frisbee golf geeks

frisbee golf geeks, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Elaine and our line up of bags at Dabney in the Gorge. Elaine & Dave played a round a Pier Park then a round at Dabney...36 holes in one morning!

stranglehold

stranglehold, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

insane amounts of wisteria climbing up the evergreens at Dabney State Recreation Area...my favorite frisbee golf course.

When the wisteria blooms in the spring it fills several trees (which are very tall)and is an *incredible* sight.

g drives

g drives, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Gina on Hole 13(maybe?) at Dabney in the Gorge. yeah frisbee golf!

soft and fuzzy

soft and fuzzy, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

pussy willows that is. The jokes were abundant.

My two favorite frisbee golfing girls, Elaine & Gina at Dabney in the Gorge

big dum with his big drive

big dum with his big drive, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

john call really huck that disc. Frisbee golf at Dabney in the Gorge

casablanca, windy golf and choosing twenty songs

Hello everyone! I had a really nice, relaxing weekend. Friday night I stayed in and watched movies. First I watched Casablanca which I'd had from Netflix for over a month (a procrastination record for me!). I did enjoy it. Humphrey Bogart's got lots of great lines and it was worth it just to put all the famous quotes together. While I was watching I made a bunch of photo cards, mostly of Mt Adams as I'm going to try to sell them to other shops up in Trout Lake. There's an inexplicable shortage of photos of Mt Adams available to be purchased. The forgotten mountain...

After Casablanca Camille joined me to watch Nine Lives, a movie about nine different women's lives which of course end up weaved together. Some of them were just brutal and I was hoping for something less painful to watch. The one with Robin Wright-Penn was definitely my favorite. She runs into her old boyfriend at the grocery store and her whole life is thrown into chaos within five minutes. I read my book for a while and went to bed at a reasonable time as I had Saturday morning plans.

Saturday I woke up & showered then stopped by my local coffee shop for coffee & a croissant sandwich before going to Elaine & Dave's house. The three of us drove out to Dabney and met up with Gina & John for some frisbee golf. Elaine & Dave were inspired and had woken up at 6 am to go play a round at Pier Park so this was their second round of the morning. It was definitely colder & windier than any of expected as the "partly cloudy" forecast was in fact "entirely cloudy". At Hole 4 we came across a pussy willow tree which Elaine & Gina descended upon like adorable little girls. They rubbed them on their faces and put them in their hair and the jokes were abundant. John brought along his garden shears and performed course maintenance through out the game by cutting down unruly blackberry canes. Wind was definitely a factor in this game with the best bet being to aim low. Dave was having an incredible games with lots of monster throws. At the very last hole each of us actually had our discs fly BACKWARDS as the wind was so strong. hahaaaaa...we were done just in time!

We left Dabney and tried to go eat at the McMenamin's Edgefield but the line was much too long and we were much too hungry. We hit it back to Portland and ate lunch at the always fast, cheap and tasty El Burrito Loco. I went back to Elaine's to get my pictures of my camera and edit them. Elaine was watching Top Gun on tv and I had to leave because I've seen that movie much too many times. I can recite all the lines before they say them (why why why??). I went home and walked in my front door to find Camille watching Top Gun too! ahhhahhahaa! I went into my room and read for a while (still working on One Hundred Years of Solitude) then I napped which I don't do very often. Sigh...very wonderful and cozy in my bed with the down comforter and my purple blanket crocheted by my mama. I woke up & read some more then got up and made some photo cards while I watched some episodes of Sex & the City. Later that night I went down to one of our neighborhood bars to meet Camille. We had some beers and talked and laughed about all sorts of ridiculous things. I left after two beers at which point Camille was promptly hit on by obnoxious men accompanied by a catty girl who after Camille shot him down said "Who sits by themselves?!?" sheesh!

Sunday I woke up and read for a while then made some coffee & read the Sunday paper. In the afternoon I went over to Elaine's house where I changed the music on my mp3 player and made several mix cds for some friends. I stayed for dinner with them...roasted chicken sandwiches and homemade macaroni & cheese with bacon on the top. mmmmmcheesy baked goodness! Back at home I watched Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride (meh) while I made more photo cards. I'm running low on some supplies so I'm at a standstill until I can get to the paper store. Inspired by my mix cd making I listened to music for several hours and I'm determined to make more cds for more people. I read for a long time then went to bed early, determined to not be sleepy when my Monday morning alarm went off at 6 am.

