This was the second day where I was the event coordinator. Our day started with breakfast at the hotel as usual. Then we hopped a cable car and headed to Chinatown. I bought a replacement backpack (mine was coming apart quickly) and my mom picked up a giant package of incense and a calendar while we were there. I took us to dim sum and the place I picked was not awesome. What I got was good but nothing was new or exciting about the choices. Mom and Becky had a few very weird desserts and a few other veggie entrees but I know they would have rather went elsewhere. Thanks for humoring me. Anyway the weirdest place we saw was the live game hens place with a lady walking out of there with moving bags in her hands. You can't accuse them of not knowing where there food comes from.
From there we headed to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. They had a Frida Kahlo exhibit that was pretty intense. The audio tour helped us gain some insight into the paintings and her life. The audio tour was very helpful in that exhibit. We went downstairs and had a beverage and some bread (I skipped the bread since my dim sum was a little more filling). Then we went to the main exhibit. Some of which was interesting but as we headed further in the art became more "modern". Of course I still maintain modern art really translates to crap to fool snobby rich people into paying too much for. The selections of complete and utter stupidity included the infamous urinal as art, canvas painted white, a long blue light hanging slanted on a wall, metal shelves too small to be useful, stupid colored boxes within other colored boxes, and paint painted on canvas in for no apparent reason. The audio tour had me bent over in tears as they tried to justify hanging some of this crap up and insisting it was art. The only thing I could say was "REALLY?!?" Anyway a sucker is born everyday... and if you disagree with my assessment of "modern art" feel free to tell me why I am wrong. Anyway the final exhibit was photography and included work from Lee Miller. She was a model, photographer and war journalist. We watched a video on her where they showed most of the pictures they included in the exhibit so the exhibit was pointless. The worst part is the narrator for the photos is her son who seems strangely Oedipal about her. In fact in one disturbing scene during the documentary they show him staring at a naked bust of his mother and his eyes are focused on her chest as he waxes on about how he loves this piece of art and spends time staring at it frequently. Cue the repulsed shivers. Anyway I stopped listening to the audio tour in the pictures after he spoke for a while because not only was he creepy but it was as if someone who did not know anything about art or the artist were asked to comment. The guy was a freaking idiot. Of course she was pretty talented and managed to tell interesting stories with her camera. Her pictures of war time were intense ans she shot some fairly interesting portraits of people interacting in total devastation. Some of the picture included the concentration camp and a few beaten or dead SS officers that had been found by people they had imprisoned, tortured and intended to kill. One picture was of a body laying in a river and it was very evocative. The museum was fascinating, intense, powerful, sometimes funny and occasionally creepy. I would definitely recommend it even if you are not a huge modern art fan.
When we left the museum we headed to Chevy's for dinner and Thirsty Bear Brewery for a couple of beers. We watched the tour there while we imbibed and then headed to the hotel. The next day all we did was eat, pack and head to the airport (my mom and Becky went from the airport to their parked car).
Editor's note: As we spent a good majority of the day in a museum there were not many pictures taken. To make it even worse there were only 6 decent pictures of the ones I did take. Oh well.
Showing posts with label Touristiness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Touristiness. Show all posts
Thursday, July 31, 2008
San Francisco: Day 3
We woke up and convened at our table for breakfast. This time I slept until 6:45 and I felt rested because I slept the whole night through. Two days of walking all over town and a sleepless night tend to do that. Anyway when I got down there they decided that I would plane the next two days and all I had to do was make sure we fit the Tour de France in. I was excited because I wanted to fit everything in. This was the day I would learn it was impossible to fit everything in....
Anyway my first stop was Mission Dolores. It is the oldest intact building in San Francisco having been built in 1776. It is actually the Mission San Francisco De Asis but is also known as Mission Dolores due to a nearby creek named Arroyo de los Dolores, or "Creek of Sorrows" (info obtained from the Mission's website). So the cemetery has some important early Californians. The reason I was attracted to the site was the movie Vertigo has a scene that was shot in the cemetery and I wanted to see it for myself. The mission is very beautiful and was a fun and interesting stop.
We headed to the Golden Gate park after we left the Mission. Our bus took us down Haight street and I witnessed the legendary 60's hangout at 30 miles an hour. When we got to the park we zagged over to a little pub and watched the Tour de France. It was a little strange because the bartender seemed content to allow us to sit and watch the race without wanting us to buy anything. I tracked him down and we ordered a beer but after he delivered the beers he never came back over. We had originally thought we would go into the park have lunch at the Japanese Tea Garden and then head to the de Young museum and end the day at the Cliff House by the ocean. That was when my mom asked if they served food at the Tea Garden and I consulted my tour book and found out that they didn't. So we decided to go to the Cliff House first and eat there. So we hopped on a bus and headed there.
