days we are having and the spectacular colors, I am learning to love it here.

I have been taking Wanda for a walk twice a day since moving here. We usually go to a park near by called Pier Park and it is huge. Gigantic trees cover the park with all sorts of paths and playgrounds scattered throughout. At night this place would not be one to hangout (what park is), but during the day it is quite nice. Actually during the day I can see it being a little sketchy, but there is a large frisbee golf course weaving through the park. This means that people are walking throughout the park all day keeping it (I think) pretty safe. Frisbee golf is a lot like regular golf, but with a frisbee. You start at a tee off and throw the frisbee towards a basket way off in the distance and you count how many throws it takes to get in the basket. I enjoy watching the groups of people get into it. Next to the park is a community pool. As we speak they are getting it ready for summer and it should be open in a couple weeks. I look forward to swimming some laps and laying out by the pool.

I can tell summer is going to be a lot of fun around here. I will be very busy (news to come soon), but I always find time to live life to its fullest.