So that was my weekend. I'm excited to spend next weekend at the coast at Mark's house in Newport while he's out of town. I'm looking forward to tidepools and hazelnut brown ale and the cobble beach at Yaquina Head and a mexican mocha from that ice cream shop of all places. I may end up going by myself but I don't even mind. It will be lovely to just spend a whole weekend at the beach. I suspect I'll take too many pictures and finish my book. I'm happy and lucky and looking forward to the return of sunshine and leaves on the trees and flip flops and daily bbqs and waking up in my tent somewhere. Summer can't be here soon enough for me.

Please let me know how you are and what you've been up to!

xoxo,
carolyn

icy arms of the columbia

icy arms of the columbia, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

strange ice formations along the Columbia River at Dalton Point where it's been abnormally cold and very windy

icy fingers

icy fingers, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

strange ice formations on the boat launch at Dalton Point in the Columbia River Gorge. not a good day for boating

frozen falls

frozen falls, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Icy waterfalls on the cliffs of the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge

acoustic outkast

acoustic outkast, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

I've never heard "Hey Ya" done with 2 guys on acoustic guitars. Late night at the Trout Lake Country Inn

The youth of America! Peace and PBR! Americorps kids at the Trout Lake Country Inn 

two daves

two daves, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

music Saturday night at the Trout Lake Country Inn. Trout Lake, Washington. always a good time

mountain music

mountain music, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Michael Sean Cummins, Dave Clarke & Dave Wampler on stage at the Trout Lake Country Inn on the side of Mt Adams

adams alpenglow

adams alpenglow, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

It was well worth leaving the cozy house to see the last of the light on Mt Adams. Trout Lake, Washington

evening fly-by

evening fly-by, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

geese fly past Mt Adams Saturday evening at Trout Lake, Washington.

The mountain is right there! Friday night...After many attempts to do this as a self portrait Elaine jumped out of the car to help me out. Thanks e! 

the end of fences

the end of fences, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

View of Mt Adams on a cold, cold evening in Trout Lake, Washington

hot and cold in trout lake

Hello everyone! I had a really wonderful weekend up in Trout Lake, Washington. It was abnormally cold here (over 20 degrees below normal) so we decided if it was going to be freezing we might as well be on the side of a mountain. We each got off work early and headed into the Gorge with Dave driving me, Elaine, Gina & Daisy, the best black lab ever! We arrived at Wampler's house around 4:30. There were a few feet of snow on the ground but it was hard and icy on the top so you could walk across it without sinking in. Inside Wampler had a fire going in the wood stove so it was wonderfully cozy and warm. We sprawled out on the sofas and the floor. Gina ate tangerines and put the peels on top of the wood stove where they dried into the shape of perfect f-holes on a violin. Elaine & Gina made hot toddies which were yummy and hot. Elaine, Dave & I decided to go check out the mountain so we drove up the road to a big clearing with the mountain looming in the distance. I took tons of pictures and Elaine ran across the frozen fields of snow. We were just a bit late for the alpenglow but it was still beautiful. We headed back to Wampler's then and started preparing dinner, a huge spaghetti meal using yummy sauce Gina had prepared at home and brought up with us. Jason and Tom and some other Trout Lakers showed up and we had a huge salad, spaghetti and bread with garlic butter.

After dinner we decided to go up to the Inn to watch some of the Olympics on the huge tv there. It was rather chilly inside as there weren't many people there and the very cold temperatures made the huge open spaces difficult to heat up. We gathered round the wood burning stoves and watched crazy skiing athletes and the far less exciting ice dancing. Too cold to take off our coats we decided Wampler's warm, warm house was much better and we headed back there to hole up for the evening. Gina warmed up some milk and added a little Kahlua which made us sleepy and happy. Wampler arrived home a few minutes after us to announce that the new batch of Americorps stewards, the leaders at the Service Academy in Trout Lake, were going to be coming over. The small house quickly filled with many people. We watched the Women's snowboard cross event and all screamed and yelled when the American blew her huge lead by showing off and ended up with the silver instead. She got quite the dose of humility. It was getting late and suddenly there was a party happening on the sofa I was supposed to be sleeping on. Gina, Elaine & I each grumpily went upstairs to try and sleep then finally convinced (using our fine bitching techniques) Dave & Wampler to call it a night so we could sleep knowing that Saturday night would be late night. The house emptied quickly and I was able to claim the sofa and sleep like a baby.