The Cliff House lies along the ocean and has a beautiful view. It is now just a restaurant but it had quite an interesting history as well. The first Cliff house was built in 1863 and seems to be a place of lodging that were used by some pretty prominent families. In 1881 it was sold to a man named Adolph Sutro who was a self made millionaire. He also became mayor later on. Anyway that building burned down and he spent 50,000 dollars rebuilding it into a french chateau that boasted 8 stories. He also made it accessible to the regular public by having a train come out there. That was not the only thing Sutro did with that area. He owned a fair chunk of land there and had elaborate gardens with statues (a few still remain but most have been removed) and he built an elaborate bath house. It was huge and right along the ocean boasting huge windows facing the ocean and was within walking distance of the Cliff House. Apparently the place had enough restaurants to feed 100 people at a time. Slowly interest in the Baths waned and it ended up burning down and all that is left is the foundation and a few photographs of the heyday. The Cliff House also burned down again and was rebuilt. Eventually it was given to the National Park Service and is maintained by them. Nothing has really been kept up besides the Cliff House, as I am sure rebuilding any of the other things would be cost prohibitive (more historical info at their website). Anyway we ended up having to wait to get a table in the Bistro since we demanded an ocean view. Just as I was getting irritated, and about to leave,(I was hungry and I have less patience when I am hungry) a table became available. The wait was worth it as I dined on a wonderful Caesar salad and a bowl of clam chowder. The view was also worth the wait as we watched seagulls and pelicans fly by.
Due to the time spent traveling to and from the Cliff House and the wait time at the restaurant, we had run out of time for the de Young museum. We headed to the Japanese Tea Garden and enjoyed a stroll through the grounds and a few cups of tea. It was nicely done but not quite on the scale of Portland's Japanese Garden. The painstakingly detailed gardens in Portland made this look rather quaint and cute. I still enjoyed it although I did not find as much peace as I do when I am strolling though Portland's garden. However the tea is a nice touch and was fun to sit and watch the people come by. As we left we walked past the de Young and they had two amazing structures outside. A crazy yellow glass structure and a magnificent detailed metal vase with all sorts of people, cherubs and grape vines around it. I took several pictures of the day. I did a much better job then I had the day before of documenting our travels.
Anyway after we got home I realized I was hungry so I went out. I ended up having crab and French onion soup at a restaurant called Absinthe. I ordered a cocktail there that contained the liquor that also was the name of he place. Anyway it was a nice ending to a good day.
Anyway my first stop was Mission Dolores. It is the oldest intact building in San Francisco having been built in 1776. It is actually the Mission San Francisco De Asis but is also known as Mission Dolores due to a nearby creek named Arroyo de los Dolores, or "Creek of Sorrows" (info obtained from the Mission's website). So the cemetery has some important early Californians. The reason I was attracted to the site was the movie Vertigo has a scene that was shot in the cemetery and I wanted to see it for myself. The mission is very beautiful and was a fun and interesting stop.
We headed to the Golden Gate park after we left the Mission. Our bus took us down Haight street and I witnessed the legendary 60's hangout at 30 miles an hour. When we got to the park we zagged over to a little pub and watched the Tour de France. It was a little strange because the bartender seemed content to allow us to sit and watch the race without wanting us to buy anything. I tracked him down and we ordered a beer but after he delivered the beers he never came back over. We had originally thought we would go into the park have lunch at the Japanese Tea Garden and then head to the de Young museum and end the day at the Cliff House by the ocean. That was when my mom asked if they served food at the Tea Garden and I consulted my tour book and found out that they didn't. So we decided to go to the Cliff House first and eat there. So we hopped on a bus and headed there.
The Cliff House lies along the ocean and has a beautiful view. It is now just a restaurant but it had quite an interesting history as well. The first Cliff house was built in 1863 and seems to be a place of lodging that were used by some pretty prominent families. In 1881 it was sold to a man named Adolph Sutro who was a self made millionaire. He also became mayor later on. Anyway that building burned down and he spent 50,000 dollars rebuilding it into a french chateau that boasted 8 stories. He also made it accessible to the regular public by having a train come out there. That was not the only thing Sutro did with that area. He owned a fair chunk of land there and had elaborate gardens with statues (a few still remain but most have been removed) and he built an elaborate bath house. It was huge and right along the ocean boasting huge windows facing the ocean and was within walking distance of the Cliff House. Apparently the place had enough restaurants to feed 100 people at a time. Slowly interest in the Baths waned and it ended up burning down and all that is left is the foundation and a few photographs of the heyday. The Cliff House also burned down again and was rebuilt. Eventually it was given to the National Park Service and is maintained by them. Nothing has really been kept up besides the Cliff House, as I am sure rebuilding any of the other things would be cost prohibitive (more historical info at their website). Anyway we ended up having to wait to get a table in the Bistro since we demanded an ocean view. Just as I was getting irritated, and about to leave,(I was hungry and I have less patience when I am hungry) a table became available. The wait was worth it as I dined on a wonderful Caesar salad and a bowl of clam chowder. The view was also worth the wait as we watched seagulls and pelicans fly by.
Due to the time spent traveling to and from the Cliff House and the wait time at the restaurant, we had run out of time for the de Young museum. We headed to the Japanese Tea Garden and enjoyed a stroll through the grounds and a few cups of tea. It was nicely done but not quite on the scale of Portland's Japanese Garden. The painstakingly detailed gardens in Portland made this look rather quaint and cute. I still enjoyed it although I did not find as much peace as I do when I am strolling though Portland's garden. However the tea is a nice touch and was fun to sit and watch the people come by. As we left we walked past the de Young and they had two amazing structures outside. A crazy yellow glass structure and a magnificent detailed metal vase with all sorts of people, cherubs and grape vines around it. I took several pictures of the day. I did a much better job then I had the day before of documenting our travels.
