Oregon coast!

So by now you are probably getting a little worried that we are spending too much time outdoors. You don't understand. We have to! The impending horror that is winter is barreling down at us like a wet freight train. Starting July 5th a kitchen timer starts counting down to October. It creates a kind of hysteria in Portland to do everything outside all the time. So we went to the coast.

We went to the world famous Sea Lion caves. The largest in the world! It was not as smelly as I thought it would be and May is starting to make her peace with marine mammals...although whales are still out of the question.

While we were down there I would thought it would be an opportune time to drop some ocean policy knowledge on a group of onlookers. I talked about marine reserves and renewable wave energy. It was a cool chance to talk with people who live in the area (I'm not a crazy person, they asked me to speak).

Leavenworth it!

During one of May's first weekends up here in the PNW we had a hankering to do some floating. For those of you not familiar with this age old tradition, it involves an inner-tube, a river, beer and add sun to taste. After an incredibly long drive into Central Washington, we finally arrived at our destination...the impossibly quaint Bavarian village that is Leavenworth, WA. There was lederhosen a'plenty and these intricately carved wooden signs for every business, including that adorable mom and pop restaurant called McDonald's.

It was very surreal, but we were there to float. and float we did.

We found a secluded camp area that was about an hour outside of town.

May also proved herself to be a worthy cook around the ol' coleman stove. I didn't think she had it in her being such a urbanite, but I realized that at her heart she is kind of a country girl.

Overall, it was a great weekend. Our first of many great weekends in this crazy place we call the pacific northwest. Come along with us, won't you?

Portland Ponderings

We are having a blast in Portland and we'll do our best to keep everyone updated of our newest adventures. Fall has officially begun- the rain is here! And while rain 9 months a year is super depressing, the summer is worth the wait (if we can make it...)! May arrived just in time to catch the last couple months of beautiful sunshine and we have since traveled all over Oregon and Washington (well some of it anyways). Visiting friends and exploring the great outdoors. The following posts will include some of our past adventures over the last two months. We have done our best to try and keep some of the dates of the entries true to real time. Enjoy!