Sauvie Island

It is 8:30 PM and the sun is still bright and it is a nice 75 degrees...you'd think I'd like the extra light, but the sun staying out past 9:30 just doesn't sit well with me.

Anyhow, we are enjoying our summer weather and today we went to Sauvie Island to pick the season's first raspberries and to eat some dang good roasted corn on the cob. I love all the farms around here and I really enjoy getting to go pick our produce right from the grower. Two huge overflowing boxes of raspberries for only $2.90!

We also went to a beach on the Columbia River today that is on the island. The view was very nice, but I could do without some of the people that were there. If we would have walked down another 50 yards or so we would have been on the nude portion of the beach! Seriously, there is a clothing optional area just right out side Portland.I love that Sauvie Island is only a brief 15 min drive outside of town and that we can feel like we've gone on a little day trip.

Swissy BBQ

Yesterday we drove north to Centralia to attend a BBQ put on by the Cascade Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Club. It was a nice sunny day and the park the BBQ was at had huge trees and nice little pond. I was lame and didn't take many pictures, but we had a good time meeting other swissy people. It sure is a funny thing to see so many dogs that all look very similar and to have half of them related one way or another.

Even though we traveled to Indiana to get Gypsy, her mom, Kayak was originally from Washington and was bred by a breeder named Lisa Simonsen. Here is Gypsy with her "swissy grandma" Gypsy turned six month old this week and currently weighs 65 lbs...yikes, I can't believe she has more to grow still!

DEDICATED TO JENNY FRAME

June/Visitors Take 11

Mary Wagner came for visit this month. This was Mary's first time visiting the pacific northwest, but it is safe to say she'll be back. The weather was wonderful while she was here and she loved all the green everywhere. She was really great with Gypsy and didn't mind at all that we took her with us everywhere we went. Gypsy fell in love with Mary and has been looking for her since she left.

Blake started graduate school this past week and is already overwhelmed with the amount of school work he was assigned. We'll see how this goes....I have a feeling I'm going to be doing a lot of typing these next few months.

May

We didn't have any plans for Memorial Day so we decided we'd finally take the loop drive around Mt. Hood. It was such a pretty drive! There is still a lot of snow up on Mt. Hood, but we the further we got on the loop the more farms, vineyards, and orchards we saw. The whole drive was really nice and it was a very relaxing day. We stopped in this cute little town called Hood River for lunch and then we hit a waterfall on the way back to town that we hadn't seen before. We'll have to do this drive again later in the summer, b/c the call the drive the "fruit loop" b/c all the local farmers put roadside stand out.Oh yeah, and we were also introduced to Sauvie Island and what a great find! It is only about a 15 min. drive from our house and it is a little island with boat houses and farmers. We went and picked some pretty flowers and bought the most amazing cherries. We will be going back there for sure once the blackberries hit peak season.

Hooray for the SHINS! They are my favorite of all favorites! They are finally back on tour and we got to see them. This was my second time seeing them and I love them even more if that is possible. There are very few groups I can listen to over and over, but I could probably listen to them daily. When we moved here I thought we'd get to see them play more frequently, b/c they are based in Portland, but NOOOOOOOOOO. I guess I'll just have to take what I can get.

April/Visitors take 10

Ella Fitzgerald "Ella Kitty" turned 7. I can't believe we've already had our kitty for seven years!April was a pretty chill month, but we did go to this AMAZING tulip festival! This will be a new yearly tradition, because it was just soooo beautiful! Seriously, there were tulips as far as the eyes could see in every color and variety. It was also neat b/c it only cost us $5 and we were allowed to have the pup with us.The weather was really nice the whole month and we have been taking full advantage of going to the many parks around here. Here is Gypsy with her boyfriend Coletrane...they french kiss already. Gross. Oh yeah, the cherry trees bloomed all over! The air smelled fantastic and I loved all the white and pink blossoms all around town. Living in a place with seasons kicks butt! We have also been learning about all thing dog in the Portland area. Portland is such a HUGE dog place and everywhere you go there are people out with dogs. We found this one dog wash where you go and get to wash your dog, but they provide everything to you and it is half the cost of having the place groom them for you. Blake's Aunt Peggy & Uncle Pete own some property up in Washington so on their way back home to California they made a stop in Portland to see us. It was nice to have some family come even if for only a short moment and they treated to us to a yummy lunch!

March/Visitors Take 9

Ella had to do some adjusting to having a new animal in the house and still isn't thrilled about the idea. They are okay with each other as long as they are both sleeping....We did puppy class for the first month and have now moved on to obedience were we go each Tuesday. I swear the class is more for me than for Gypsy :) Oh yeah, and Gypsy has a boyfriend named Coltrane (black lab in picture)-she is so in love. I think the picture of the three pups lined up is pretty darn cute. We try to take the dog with us whenever possible and it has been a good thing, b/c we are seeing new places we haven't' seen yet. One day we drove up to Mt. Hood so Gypsy could be a true mountain dog and she got to romp around in the snow.

We had the opportunity to go to several really amazing concerts, but I must say that the Chieftains (a Celtic group) were by far my favorite. Their show was so full of excitement and they had these amazing Irish jig dancers that I was really impressed with. We also went up to Seattle and saw this group called the Ancient Orchestra and they played all the Bach Brandenburg concertos on instruments that were made when the music was composed. It was really interesting and educational to hear how different the pieces sounded using the instruments they were meant for. Bach is on my top list of composers so this was a neat experience.

Our good friends Beau & Danielle came up for another visit from the land of Flagstaff. Danielle is dying to move to Portland, but Beau just isn't on board yet...he wants to stay in Flagstaff for the rest of his life and for the life of me I can't figure out why. Silly Beau. It was nice that they had already been here so we could be a little more go with the flow this time. We went to Blazers game, Cannon Beach, the markets, and we drove them up to Seattle for the weekend and did all the tourist stuff there. Oh yeah, and we went on another ghost tour. Ghost people sure are odd and I don't really think words would do the outing justice. Oh the gum! That is a picture the world famous gum wall in Seattle just outside of Pikes Place. Gross!

February

Wow, so many months ago and a lot of stuff happened from what I can remember.

We added to new additions to our family:

1. A new 2009 Subaru Outback. We needed a new car for our dog...oh....at least that is what I kept telling Blake. So far we love it and it has been a fun car to take our road trips in and works out nicely with Gypsy in the back area. Oh, and it has butt warmers and think those are amazing. We are now true Oregonians, b/c I swear that half of the population drives Subarus here. Mead-you should come and bring yours!2. Gypsy Boots "Gypsy"! We flew to Chicago, drove to Lafayette, IN on a Saturday and then turned around the very next day and drove back to Chicago in a blizzard with our new puppy for our venture home. Our flight was so late getting in Seattle for our connecting flight that we had to rent a car and make the three hour drive south to Portland at 1am...needless to say it was a long journey for all, but I think we were all troopers. No peeing, barking or pooping on the plane, but Gypsy did vomit in Blake's hands :)