Saturday morning we woke up and Dave made us coffee. We each have our own huge coffee mug with it's own personal french press inside the cup. This is amazingly handy when you're camping or traveling. Wampler played some podcasts from the BBC: The Ricky Gervais Show (the hilarious man from The Office). Then from NPR Julia Sweeney, a Saturday Night Live alum, talking about religion and the Bible ("did you READ that book?"). I finished my Edward Abbey book (excellent and very funny) while the house filled with the amazing smell of maple sausages sizzling on the stove. Elaine made a wonderful breakfast of french toast, bacon & sausage. We ate and were infinitely satified with our warm coffee in the warm, warm house. Outside it was sunny and beautiful but very, very cold. We opted to spend the day at Wampler's cozy house rather than brave the frozen outdoors on snowshoes. I started reading a new book, A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson which is about hiking the Appalachian Trail. We watched some Olympics. The men's biathalon is a rather strange event that involved skiing, then shooting, then more skiing & more shooting. We napped and read more and did some sudoku puzzles (many of us are addicted) and drank hot chocolate with Rumpleminz. mmmm minty chocolate goodness! Gina drove down to Hood River to pick up a few items at the store and to buy some lottery tickets as we all threw in for the huge jackpot (Nebraska has a new richest person).

Later in the afternoon Erin & Terry arrived from Portland. We made reuben sandwiches, melty corned beef heaven. We played some cards for a while until we noticed the light was getting low. Dave, Wampler, Terry & I were determined to catch the alpenglow on the mountain. We drove up the road again to Trout Lake, the actual body of water, with Mt Adams' beautiful reflection glowing on the water. We had to duck under a massive tree that had fallen across the road and was partially submerged in the lake. There were lots of geese around and they would take flight and dramatically honk and swoop across the mountain in front of us. The light turned more and more pink until the snowy mountain was ablaze in a bright pink glow with the foothills fading into denim blue. I feel so lucky each time I see such a scene. Alpenglow is truly one of my favorite things in the world. My life is full of daily treasures!

We were all feeling the effects of being outside for so long and even with my gloves on my hands were quite stiff and cold. We piled back in the car and went home to Wampler's house. Another musician from Portland, Michael Sean Cummins, had showed up with his friends in tow to play at the Inn with Dave and Wampler. I had some more hot chocolate this time with orange liqueur which was very tasty. We decided to motivate and get over to the Inn. I brought a stockpile of more photo cards to replenish the ones already sold. We ordered beers and gathered round the wood burning stove to warm up. Gina and I split an order of nachos and then the music started with Dave and Michael each on acoustic guitar and trading songs while Wampler played his accordion. They sounded great and it was tons of fun to see how Dave & Michael worked together on stage. We played some cards, danced to some songs and of course I took lots of pictures. There was a pretty good crowd there with all the Americorps kids showing up and making pyramids of PBR cans. ahhhh kids! Eventually the guys got off stage and moved to the front room of the Inn for a more intimate (and warmer) jam session. Dave passed his guitar around and some other people played. It was tons of fun and great to see the new batch of kids in Trout Lake having fun at the Inn. I have no idea what time we left but I was happy to sleep in Wampler's warm house.

Sunday we woke up and had coffee before packing up and hitting the road by 11 AM. We stopped at a Dalton Point in the Gorge for a bathroom break and I ran to the river's edge and took some photos of the crazy ice that's been building up. Back in Portland we unloaded the car and I got all my pictures of the camera. Elaine baked some Papa Murphy's pizza for lunch and then I headed home. I spent the evening unpacking, watching some Netflix (Freaks & Geeks) and finishing my book about the Appalachian Trail. Up next One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I peeled the huge "Oprah's book selection" sticker off the cover before reading the first chapter. I was disappointed since this revealed that the college didn't purchase a copy of this book until after it made the Oprah Book Club. It's the best known novel from a man that won the Nobel Prize for Literature. I would think the college would have such books in their collection before Oprah recommends them. but I digress... I had a wonderful weekend in Trout Lake, braving the cold gorgeousness to gaze at the mountain and relishing the sweet warmth of a fire and a warm drinks with my friends who I love so much. I can't wait to go back.