Anyway after we got home I realized I was hungry so I went out. I ended up having crab and French onion soup at a restaurant called Absinthe. I ordered a cocktail there that contained the liquor that also was the name of he place. Anyway it was a nice ending to a good day.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The second day
Sorry for the delay in posting more info on the San Francisco trip but I had a huge wave of apathy wash over me. Ok so I left off at the end of Monday....
Tuesday morning we were planning on going to a bar to watch the Tour de France... after some investigation my mom and Becky had discovered that a bar claimed to be open at 6 and that we could watch the tour there. So we set the alarms for 5 and planned to leave by 5:30. I unfortunately woke up at 4 so I was ready to go by the time they woke up. Anyway we hopped a few busses and walked down to the bar. It was closed and did not open until 11 am. So apparently some wires were crossed. We were trying to figure out what to do at 6 AM so we decided to head back to the hotel to have a free breakfast. Breakfast was available at 7 AM so I took a little nap while waiting for 7 to roll around.
We debated our next move and soem fantastic ideas were tossed around. We ended up going on a boat tour of the bay. The tour had a recorded track that had actors voice important historical figures in San Francisco's past. They told us a lot about the place and even told us about the Golden Gate bridge construction. We sailed under the bride right next to one of the supports. I would have to say the view was fantastic. Then we sailed back toward the docks but made a stop near Alcatraz and we got a nice view of the island. I had been to Alcaraz before and that was fun but it was neat to have the voices telling us about life on the rock. One of the voices told us about his failed escape attempt.
Then we came back into the dock and got off. We walked down to a pub next so the ladies could watch the bicycle race. We had some fantastic sweet potato fries and garlic fries and a few beers.
When the race concluded we headed down to the Exploratorium. It is a hands on science museum designed to teach kids things. What actually happens is kids run wild and get very annoying. I made it through a third of the exhibits before tiring of the kids running amuck. I would not mind going when the place was empty or filled with sensible people. There was no attempt to figure out what was going on just a bunch of kids punching buttons. Occasionally a few kids would be accompanied by adults and the adults would guide them through the lesson but mostly it was like Pinocchio's visit to the Island of Lost Boys. Utter insanity. My suggestion to the museum is maybe have a late night with cocktails for the curious adults once a year (or more depending on interest).
After that museum we wondered the wharf area again before heading back to the hotel. We had dinner at the Boudin Restaurant wher my choices were all very disappointing. Their clam chowder was light on the clams and heavy on the potatoes and the egg salad sandwich was bland. Luckily they make a mean sourdough bread. This might have been before the Exploratorium but I am having memory problems.... hehehe
Tuesday morning we were planning on going to a bar to watch the Tour de France... after some investigation my mom and Becky had discovered that a bar claimed to be open at 6 and that we could watch the tour there. So we set the alarms for 5 and planned to leave by 5:30. I unfortunately woke up at 4 so I was ready to go by the time they woke up. Anyway we hopped a few busses and walked down to the bar. It was closed and did not open until 11 am. So apparently some wires were crossed. We were trying to figure out what to do at 6 AM so we decided to head back to the hotel to have a free breakfast. Breakfast was available at 7 AM so I took a little nap while waiting for 7 to roll around.
We debated our next move and soem fantastic ideas were tossed around. We ended up going on a boat tour of the bay. The tour had a recorded track that had actors voice important historical figures in San Francisco's past. They told us a lot about the place and even told us about the Golden Gate bridge construction. We sailed under the bride right next to one of the supports. I would have to say the view was fantastic. Then we sailed back toward the docks but made a stop near Alcatraz and we got a nice view of the island. I had been to Alcaraz before and that was fun but it was neat to have the voices telling us about life on the rock. One of the voices told us about his failed escape attempt.
Then we came back into the dock and got off. We walked down to a pub next so the ladies could watch the bicycle race. We had some fantastic sweet potato fries and garlic fries and a few beers.
When the race concluded we headed down to the Exploratorium. It is a hands on science museum designed to teach kids things. What actually happens is kids run wild and get very annoying. I made it through a third of the exhibits before tiring of the kids running amuck. I would not mind going when the place was empty or filled with sensible people. There was no attempt to figure out what was going on just a bunch of kids punching buttons. Occasionally a few kids would be accompanied by adults and the adults would guide them through the lesson but mostly it was like Pinocchio's visit to the Island of Lost Boys. Utter insanity. My suggestion to the museum is maybe have a late night with cocktails for the curious adults once a year (or more depending on interest).
After that museum we wondered the wharf area again before heading back to the hotel. We had dinner at the Boudin Restaurant wher my choices were all very disappointing. Their clam chowder was light on the clams and heavy on the potatoes and the egg salad sandwich was bland. Luckily they make a mean sourdough bread. This might have been before the Exploratorium but I am having memory problems.... hehehe
Sunday, July 27, 2008
My busy week...
