Rijksmuseum

I was going to call this "Amsterdam blitz," but have to be honest. Really I went into town to see the museum that was being renovated last time I was here. Dutch masters +history + a boats and arm collections, I was sold. 

This beautiful building was completely covered in scaffolding last time!

Hiking in the Gorge

This last weekend I got a course in "Back Country Backpacking 101" from my sister, who's been on 4 "Walkabouts" as part of her student life training at George Fox. It was storming in Sisters (our original target), so we headed up the Columbia River Gorge to Eagle Creek instead.

http://www.oregon.com/recreation/hike-eagle-creek

Olympic Weekend, Day 2

We woke up on Sunday morning to a world entirely different from the one we fell asleep in. Our sunny beach was gone, socked in completely with fog. We cooked sausage over the Coleman grill, then packed up and turned our wheels back to Highway 112, turning onto 113 to take 101 back to Port Angeles. Our one stop on the way was at Lake Crescent. We decided that we're coming back some day to hike in this area!

Surveying Lake Crescent

Olympic Weekend, Day 1

Washington is an amazing state. We have deserts, rugged mountains, active volcanoes, sunny archipelagos, rainforests, canyons, rolling wheat fields… This weekend, M and I boarded the first ferry of the day bound for adventure on the Olympic Peninsula. (Thanks for giving us a head start, Opa and Oma!)

Whidbey in our wake

Quiet OD hike

 I had never been on OD without sharing it with anywhere from an handful to a crowd of other people. Last week, I got to share it with just one person. 

The discussion as we wogged down was how fast we could do it if we were going for speed. I think 1:45 (previous record: 1:58). He thinks he can do it in an hour! 

Multnomah Falls

There are several typical Bridgetown things that I’ve never done: beer tasting at Deschutes Brewery, riding the cable car, downing a Voodoo doughnut… I got to cross two things off my “do in Portland” list this weekend. First was the Rose Festival/Parade on Saturday. Second, a trip to Multonomah Falls on Sunday.

My hosts, Matt and Nia, knew that we would need to be adequately fueled for our grueling hike up to the top of the hill, so we began our morning with a cup of the best coffee I’d had in weeks (thanks to Matt and his beans from Oblique Coffee Roasters) . Next was a short walk to the neighborhood Kolache bakery. That’s right, Sunnyside has stellar Czech pastries at the Happy Sparrow Cafe. On a warm Portland morning, it’s hard to beat a poppy or apricot kolache at a sunny cafe table! I have to admit that I am more than a little envious of my friends’ neighborhood, a quiet spot on Belmont street sandwiched between the hipster wonderfulness that is Hawthorne and Burnside.

well rested, adequately caffeinated, and carbed up, we headed up the gorge to Multnomah falls. It’s the typical oregon image: a curtain of water plunges dramatically almost 600 ft into a pool, flows under an elegantly arched bridge, and drops another 60 ft into another pool. The parking was packed with tourist busses and cars clung to the edges of the roads. We were lucky to spot a couple heading to their X3 and waited for the only free parking spot in the lot.

Buckley the Wandering Bison visits Multonomah Falls

Champoeg and Portland

It’s been too long since I’ve driven South instead of East, so this trip was long overdue.

My sister and I were on I-5 by 12:55 on Friday and hit the worst traffic we’ve ever seen through Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia. 6 hours and two Starbucks stops later we finally pulled into Newberg. Emily split to spend the weekend with Josh’s clan, and Buckley the Wandering Bison and I turned towards Champoeg State Park.

Buckley prepares to set up camp