Gorging Ourselves (BBB Edition) #PDX #ColumbiaGorge
A hop, skip, and a jump up the Columbia River. There and back again. A gobbet’s journey.
Last Friday my wife and I left the PDX zone and carved our way up the Columbia River Gorge. This is our humble travel blog.
Why is this called the “BBB Edition?” The clever reader will find three “B” words carefully hidden within this post that will illuminate. See if you can find them all.
Fireworks Cleanup Post #photography
We consider ourselves fairly typical Americans. It was a few nights before the Fourth of July, decidedly my least favorite night of the year. We were in our living room, sitting on our asses and watching TV. Like I said, typical.
Suddenly there was a boom. I looked out the front window and billowing smoke rose from our front yard garden. It had begun.
“Those fireworks are close,” I said. “Damn close.” The shit was literally raining down right on top of us.
On July 4th itself I went outside to see what the hell was going on. I saw one of those colorful bursts like you’d see in any major fireworks display except it was directly over my house. It went off about 20-30 feet over our roof. Two things were immediately obvious: Why don’t they do this shit above their own houses? They’re too good for that! And, wow, they are really good shots. We were being targeted.
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Photo Challenge: It’s a Picnic
The crappiest place on Earth.
It’s been a long time since we had a photo challenge. The wait is over!
“Set a course for the Nooglachmiaskoo system. I like their sense of individuality.”
“Sir?”
“Make it so, Number One!”
“Aye, sir.”
“Engage.”
Hint: The photo has absolutely nothing to do with Star Trek. But there is a wee wee clue buried in the dialogue above. For those who know me well it’s actually a very good clue. Think about it.
Hint: It’s where your guru wants to go for a picnic.
It sure looks a lot like a place where Kirk and Spock would beam down and have adventures, doesn’t it?
Oriented radially along the path of the sun, the building will feature a rooftop that folds up and down. As the seven separate folds of the roof tilt, in sawtooth rhythm clerestory windows fill the void created by the upward fold, responding to the movement of natural light and airflow. The downward fold drains the landscaped roof runoff into a berm, on the south facade, and bioswales, returning the stormwater to the Columbia Slough. The folded roof, combined with a north-oriented, louvered, and operable glass facade, will allow daylight and natural ventilation to fill the interior during working hours and make possible night flush cooling. The building’s hydronic system will connect to the plant water flow, efficiently heating and cooling.
–A description of the building
Can you identify the purpose of this architectural marvel recently constructed in Portland, Oregon? You can log your guesses in the comments section below.
You’ll never guess what they do here.
Paddle Me Canoe Edition
Every great expedition begins with a solid plan. Seen here is an artist’s conceptual drawing of everything we imagined. We were decidedly not on solid ground.
Sauvie Island by Canoe
A Year Ago
Have you ever wanted something? Which do you think is preferable? Achieving it or remaining an interminable infinite loop of denial?
One year ago we moved to the big city of Portland, Oregon. Soon after we stunned by the sheer number of outside things to do. Tucked away here and there amidst the urban sprawl were remarkable natural areas to explore. I no longer remember how but somehow we became fixated on the idea of getting a canoe.
Owning a canoe became a frequent topic of discussion during the next year. We imagined the places we would go. We envisioned it as easy and inexpensive way to enjoy our new home. Need something to do? Just throw the canoe on the car and hit one of the many interesting places: rivers, lakes, sloughs and more. Viola.
I’d been in a canoe one before, but that was at church camp like 30 summers ago. I didn’t recall any bad memories so it must have been easy and fun. Right?
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#Travel: Cornering #Oregon – #photography
Oregonians know well the distinctive shape of their state. It’s found on key chains, souvenir shot glasses, business logos, decorative plates and innumerable wood-carved thingies. I feel bad for states like Colorado that have an outline about as exciting as a rectangle.
Colorado, Wyoming and Utah are the only states which have boundaries defined solely by lines of latitude and longitude. (Thanks for the arcane knowledge, Wikipedia!)
After hearing about all of the sunny and warmer days that have been happening on the Oregon coast, this weekend my wife and I decided to go see for ourselves. The plan was to leave cold and foggy Portland behind and go all the way around the NW corner of that unique Oregon shape.
Here are a few photographs from the trip. I’ve left them full-size to they can be clicked to enlarge.
The Portland Oregon skyline on the way out of town.
Christmas Cat: Caption Contest
To add a bit of balance to the bile I spewed a few minutes ago in the previous post, let’s do something fun!
Your challenge? Come up with a caption for this photograph of El Guapo Picard Tutankhamun Taker that I originally posted a few years ago. What’s he saying here???
Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful
Bonus: Rare footage of El Guapo warming up before the fire.
Scurvy Pumpkin Hunter
Halloween may be over but pumpkin may yet be on the menu. I’m talking about, of course, the Pumpkin Taco. Better make a run from the Bell or you’ll have little to be thankful for this month.
The reader of this blog may already know that we recently moved to Portland, Oregon.
Located about 10 miles northwest of downtown is a place called Sauvie Island. It’s the largest island on the mighty Columbia River and one of the largest river islands in the United States. I’d never heard of it before moving here.
The island is about 26,000 square acres and home to primarily farmland and protected wildlife areas and even a nude beach. Ever since we arrived it has been a popular destination to for us to visit for photography, picking our own produce, and bird watching.
It’s also home to some of the biggest pumpkin patches in the Portland area, including one that is “haunted,” the corn maze bit, yada yada yada.
It was also where my wife wanted to go pumpkin shopping. So, one find day, we grabbed our machetes and headed out to the island. After all, what could possibly go wrong?
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