Well this past week was a whirlwind. It was also a much needed break from all the stresses of school and the last 6 months of that job that laid me off. I am working on pictures of my vacation and hope to have a slide show soon.
Some of you may be wondering what I am referring to. Well I went to San Francisco. My mom and Becky flew me out and we had a marvelous time. They flew me into Oakland and from there I took public transportation to the civic center. They had reserved two rooms at the Inn at the Opera. I am not sure why they call it that. Sure the Opera is nearby but I am positive that is simply a coincidence..... Surely they did not mean the opera when they said that their inn was at the opera. I mean i had a large fat woman sharing my shower and she kept singing and I kept asking "Is it over?" Apparently it was not over and just because the woman singing happens to be rotund has no bearing on whether the proverbial "it" is over. But I digress...
Anyway I flew in Monday morning and met up with them near the BART station. We headed to the hotel so that I could hang up some clothes and get ready to be a tourist. I packed a jacket in my bag and a couple guide books and we were off. We went directly to the Stinking Rose where I ended any dreams of romance with local ladies. We had a fantastic garlic filled pesto to spread on our bread and we did so with much gusto. We ordered the garlic Swiss chard fontina fondue for an appetizer and followed that with the margherita pizzette and the arugula pesto. It was fantastic and very fragrant, as we left we were too. We headed from there down to the wharf.
When we arrived we decided to enjoy the Aquarium of the Bay which is at Pier 39. If you have been to San Francisco you know the pier. It has the carousel, Bubba Gump shrimp company, Hard Rock Cafe and the aquarium. Anyway the Aquarium is not huge but in the tunnels they have a glass tunnel through the water and you can see the fish and sharks swim above you. They also have a petting zoo of sorts, you can touch a ray and a little tiger shark. It was worth the visit for sure. Anyway the temperature dropped by the time we left and my lite jacket was not cutting it. Being a smart individual I had brought two light jackets but being a non-smart person I had left one of them at the hotel. I ended up purchasing a nice $20.00 jacket at pier 39. It is reversible, one side is wind breaking and the other is fuzzy, both sides say San Francisco and the fuzzy side has a stitched cable car on it. It was a great deal in all reality and I ended up sweating in it because it was nice and warm and we were walking up hills.
Our ultimate goal that day was Ghirardelli since Becky and I were craving sweet goodness. Along the way we took a small tour of Boudin's bakery and had a few samples of bread. We also stopped and had a few Irish coffees at the Buena Vista. I ended up getting a shirt from their after sampling the wares. We finally stumbled into Ghirardelli square and dined on fine ice cream sundaes. It was marvelous....
It seems to me that it is a wee late at night and I must continue the tale tomorrow... hopefully with a few pictures from day 1 at least.
Some of you may be wondering what I am referring to. Well I went to San Francisco. My mom and Becky flew me out and we had a marvelous time. They flew me into Oakland and from there I took public transportation to the civic center. They had reserved two rooms at the Inn at the Opera. I am not sure why they call it that. Sure the Opera is nearby but I am positive that is simply a coincidence..... Surely they did not mean the opera when they said that their inn was at the opera. I mean i had a large fat woman sharing my shower and she kept singing and I kept asking "Is it over?" Apparently it was not over and just because the woman singing happens to be rotund has no bearing on whether the proverbial "it" is over. But I digress...
Anyway I flew in Monday morning and met up with them near the BART station. We headed to the hotel so that I could hang up some clothes and get ready to be a tourist. I packed a jacket in my bag and a couple guide books and we were off. We went directly to the Stinking Rose where I ended any dreams of romance with local ladies. We had a fantastic garlic filled pesto to spread on our bread and we did so with much gusto. We ordered the garlic Swiss chard fontina fondue for an appetizer and followed that with the margherita pizzette and the arugula pesto. It was fantastic and very fragrant, as we left we were too. We headed from there down to the wharf.
When we arrived we decided to enjoy the Aquarium of the Bay which is at Pier 39. If you have been to San Francisco you know the pier. It has the carousel, Bubba Gump shrimp company, Hard Rock Cafe and the aquarium. Anyway the Aquarium is not huge but in the tunnels they have a glass tunnel through the water and you can see the fish and sharks swim above you. They also have a petting zoo of sorts, you can touch a ray and a little tiger shark. It was worth the visit for sure. Anyway the temperature dropped by the time we left and my lite jacket was not cutting it. Being a smart individual I had brought two light jackets but being a non-smart person I had left one of them at the hotel. I ended up purchasing a nice $20.00 jacket at pier 39. It is reversible, one side is wind breaking and the other is fuzzy, both sides say San Francisco and the fuzzy side has a stitched cable car on it. It was a great deal in all reality and I ended up sweating in it because it was nice and warm and we were walking up hills.
Our ultimate goal that day was Ghirardelli since Becky and I were craving sweet goodness. Along the way we took a small tour of Boudin's bakery and had a few samples of bread. We also stopped and had a few Irish coffees at the Buena Vista. I ended up getting a shirt from their after sampling the wares. We finally stumbled into Ghirardelli square and dined on fine ice cream sundaes. It was marvelous....
