SW 'Merica

Tony and I took off Monday April 30th on a road trip. We were gone for 24 days, the furthest point away from our PDX home we went to was Lake View Arkansas. Along the way we played in the Steens Mountain range of Oregon. There we drank delicious milkshakes that hurt our stomachs in the town of Fields, Oregon (population 11... the nicest 11 people in a town ever). We also shared the Willow Creek hot springs with a bunch of naked fellas and a snake. Next we scooted along to SE Utah, explored the beautiful 4x4 roads of Canyonlands with our 2-wheel drive RV from 1978, found incredible camping sites, full moons and canyons. Road bikes on sandy dirt roads, to find muddy water to bathe in. I rode with my feet "clipped in" to my bike as much as possible on this trip... needless to say, it was a learning experience and I crashed a lot, and got a little hurt. In Canyonlands we quickly discovered that national parks have a lot more to offer if you get off the paved roads. There is free camping, only a few people and some incredible wilderness (thanks Edward Abbey for the tips). From Canyonlands we scooted over to the Moab area and hiked around the area for a day, searching for Arches that we didn't have to pay to see. They were easy to find and beautiful. From Utah we drove for 2 days and slept in a truck stop on our way to Arkansas (very romantical). Tony and I both have grandma's and family in ARK. It was a delightful family trip, full of clean showers, beautiful people, potato salads, rescued animals (Frank the horny turkey) and coyote-filled walks via moonlight. We were fortunate to visit his Grandma's costume and bridal rental store, she said "take whatever you want" so we did. Two storage tubs later we have 14 vintage plastic masks, an Alf mask, safari gear for Tony and 12 beaded gowns for my girlfriends to prance around in. After Arkansas, we breezed through Oklahoma and Texas again. Our end destination was the North Rim of the legendary Grand Canyon. Now when I have been asked if I have seen the grand canyon i proudly get to say yes! Yes I have explored 'Merica and its GOOD! (Historically I haven't seen too much of 'Merica... except for the Pacific NW, so this trip was quite exciting. The Grand Canyon is surprisingly forested, full of deer and amazing Quacking Aspen trees that were in full Spring time bloom! Little neon green leaves that shimmered in day light. Oh man, too much writing... we saw so much: Santa Fe, Durango, Zion, rocks, mountains, deserts and forests. SO many animals: Frogs, antelope, elk, coyotes, armadillos, snakes, pelicans, eagles, road runners and more! Very fun... happy to be home. My bloody nose from the dry weather is quickly healing, and the comforts of a full-size kitchen and friends make coming back very pleasant. However being on the road in the Datsun Chinook was great. We are officially part of the RV gang, we get to talk to fellow RV'ers about the joys of cooking indoors atop canyon bluffs and pulling out the table to play backgammon underneath the stars of Colorado. LOVE IT. Here are some photos... a lot of photos. xo

SO MUCH...

So much has happened since my contract "ended"... the whole concept of one door closes, many doors open feels entirely true and validated in the last two months of life. After leaving computer desk job in Hillsboro I started looking for volunteer opportunities to try new things. I've been organic farming and trying to get my foot into the world of education (teaching). Specifically I volunteered at an elementary school and helped kids who were behind in reading, get better. At the farm- Working Theory Farm- I've been sowing, weeding, tilling and planting hundreds of vegetable babies. Its practically perfect weather in the NW to work outside, not hot and not cold... hasn't been raining too much, we've even had the occasional 80*F day. This evening (its currently 11:22pm) Tony and I are shooting off for our much anticipated SW America road trip. Look out Utah, Colorado, Arizona and even Arkansas (hey grandmas!) we are coming to get you. I am eager to share some stories from this adventure on ze blog later. Don't have much at the moment, just a quick catch up. Yahoo for spring flowers and life cycles. I love how the sunrises and sets. Very dependable.

maiden voyage

some snowy snaps of the road, a house on wheels and some music to accompany the slide show. lots of fun. go check out Umpqua hotsprings... they are lovely.

boo!

what's this??? a toyota chinook. a new adventure. a humongous project. A GEM!
Maybe someday the interior will reflect these:

canada

so life has been FULL of wonderful canadian surprises as of late, its kinda creepy how often I find myself surrounded by things "made in canada"... its been a variety pack and I'd like to share some with YOU!
Did you know... canucks make great music:
Timber Timbre visited portland's mississippi studios:


Basia Bulat graced The Woods:


Buck 65 being beautiful with a beauty. *sigh* only 7 minutes, I was hoping this would last forever...


A wee story:
Americans: "Please divert your course 15 degrees North to avoid a collision."

Canadians: "Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees South to avoid collision."

Americans: "This is the captain of a US navy ship; I say again divert your course."

Canadians: "No. I say again, you divert YOUR course."

Americans: "THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES' ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH, THAT'S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER-MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP."

Canadians: "We are a lighthouse; your call."

~author unknown


And a special thank you to the canadian couch surfers who rolled into town and made the last few weeks much more exciting. So very grateful for all the conversations, meals, dance parties and spontaneous adventures.

(it gerry!!! can you believe it, ten years later the boy rolls back into town... woop woop)

big green trees

I am a little bit lazy, and a little bit broke so when I discovered the only Canon battery charger I had was meant for New Zealand plug-ins a few weeks ago, I have yet to replace it with on that would work in the US. Which means I am unable to take quick and easy digital photos to share on my blog.
Its been a nice break though. I am still sitting on 2,000 photos from New Zealand and have yet to print or scrapbook any of those. Until I do something with that collection I am not allowed to take new photos and amass more of something that I don't do anything with. I have a love/hate relationship with digital and am working out some of the kinks these days.

Anyways, this means that I've been toting around my colored pencils and sketch book more.
Carin and I went and got lost two weekend in a row in the woods. The first weekend, the lovely Kristin Flemington (yah new friend!) joined us for an in and out trip at Eagle Creek. We scored a lovely camp site about 10 miles in. Once we set up camp we didn't see another soul the entire evening. It was a gorgeous trail- exciting falls, steep cliffs, Oregon outback. This weekend Carin and I went a little further North into the Hoh Rainforest of Washington State. HEY HOH! Sorry, can't help myself sometimes. This hike was equally beautiful. Luscious, old growth trees. Cedars with moss melting over every branch. We heard about lots of elk and black bears, but only saw some friendly fawns. We hiked at least 9 miles each day, which was pushing our little feet. Spoiled ourselves by carrying in way too much food, I refused to carry any of it out, so we had lots of eating to do, and shared some lovely campfires with friendly kids from Washington. We traded warm cups of Stumptown coffee for hours of sitting by their blazing fire.
Looking forward to what is bound to be a fun summer.

BOUNTY

The doug fir was very fruitful last night. Deanna and I knew we were in for a treat, two tickets to see the sold out Menomena show... but the surprise was how freagin' awesome the open acts were as well.
It started with: Archeology (also playing FREE at RonToms this sunday... bring your Mum's!)

Beautifully followed by the violin, drum duo that created a symphony of sound, Talkdemonic:

and finally a band I've been yearning to see live since I first heard of them back in high school, Menomena... for some unclear reason they were focusing on there OLD music, which luckily for me were the tunes that made me fall for their sound. Here is a taste of their newest single:

(fun side note, Caitlin McCall and I recently got to work on a CHILDREN's music video together with the same women who helped make this menomena video... when I say "work" i mean we dressed up in giant paper mache costumes and participated in chase scenes and semi-choreographed dance sequences!!! exciting things to come!)