by sandra.

with the temperature getting hotter everyday, frank and i wanted to get out of our stuffy house to somewhere cooler. today we headed to the gorge where’s it’s quite shady. first we visited bridal veil falls using a secret shortcut that we discovered. we had visited here before with the pup but this time he was much braver. he enjoyed splashing in the water and even went down the stairs (in army crawl position!)

we planned on hitting up some of the other waterfalls in the gorge but they were too crowded. we decided to visit the bonneville fish hatchery and i’m so glad we did. It was such a treat — large grassy areas for the pup to play, fish to watch, and a nice breeze blowing. we plan on returning another day to have a picnic and hike a nearby trail.

for lunch we headed across the river to stevenson, washington, to visit walking man brewery. we hadn’t been there before so frank was excited. the restuarant had a nice shaded patio area which i appreciated.

all in all it was a great day. frank, the pup, and i all had a lot of fun. it was a great reminder of how lucky we are to live in the northwest.

by sandra.

since we’ll be home-bodies (instead of world travelers) this summer frank and i have finally created a garden. we’ve been thinking about this for awhile now, but now have the time and space.

first we built raised beds so we could use the square foot gardening technique. (more about that here.) in short, you divide your garden into square foot sections. then you plant a different plant in each square foot section in a grid based on the size of the full grown plant. so a tomato will take up one square foot while there’s 16 radishes per square foot.

we decided to plant starters for our peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and broccoli. you can see those in the picture below. we planted the bush bean, radishes, green onion, basil, and carrots from seed.

we’ve already harvested some radishes and lettuce, and are looking forward to eating some tomatoes soon. yum!

by sandra.

frank and i are excited to announce that we just signed a new lease at a house in ne portland.  we hadn’t really planned on moving so soon, but pursued this house when its ad caught our eye on craigslist.  it’s perfect for us in so many ways — bigger kitchen, more space from the neighbors, a working fireplace, and a spacious backyard.  we know we’ll especially enjoy it when we’re home this summer.

below are a few pictures that i stole from the ad:

by Frank

Guess what? The sun shown on Portland on Sunday, February 17, 2008! That might not seem like a big deal to those of you in Arizona, but Sunday marked the first mostly sunny sky in Portland for weeks. To celebrate, Sandra and I enjoyed a picnic in St. Johns’s Cathedral Park, located under the historic St. Johns Bridge.

The St. Johns Bridge is a steel suspension bridge spanning the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. It’s the only suspension bridge in the Willamette Valley.

The bridge has two 408 ft tall Gothic towers, a 1,207 ft center span and a total length of 2,067 ft. The adjacent park of Cathedral Park is named after the Gothic cathedral-like appearance of the bridge towers. It is the tallest bridge in Portland, with 400 ft tall towers and a 205 ft navigational clearance.

At the dedication ceremony in 1931, designer Dr. Steinman told the crowds, “A challenge and an opportunity to create a structure of enduring beauty in the God-given wonderous background was offered us when were asked to design the bridge. It is the most beautiful bridge in the world we feel.”

“The Gothic arch was made of stone in the medieval days because steel had not been developed. It is really more appropriate in steel. Until recently the public took it for granted that steel bridges had to be utilitarian and unattractive, but now the interest is turning to the development of forms of beauty in steel.”