It seems to me that it is a wee late at night and I must continue the tale tomorrow... hopefully with a few pictures from day 1 at least.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Paradise
I felt it only fair to share with you that I have recently returned from Paradise. Yes my unemployed butt has found Paradise.... oddly enough it is East of Eugene along the McKenzie river. I also was amazed to find that Paradise costs a mere 16 dollars a night. That is pretty affordable for Paradise.... I would think it would cost more. Even stranger still is that it is a campground. The camping thing is not usually what I think of when paradise is tossed around but who am I to question a sign that says "Paradise Campground"? Well I definitely found it to be quite enjoyable while I was there. It is relatively easy to find... just Google "Paradise Campground in Oregon".
So maybe you are asking "What made it so freaking great?" My response would be "Whoa! Whoa! What is with the tone? Why are you being so nasty?" You probably would say "Sorry. I work all week and can't go camping so I am a little tense." To which I would say "OK I have been there I can understand all your pent up aggression." To which you might say "Thanks Mike, you freaking rock! Now tell me about the campground." So then I would probably tell you this:
My roommate and I have been talking about going camping for a while.... He kept mentioning campsites trying to elicit a response. I guess he figured I might have a preference, an idea of what I like or where I want to go but in reality I don't know. I have not went camping since college.... and camping in college was basically drinking way more then anyone should and ending up passed out next to your tent with your pants around your ankles. Or at least one of my friends had that experience... I always ended up in my tent. So to say I am good at camping would not be an accurate statement.... So my only rule is that it has to be cooler (both temperature and coolness factor is implied here) then our house. So he picked a spot he used to go to in his collegiate days. The campsite is East of Eugene along the McKenzie River and a lot of the sites are right on the river. We had a short walk to the river but we were not in a spot where you could turn your tent to face the river (which means during the pee run at night you might end up falling into the river and be swept away which unfortunately did not happen to anyone while we were there).
Anyway it is close to 3 hours of driving to get there so we stopped in Eugene and rode our bikes through campus and along the river to the Valley River Center where we ate lunch at Mucho Gusto. Then we turned around and headed back to the car. When we were back in the car we headed East to the campground. Paradise campground has 60 spots and some are near the river and others are along a small creek and a few are in the middle of these sites without direct water access. The site has flushing toilets and running water as well. We chose lucky 13 for our site, it was not too near anyone and was on the river side so we had our own little spot to watch the raging river from. The first night we had no one around us which was nice because we trampled all over looking for wood and might have bothered other people with our campfire antics.
The next day I collected firewood while my roommate slept in... how he did is any one's guess. I could not get comfortable. When he did awake we went to a nearby town and had breakfast at Takoda's (not a bad spot) and bought ice and some food for that evening at the store next door. We headed back to the campsite and let the food digest before going for a hike. Our intended destination was a hot spring but in reality it was a resort (Belknap Lodge and Hot Springs) that had piped the hot spring to their pools and wanted 7 bucks for non guests to use it. We had expected a fee but the book said it was 2 bucks.... 7 was more then we were willing to do plus it wasn't at all natural it was a pool with 100 degree water. It was also mid 80's and a hot springs after a sweaty hike was not as desirable at that moment as it had been when we started. So we hiked back.... A little disappointed by the "hot springs" but the hike was awesome anyway. We cooked up some tasty smoked sausages and had some fruit and then got the fire going. We had new neighbors on both sides of us but they did not bother us and we apparently did not bother them. We played with the fire for a while and when the wood was all gone and we had coals only we called it a night.
The next morning I managed to sleep in again but I was still the first one up. That ground is hard! I need to get a pad before the next time I camp. Anyway we broke camp and I spent 20 minutes trying to repack my tent.... stupid tent! (I eventually got the tent in the bag) We cleaned up as best we could put on clean clothes and headed to Eugene where we had breakfast at Glennwood. Then headed home to a wonderful shower....
It was a good time and a place I may go back to camp at in the future. Maybe one day I can even take a girl to Paradise. Why does everyone laugh when I say that?? Hehe
I hope to publish a few pictures soon.
So maybe you are asking "What made it so freaking great?" My response would be "Whoa! Whoa! What is with the tone? Why are you being so nasty?" You probably would say "Sorry. I work all week and can't go camping so I am a little tense." To which I would say "OK I have been there I can understand all your pent up aggression." To which you might say "Thanks Mike, you freaking rock! Now tell me about the campground." So then I would probably tell you this:
My roommate and I have been talking about going camping for a while.... He kept mentioning campsites trying to elicit a response. I guess he figured I might have a preference, an idea of what I like or where I want to go but in reality I don't know. I have not went camping since college.... and camping in college was basically drinking way more then anyone should and ending up passed out next to your tent with your pants around your ankles. Or at least one of my friends had that experience... I always ended up in my tent. So to say I am good at camping would not be an accurate statement.... So my only rule is that it has to be cooler (both temperature and coolness factor is implied here) then our house. So he picked a spot he used to go to in his collegiate days. The campsite is East of Eugene along the McKenzie River and a lot of the sites are right on the river. We had a short walk to the river but we were not in a spot where you could turn your tent to face the river (which means during the pee run at night you might end up falling into the river and be swept away which unfortunately did not happen to anyone while we were there).
