Weekend

Memorial Day weekend usually means time at the cabin, with biking, grilling, family, and neighbors. This year there was no cabin. There was no biking, because it rained all weekend. There were no burgers on the grill, because we've decided to become herbivores. And there was no fun with the neighbors, because frankly we've never even seen them!

Even though it wasn't the typical Memorial Day weekend at the lake, but we did have a great weekend. On Friday night we ventured into Portland for dinner. We found a great Italian restaurant, which makes the best pizza I've ever had. We don't have a tv this summer, so Andrew was happy to be able to watch the basketball game during dinner.

On Sunday we hiked around Multnomah Falls, the second highest waterfall in the nation.

SUNSHINE

It was so nice to wake up this morning to sun peaking in through the window, instead of rain splashing down. I didn't even mind that it was 6:40am. We've had 12 consecutive days of rain, and I was beginning to wonder how people can enjoy living here so much. BUT, the sun is out today and I couldn't be more happy. I'm going to soak up as much vitamin D as I can, because our 10 day forecast looks pretty gloomy.

Tucker is pretty happy about the sun as well.

This is his favorite spot on a sunny morning.

UPDATE: Although the weatherman told me there was only a 10% chance of rain today, guess what happened? RAIN! And not just a little drizzle. It was a downpour for hours! Don't you think they should have seen that coming?

Tucker gets an A+

Let me start off by saying I HATE dropping Tucker off at the kennel. I'm sure he has a great time playing with the other dogs, but I always feel guilty.

However, it's always nice to take a weekend trip without him tagging along. We love bringing him with us, but he always adds a bit of a challenge.

Tonight, we cut it a little close for pick up. His kennel closes at 6, and we left Rainier a little later than expected. The whole ride I was watching the GPS tell me our "expected arrival". Suzie said our arrival time was 5:45. Yes, our GPS has a name. She also has a nice British accent. Every time we gained an extra minute, I'd glare at the car in front of us for dragging us down. I'd do a little cheer when we would lose a minute.

As long as we didn't come across any traffic issues, we were in the clear. We got into Portland, and there was a traffic sign saying "Accident Ahead. Left lane closed." NO! So, we sat in traffic, waiting for the accident to clear. I'll save you the suspense. We got there with 10 minutes to spare (but I probably gained a few gray hairs--I know, I'm pathetic). Tucker of course had a great time, and was excited to see us. It's always fun getting his report card from the weekend.

An added bonus of the kennel is that he ALWAYS crashes minutes after we get home!

Sipping latte in Seattle

This weekend we headed to Seattle to visit George, who was in town on a layover. He's on his way to South Korea for 12 months. (Good luck George--we'll be thinking about you!) It was a quick trip, but we had a great time catching up with George and seeing some of Seattle's sights. I LOVED Pike's Place Market. If I lived in Seattle I would fight the crowds every week to do my shopping. Although I'm not sure I could live in Seattle. The stench of incense is just too strong. ICK. Not too many pictures, because it rained much of the afternoon. Go figure.

Pike's Place Market

Overlooking the Sound from the Space Needle.

Atop the Space Needle.

For you, Stephanie Stewart. :)

On the way home we stopped at Mt. Rainier. We planned to do a little hiking, but were surprised to find feet upon feet of SNOW. We never actually saw the summit the whole time, even at 6500 ft up.

Hello, again!

BURRR! 35 degrees. (In May)

Learn from our mistakes...

In case you find yourself needing gas in Oregon, don't pull into a gas station and try to fill up by yourself. There is no self-service in this state. In fact, it's illegal to pump your own gas. ILLEGAL! Imagine that.

Sleeping

A few days ago I came out of the shower to find Andrew and Tucker doing this:

The Ocean

Yesterday we took a day trip to the ocean. Yes. I said day trip. I'm loving the fact that we can get to the ocean in 1 hour. It takes even less to get to the mountains. We were told at a garage sale today that we'll probably never want to go home. I'm starting to believe that! :)

I know all two of you who read this (hi mom and aunt Barb!) probably enjoy pictures more than my rambling, so enjoy a few of my favorites. I took 142!

We stopped at a lot of different little coast towns, but Seaside and Cannon Beach were my favorite. Both reminded me of Door County.

Overlooking Cannon Beach.

Tucker's best trick: walking like a human.

Still going!

THIS is what he was so excited to walk over and see!

Enjoying the view.

After a long day exploring the beach, we stopped at a pizza place for supper and then headed home. By that time, Tucker was more than ready to go to bed!

Home sweet home!

We made it to Portland yesterday and are all moved it. It took us all of 30 minutes to move in AND unpack. This has been the best/easiest move ever. No sore arms from carrying heavy boxes and furniture all day. No sore calves from carrying those heavy boxes and furniture up and down flights of stairs. (Remember that mom?)

However, that also means that I am sitting on the floor as I type. :)

So far, we are loving our new neighborhood! Tucker probably enjoys it the most! We have an awesome patio door that looks out onto a park. I can usually find him laying in the sun while looking out the window. He loves it. AND, an added bonus is that there seem to be very few squirrels in Hillsboro. I don't want to jinx it, but we've only seen 1 squirrel in the last 24 hours.

Speaking of Tucker, he did amazingly well the whole drive. We would give him short walks when we stopped to eat, and found an awesome dog park right off the highway in Bozeman, MT. Enjoy some pictures from our 1800 miles in the car.

Still smiling because we're only at mile 1 of 1800.

Goodie compartment. Treats for Tucker and treats for us.

Tucker did a lot of this!

And this.

And when he wasn't sleeping, he wanted to use Andrew and I as a headrest.

Exhibit A.

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

Exhibit D

Enjoying the fresh mountain air at 70mph.

Are we there yet?