Portland, Or.

So sorry I've been missing for a few weeks. We have been enjoying Flagstaff summer, which really cuts into my blogging time!

I want to share about our trip to Portland, Or. with my brothers at the end of July. I L.O.V.E. Portland. The city is really young, alive, beautiful and quirky. We rented this fantastic studio apartment in the Belmont neighborhood across the river from downtown. Established neighborhood, green, with a ton of interesting bars and restaurants. We went to Cannon Beach, Mt. Hood, the Oregon Brewers Festival, Queens of the Stone Age concert, ate, drank and were merry. As always I took about a thousand pictures -- here are some highlights...

Voodoo Donuts is famous for their maple, bacon donut. We started our first morning on a major sugar high...






















This one is possibly my favorite photo from the weekend. Richard really loves donuts...


Japanese Gardens




Ohmmmm


International Rose Test Garden






The eating continued. Portland is known for it's food carts, there is an entire park full of them downtown. Of course, we chose the Frying Scotsman; fish, chips and mushy peas.






Old-timey sodas. Best.Ginger Ale.Ever.


Pine State Biscuits -- I was literally dreaming about this biscuit sandwich!






On our way to Cannon Beach




So cold!








More eating. This time, a seafood / fried feast!


Multnomah Falls



Hiking by Mt. Hood








At Queens of the Stone Age concert


Brewer's Festival -- it was HUGE. Portland loves its beer.


In addition to eating our weight in great food, we drank lots of yummy micro brewed beers. Found Bailey's Taproom, so we had to go there!




I will jump at the chance to go back to the Pacific Northwest, so if anyone is interested in a trip to Portland, Seattle, or the coast count me in! We think it would be great fun to rent an RV and drive along the coastline - California up to Washington.

My parents just left from a short visit, and we really enjoyed having them here (Maddie did too and she's still begging outside their bedroom door for tuna -- my dad spoils her!).

Back to normal fall term hours at work next week and students arrive on August 29th -- let the craziness begin. Happy 22nd birthday to Tim - love ya!
xoxo

Telluride, CO

We took a road trip to Telluride, CO over July 4th weekend. Everyone told us that Colorado is so beautiful, and it really didn't disappoint. The mountains were beautiful and it was more humid than Arizona, which meant more greenery and flowers. The picture above is from a hike we took to the falls -- gorgeous.

They have a great July 4th celebration; the parade had fighter jets...4 of them...enough said. These photos are from July 4th morning before and during the parade.






A Yeti sighting:


Dick, we snapped a photo of this cycle for you. It's a bit dark because I had to take it really quickly before the owner hopped on!



More photos from the hike. This looks down on the San Miguel river.


To give you a sense of how large the mountains are; I'm that speck on the right:)








Flowers:










The first hour out of Telluride is absolutely beautiful switchbacks. We picked up lunch at The Butcher and the Baker and stopped at this lovely lake before continuing.


Ate at some great restaurants:
La Marmotte
Fat Alley BBQ
Siam

Drank some yummy beers:
Smugglers Brewery

The 6.5 hour drive there and back was pretty uneventful, although we did pass by Four Corners where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet. It is the only point in the United States shared by four states. You had to pay to actually stand at the Four Corners spot, so naturally we passed. However, I will post a picture to prove we were there (or at least really, really close!). I can't get it off of my phone though right now, so I'll post sometime soon!!

Fossil Creek

Hard to believe this is Arizona, right? That's what we said Saturday when we visited the Fossil Creek in Strawberry, AZ. It is amazing. The water is so clear I thought we were back in Hawaii. Enjoyed swimming and basking in the sun.


Water falling down from the Fossil Creek Spring opening.


Just one more, but seriously how beautiful is this place?!


Happy Father's Day to my father and Jason's father -- miss you both.

Off to enjoy the waning moments of a great weekend. XOXO

Kitchen Concert

Wine Anyone?

Flagstaff Wine and Food Festival was this weekend. Local Arizona wines and Flagstaff restaurants set up booths serving tastings. We went with a couple who live in our neighborhood and work with Jason at Gore; they were so much fun!


We enjoyed many yummy tastings. Please don't laugh at my horrible hair.


And Carne Asada tacos.


I got out my green thumb last week and potted a few flowers too. This pot was a gift for our anniversary from Tucson; thanks mum and dad! No veggies this summer; I was tired of dumping gallons of water only to produce 20 grape tomatoes:)

Hello out there!

This blog must be feeling so neglected! It isn't for lack of trying, but we have been so busy lately (Jason out of town about every other day, and Summer Orientation drains any energy I have) that the blog has fallen far down the list. I do want to give you all some updates though - better late than never?!

We got out of town to Phoenix a couple of weeks ago. Stayed overnight and had yummy Sangria and tapas in Scottsdale. The day time weather was hot, but beautiful at night. Saturday we visited the Arizona Science Center to see Body Worlds, a traveling exhibit about the human body. I read about this exhibit awhile back, and we are really glad we went -- definitely check it out if it is near you -- only for the truly nerdy at heart:)

Last weekend Jason was out of town and I went to Hullabalo, a music / hippy festival downtown. It was classic Flagstaff: lots of hippies, good beer, blue grass music, hula-hoops and tutus...yes, tutus on adults. I didn't participate in the hula-hooping or costume affair, but did enjoy some beer and live music. The weather was beautiful, so any excuse to get outdoors was welcomed.


A bunch of my photos didn't convert when I downloaded, but I have 1 photo of the silliness -- the beer vendor wearing pink fishnet tights:


A couple cool hiking photos from Memorial Day.





I have to work Orientation this afternoon (it's Saturday), so I'm off!
xoxo