Anyway it is close to 3 hours of driving to get there so we stopped in Eugene and rode our bikes through campus and along the river to the Valley River Center where we ate lunch at Mucho Gusto. Then we turned around and headed back to the car. When we were back in the car we headed East to the campground. Paradise campground has 60 spots and some are near the river and others are along a small creek and a few are in the middle of these sites without direct water access. The site has flushing toilets and running water as well. We chose lucky 13 for our site, it was not too near anyone and was on the river side so we had our own little spot to watch the raging river from. The first night we had no one around us which was nice because we trampled all over looking for wood and might have bothered other people with our campfire antics.
The next day I collected firewood while my roommate slept in... how he did is any one's guess. I could not get comfortable. When he did awake we went to a nearby town and had breakfast at Takoda's (not a bad spot) and bought ice and some food for that evening at the store next door. We headed back to the campsite and let the food digest before going for a hike. Our intended destination was a hot spring but in reality it was a resort (Belknap Lodge and Hot Springs) that had piped the hot spring to their pools and wanted 7 bucks for non guests to use it. We had expected a fee but the book said it was 2 bucks.... 7 was more then we were willing to do plus it wasn't at all natural it was a pool with 100 degree water. It was also mid 80's and a hot springs after a sweaty hike was not as desirable at that moment as it had been when we started. So we hiked back.... A little disappointed by the "hot springs" but the hike was awesome anyway. We cooked up some tasty smoked sausages and had some fruit and then got the fire going. We had new neighbors on both sides of us but they did not bother us and we apparently did not bother them. We played with the fire for a while and when the wood was all gone and we had coals only we called it a night.
The next morning I managed to sleep in again but I was still the first one up. That ground is hard! I need to get a pad before the next time I camp. Anyway we broke camp and I spent 20 minutes trying to repack my tent.... stupid tent! (I eventually got the tent in the bag) We cleaned up as best we could put on clean clothes and headed to Eugene where we had breakfast at Glennwood. Then headed home to a wonderful shower....
It was a good time and a place I may go back to camp at in the future. Maybe one day I can even take a girl to Paradise. Why does everyone laugh when I say that?? Hehe
I hope to publish a few pictures soon.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The rest of the Eugene weekend
I definitely had an interesting Sunday. I was in Eugene with Maryann and Glenn, and we had a nice time at the festival the night before. After we woke and greeted the next day he headed for breakfast at a place that specializes in Vegan chow.... The Keystone Cafe. They were busy. So we were ready for a wait. Maryann was bound and determined to eat there and I was game. The problem was no one acknowledged us after we were seated. We sat there for an hour waiting for our order to be taken or for a waitress to notice us. Finally we gave up and the day improved considerably. We went to a place called the Sweet Life that specializes in baking Vegan treats. I picked up a non vegan cinnamon roll, Maryann had a vegan raspberry danish, and Glenn had vegan cheese cake. I tried the cheesecake after there cries of delight at the 'realness' of the cheese cake. It was interesting, not unpleasant interesting but definitely not a replacement for cheesecake. If you have no qualms about dairy and other animal products just eat regular cheesecake. I would eat it again though, which says a lot about it. Of course I would have to be hanging with Vegans….. Then we met up with Dad, Maryjo, Aunt Wanda and Uncle Don and headed to a place called Cafe Yumm! It was pretty good, they had some meat dishes and a lot of non meat dishes. It was a little too healthy though…. I had an overwhelming urge to buy a bunch of chocolate just to offset any possible healthiness! We lost Aunt Wanda and Uncle Don to Salem after lunch and soon we all parted ways. I was up in Portland around 5ish and watched Sunday night football before calling it a night. A very nice weekend but a little too short!
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Hello from Eugene!
I am down here in Eugene enjoying a great internet connection in the lobby of the Broadway Inn. It's a pretty nice hotel here. Maryann and Glenn look good and seem to be in good spirits. We headed down to a Celebrate Eugene festival and walked around and enjoyed music, wine and food. Eugene is an extremely vegetarian and vegan friendly town. In fact the street food vendors had a lot of vegan options. Maryann got a vegan tamale and a vegan polish sausage. I had real chicken from a Hawaiian food vendor. It was called Huli Huli chicken and had macaroni salad and rice to go with it. The highlight was the kettle corn popcorn, it was great. Anyway time to go back to the room and the company of family, have a good evening.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Berry Picking!
I went berry picking on Sauvie Island with a few people from work. It happened relatively spontaneously while we were passing yet another long call-less Saturday at work. Christopher mentioned he was going berry picking at the Pumpkin Patch with a couple friends of his. It sounded like fun but until a girl from work asked if he minded if she tagged along I didn't really think about joining in. With her as part of the entourage it soon expanded to include me so at 8 AM I left the house and met up with everybody and we headed North. Sauvie Island is located in the middle of the Columbia River, Multnomah Channel and the Willamette river. It is part farms and part Oregon Parks and wildlife land. They have quite a few farms where you can do the "U-Pick" option. Which is always enjoyable because you "sample" as you collect. Apparently there is more to it then farms though. The island boasts hiking, biking and chilling on the beach as well. A place to go back for sure.
