Eugene

After all the fun in Portland, we headed south to Eugene to spend some time with Liesl and Chris.  I think I may have a distorted view of Oregon, because every time I go, it is sunny and warm....

We spent three days here and managed to do a variety of things.  We got to meet Chris' mom, which was particularly good since next year at the wedding, I imagine that things will be hectic.  We all went out to Mt. Pisgah Arboretum to check out the wedding venue, and if the weather is anything like it was that day, we will be wearing light, summery clothes.

The pavilion where the reception will be

The other family member we met was Peanut M 'n M (or just Peanut - and maybe some other strange nicknames that Chris comes up with), Liesl's new kitten.  This little guy is trying to make friends with the alpha kitty, Jellybean, but it will be a little while before peace is made between the felines.  Peanut cannot jump up to the top of this cabinet, so Jellybean can get some peace and eat her food in relative solitude.

One evening's entertainment was watching Liesl play some slow pitch softball.  She plays on Chris' company team and Chris cheers her on.  I like the expression on her face as she prepares to hit this ball.  I believe that she batted 1.000.  She also made a great catch in right field.

Oregon is certainly known for good food, and we had quite a variety of deliciousness.  Not only did Liesl cook up stuffed pork chops and Greek pizza for us, but we also ate out at Papa's Soul Food Kitchen, Dickie Joe's, and Off the Waffle.

"Blue Goat" waffle - with goat cheese and blueberries

Other things which kept us entertained:

Playing Beatles Rock Band (way fun)

Playing Carsaconne (I want to play this more)

Going to the matinee of Cowboys and Aliens
Hal fixing Liesl's and Chris' bikes

Me going to Costco and having the tires rotated on the Prism (not so entertaining, but not too bad)

Oregon, Montana and a little bit of Alberta, Canada

Home again, home again, jiggity jig!

We arrived home last night around 11:30 which was 12:30 MST after 12 great days up north.  The first stage of our adventure began in Oregon where we saw two of my cousins and their families in Portland.  On Sunday Liesl came up from Eugene and we packed up the cousin bikes and rented some for us and took off along the bike path along the Willamette  River for several hours.  The weather was perfect and it seemed as though everyone in Portland was out enjoying the sunshine.

After bike riding, some of us were feeling peckish, so we treated ourselves to Burgerville.  The raspberry lemonade was particularly delicious, and the onion rings were massive!  This local chain claims that it is "inconveniently located for most of America."

My cousins' sons are basketball nuts and we watched some of their videos they put up on youtube.  It seems as though they spend their time outside making trick shots and filming them, and then inside putting them together in iMovie.  I think I just used to ride bikes and hang out at the pool in the summers when I was their age....

Flickr Vs Picasa

When I got my digital slr with 15 megapixels, I knew that I needed more storage for my photos, online as well as my own computer.  I thought that I might overrun my Picasa site, so I opened a flickr account (you need a yahoo account to do so).  I was thrilled to find out that with flickr you get new storage space every month. I happily uploaded photos and then I noticed a little sign that said I had put up 180 photos, and only 200 photos are visible.

I have decided that I will post my travel photos on Picasa and my "artsy" photos on flickr.  Flickr will be my exercise in figuring out which my favorite 200 photos are.  I have already deleted some, especially redundant photos, so my site should be continuously evolving.

Scanning Old Photos

I returned home from Kansas in June with a pile of photos to scan to share with family, and I finally got around to doing it.  Most of them I had never seen before, so it was like a gold mine for me.  This is a photo of my grandfather's grandparents' homestead in Herbert, Saskatchewan.  The notation on the back of the photo said that the house and the barn were attached.  It sure looks like wind-swept prairie to me.  I wonder where the wood came from?

29

Twenty-nine years ago, I married my best friend.

Summer Tomatoes

The tomatoes have been plentiful this summer.

Below is a great recipe for Pan-Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad from my daughter.

Pan-roasted corn and tomato salad 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 small red onion, chopped 4 to 6 ears corn, stripped of their kernels (2 to 3 cups) Juice of 1 lime, or more to taste 2 cups cored and chopped tomatoes 1 medium avocado, chopped 2 fresh small chilies, like Thai, seeded and minced Salt and black pepper 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro 1. Heat oil in skillet; add onion and cook until just softened, about 5 minutes, then add corn. Continue cooking, stirring or shaking pan occasionally, until corn begins to brown a bit, about 5 more minutes; remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. 2. Put lime juice in a large bowl and add corn-onion mixture; then toss with remaining ingredients. Taste, adjust the seasoning and serve warm or at room temperature.

Smogging

Every summer we pay our car registration and every other summer we have to have a smog check.  As H mentioned, it's not the most fun thing to do, but we are glad that the state of California does it so that our air is not so horrendous as it was when we moved here 25 years ago.

Anyway, this time I used yelp to find out a good "test only" station, and turns out that the car wash place on Foothill in Upland that my mom likes, has a test only station behind it (you really have to know it's there and follow the tiny signs pointing the way behind the car wash).  If you go to their site, you can get a coupon for a free car wash with a smog test, so $40 and 1 hour later (it was a particularly busy day since the state has been holding on to registration renewals until the budget passed, so the guy said it would be busy for a month or so) we had an all-clear on the car and a clean one, to boot!  (Maybe next time we'll head next door to EZ Take-Out Burger and get a 99-cent breakfast burrito...)

Forever Stamps

When I went to the PO the other day, I decided to pick up stamps, and I love to choose commemorative varieties.  This time I chose Kansas and Gregory Peck stamps.  After I got home and looked at them more closely, I didn't see the 44-cent denomination on them, but the "forever" designation.  I'm guessing that all first class stamps are going this way so that when the prices change, you won't have to go buy 2 cent stamps, and then commemorative stamps will have a longer printing life.

Another Building Has Gone Up

This is the Kravis Center at CMC which is getting very close to opening.  It seems as though they have been working on this building for 3 years, ever since we returned from our last sabbatical.  It certainly blocks the view of the mountains from the Pomona grassy area.

One Building Comes Down. . . .

The Thomas-Garrett academic building at Harvey Mudd College is starting to come down.  It must make way for a brand-new multi-use building which will be completed in about 2 1/2 years.  We were unable to go to the good-bye ceremony on Saturday, but we will miss the courtyard and olive trees where the Shakespeare plays took place each May.