We arrived before most people and we picked: Raspberries, Marionberries (Not the DC mayor that has a penchant for cocaine but actual berries from a bush), Blueberries, and a few super small but super sweet strawberries. The strawberry season is finishing up so decent berries were few and far between but I got a great strawberry shake out of the deal. The marionberry, raspberry blend was a little tart but still a great shake. I am freezing some of these berries for later use. My colon does not need a work out, in fact I banned myself from any more fruit for the day.
We arrived before most people and we picked: Raspberries, Marionberries (Not the DC mayor that has a penchant for cocaine but actual berries from a bush), Blueberries, and a few super small but super sweet strawberries. The strawberry season is finishing up so decent berries were few and far between but I got a great strawberry shake out of the deal. The marionberry, raspberry blend was a little tart but still a great shake. I am freezing some of these berries for later use. My colon does not need a work out, in fact I banned myself from any more fruit for the day.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Japanese Garden and the Weather
Yesterday was the first time I had 2 days in a row off from work. I decided to take advantage of all that free time by heading to the Japanese Garden. I was there for about 3 hours. The first hour and a half I spent exploring the place by myself and then I took the guided tour. The tour price is outstanding, it’s free. Another nice thing about the tour is that it explains what to look for and some of the intent behind Japanese Garden designs. I had enjoyed the garden without help but the tour helped me understand what was going on. It basically put words to the visions for me. I was very glad I picked yesterday to go because it was quiet and there were not a lot of people. The guide said that days that had hail and rain were not busy days. Days like today when it is sunny and no clouds are in the sky would be considerably more crowded and the summer months it can be jammed packed. Part of the experience for me was a great sense of peace and calm, which is exactly what the designer meant to get across. The idea behind the gardens is a place to get away from the day to day life and it succeeded. For 3 hours I was completely happy and without a care in the world. Would I recommend you come to this garden when you visit? Yes I would. Click here to view the pictures: Incredible Photos:
The Japanese Garden actually has 5 garden designs on 5 acres of land. I took a few picture of each but some where harder to capture then others. The Natural Garden was a long winding garden that went down the hillside and looked less manicured then the others. It is still maintained but not as structured. This was hard to photograph. The Tea Garden was another that did not get much coverage and that was because it was a little dark I figure maybe later this summer I will have pictures of it maybe even with a tea ceremony being performed. The garden that is the one with the most photos is the Strolling Garden. It takes up a lot of territory and it is the first thing you see. It is also fairly easy to photograph. The Zen Garden was a challenge because it was a rectangular shape and I tried from several angles but was only satisfied by two of the pictures. The Flat Garden pictures also did not come out right so there is only one picture. I will try again some other time and hopefully that day the lighting and weather are more consistent. With the combination of rain, hail and sun the pictures came out strange but I salvaged all the pictures I could which was about a 1/3 of them. A few of them were even amazingly good. Let me know what you think.
Having said that I want to complain that on my two days off it rained and today when I sit down to study for my test it is completely blue skies. We already know it is my dad’s fault that the rain came but I just wanted to say ‘Grrr! Stupid weather.’ I would be ok with rain all week and rain on my days off but clear skies all week and rain on my days off? That is just not right. It is totally teasing me! It even hailed on me yesterday! As much as I want to play today, I have 3 days to prepare for my test so I actually have to get serious so I can pass my impending tests of doom! Enough crying, I am hitting the books.
The Japanese Garden actually has 5 garden designs on 5 acres of land. I took a few picture of each but some where harder to capture then others. The Natural Garden was a long winding garden that went down the hillside and looked less manicured then the others. It is still maintained but not as structured. This was hard to photograph. The Tea Garden was another that did not get much coverage and that was because it was a little dark I figure maybe later this summer I will have pictures of it maybe even with a tea ceremony being performed. The garden that is the one with the most photos is the Strolling Garden. It takes up a lot of territory and it is the first thing you see. It is also fairly easy to photograph. The Zen Garden was a challenge because it was a rectangular shape and I tried from several angles but was only satisfied by two of the pictures. The Flat Garden pictures also did not come out right so there is only one picture. I will try again some other time and hopefully that day the lighting and weather are more consistent. With the combination of rain, hail and sun the pictures came out strange but I salvaged all the pictures I could which was about a 1/3 of them. A few of them were even amazingly good. Let me know what you think.
Having said that I want to complain that on my two days off it rained and today when I sit down to study for my test it is completely blue skies. We already know it is my dad’s fault that the rain came but I just wanted to say ‘Grrr! Stupid weather.’ I would be ok with rain all week and rain on my days off but clear skies all week and rain on my days off? That is just not right. It is totally teasing me! It even hailed on me yesterday! As much as I want to play today, I have 3 days to prepare for my test so I actually have to get serious so I can pass my impending tests of doom! Enough crying, I am hitting the books.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Happy Easter
HAPPY EASTER!
I did not get around to writing yesterday because my dad and I were running about all day. I worked the first half of the day while he was sleeping because he had spent all night watching TV and not sleeping. I guess that is what happens when you don't have cable; you overdose when you get a chance to watch it. We then headed to the Portland Art Museum. I have wanted to go for quite a while and now that I have been I have no clue of why. I snapped a few pictures before they told me to stop. I would like to share them here:
Here is a picture from their floor, my flash sent the security guards searching for me.
The above pictures brought down the heat on me, which if you read the blog you know that was the third time I was talked to about taking pictures this week. I was taking a picture of my dad and a security guy told me I was not allowed to because everything was protected by copyright laws. I had spent most of the museum waiting to see good art and did not see any so I snapped pictures of floors and my dad through a window instead of the artwork. There was way too much modern art and most of their old stuff was from the 19th century. Ancient. There was an area called 'Mythical Beasts' that had old Chinese artifacts from 200 to 900 BCE. What does BCE mean anyway I now BC means 'Before Christ' but what does BCE mean? I looked it up and it means 'Before the Common Era'. Other than that exhibit there were a few cool paintings and some nice photos but overall I was pretty disappointed. The pictures I took were in an area that had only one connection back to the main area and until we realized that we were effectively lost. Lost in an area filled with paintings of squares and canvases consisting of one color. I am not saying some of the colors chosen weren't nice but I would not rip off a piece of my painted wall and try to sell it as art so they shouldn't be allowed to either. After the confusion in the art museum we ran to the exit and had to reorient ourselves to find our car. We headed to Powell's City of Books where dad found a few books and I found that the books I wanted were all new and full priced. After over an hour we headed toward the Widmer Brewery. It was extremely hard to find, we were looking for it all over the place and we did not have a decent map to help. When we finally found it we had a great beer, a couple pretzels and a beer sampler. Then we headed to Olive Garden for dinner where I used the 25 dollar gift certificate donated by Maryann and Glenn for my half of the bill. We both ordered an entree even though I had thought about just having the Soup, Salad and Breadsticks for dinner. I had the Parmesan Crusted Tilapia and he had the Stuffed Chicked Marsala. The meal was good, the service was great and with our bellies full we skipped dessert. That meal was pretty much the conclusion of our day and as I write this we are starting to get ready for today. We have no plans and we may not be able to do much since today is Easter. I will let you all know what we got up to, don't worry.
I am sorry that I am missing Easter at Bob and Nancy's today, that had become a tradition while I lived in Phoenix. I hope you all have a great Easter no matter how you spend it.
I did not get around to writing yesterday because my dad and I were running about all day. I worked the first half of the day while he was sleeping because he had spent all night watching TV and not sleeping. I guess that is what happens when you don't have cable; you overdose when you get a chance to watch it. We then headed to the Portland Art Museum. I have wanted to go for quite a while and now that I have been I have no clue of why. I snapped a few pictures before they told me to stop. I would like to share them here:
Here is a picture from their floor, my flash sent the security guards searching for me.
The above pictures brought down the heat on me, which if you read the blog you know that was the third time I was talked to about taking pictures this week. I was taking a picture of my dad and a security guy told me I was not allowed to because everything was protected by copyright laws. I had spent most of the museum waiting to see good art and did not see any so I snapped pictures of floors and my dad through a window instead of the artwork. There was way too much modern art and most of their old stuff was from the 19th century. Ancient. There was an area called 'Mythical Beasts' that had old Chinese artifacts from 200 to 900 BCE. What does BCE mean anyway I now BC means 'Before Christ' but what does BCE mean? I looked it up and it means 'Before the Common Era'. Other than that exhibit there were a few cool paintings and some nice photos but overall I was pretty disappointed. The pictures I took were in an area that had only one connection back to the main area and until we realized that we were effectively lost. Lost in an area filled with paintings of squares and canvases consisting of one color. I am not saying some of the colors chosen weren't nice but I would not rip off a piece of my painted wall and try to sell it as art so they shouldn't be allowed to either. After the confusion in the art museum we ran to the exit and had to reorient ourselves to find our car. We headed to Powell's City of Books where dad found a few books and I found that the books I wanted were all new and full priced. After over an hour we headed toward the Widmer Brewery. It was extremely hard to find, we were looking for it all over the place and we did not have a decent map to help. When we finally found it we had a great beer, a couple pretzels and a beer sampler. Then we headed to Olive Garden for dinner where I used the 25 dollar gift certificate donated by Maryann and Glenn for my half of the bill. We both ordered an entree even though I had thought about just having the Soup, Salad and Breadsticks for dinner. I had the Parmesan Crusted Tilapia and he had the Stuffed Chicked Marsala. The meal was good, the service was great and with our bellies full we skipped dessert. That meal was pretty much the conclusion of our day and as I write this we are starting to get ready for today. We have no plans and we may not be able to do much since today is Easter. I will let you all know what we got up to, don't worry.I am sorry that I am missing Easter at Bob and Nancy's today, that had become a tradition while I lived in Phoenix. I hope you all have a great Easter no matter how you spend it.
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