Please let me know how you are and what you've been up to! I hope all is well!

xoxo,
carolyn

lowlight

lowlight, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Eva talking with Beth at Caldera Public House on the side of Mt Tabor

highlight

highlight, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

Eva and Beth at Caldera Public House on the side of Mt Tabor

Erik plays bass while Mark plays guitar and sings at William's housewarming party on Saturday night 

we never even left. Sign just over the Bridge of the Gods that crosses the Columbia River into Washington 

hey welcome back. again...we never left. Jess after our hike on Saturday 

dry creek falls

dry creek falls, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

it dries up in summer but it's flowing now. You can see the slot carved out by the water flowing over the cliff. The water fall is 50 feet high. Parts of the cliff are 300 feet. Love that columnar basalt!

pacific crest trail view

pacific crest trail view, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

many fallen mossy trees along the trail

lunch spot

lunch spot, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

a beautiful place to have a sandwich...until our hands started freezing

dam in disuse

dam in disuse, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

strange delapidated parts of a dam along Dry Creek

Jess and I at the base of Dry Creek Falls 

PCT colors

PCT colors, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

I loved the reds from the decaying tree with the lush green moss and ferns.

dry creek flows

dry creek flows, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

hiking along the Pacific Crest Trail to Dry Creek Falls

friday night bender

friday night bender, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

mike at the boiler room singing sweet child of mine by guns n roses.

to clarify...I wasn't on a bender. That's his name.

Friday night at the Boiler Room. Mike does the arm out in front self portrait shot. 

eva at the bar

eva at the bar, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

At the Boiler Room on Friday night. dig the red lights

pub crawl for the out of towner with an intermission for a mossy hike

Hello everyone! I had a fun weekend though I must admit I'm a bit tired and could use another weekend to rest up. Friday night I met up with Mark and a group of his friends at the Basement Pub. Mark had a friend, Beth, in town from New York for her first visit to Portland. We had a few beers there before going back to Mike and Eva's house for dinner. mmmm shrimp! We then drove to the Boiler Room in Northwest where there was some serious karaoke going on. We hung out and Mike even sang "Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns n Roses. The crowd loved it! From there we went to The Tiger Bar for a drink and lastly to Kells. We certainly made the rounds to show Beth around. We happily left before bar time and took a cab home to sleepsleepsleep.

Saturday morning Jess came over to my house and I drove us out to the town of Cascade Locks in the Gorge. We stopped at a trailhead right before the Bridge of the Gods. We hiked along the Pacific Crest Trail for a few miles before coming to Dry Creek, so named because in summer it often dries up completely. The water was flowing now and the hike was beautiful and exceptionally mossy. We hiked up to the cliff wall, 300 feet of basalt with a slot carved out where Dry Creek Falls flows over the edge. The water drops about 50 feet. We sat on some big rocks along the creek and ate our lunch. There were a group of 4 older men there also eating lunch. I took a picture of them on their camera and they took one of me & Jess. They were the only people we saw the whole time. I was surprised to not see anyone on the trail. It was a cloudy day but pretty mild. The little canyon where we sat to have lunch though was quite cold due to the icy water from the waterfall. brrrr. We took some pictures than decided to head back to warm up. The cloudy light was flat and pretty terrible in terms of taking pictures. That didn't stop me from taking tons of photos anyway. Before we got back on the freeway to drive back to Portland we stopped at a viewpoint on the Columbia River right below the Bridge of the Gods. It was a really beautiful spot. It was a great hike and I really enjoyed talking with Jess while we passed mossy trees galore.

I went home and read for a while. I'm reading a great book by Edward Abbey called Down the River. I watched some Sex & the City even though I've seen all the episodes. Later that night I drove to Beaverton to Mark's friend William's house who was having a housewarming party. His home was beautiful and there was lots of drinks and food, including chinook salmon that William had caught himself near Astoria! Later in the evening Mark and his friend Erik played music in the living room. Mark played guitar, harmonica & sang while Erik played the stand-up bass. It was really cool to see Mark play for people and he had a great time doing it. I have much respect for people who perform for others. I hung out and talked with people until 1 AM when I was getting sleepy then I headed home.

Sunday morning I stopped at my local coffee shop for some breakfast and a mocha. I went over to Elaine & Dave's house and chatted with Elaine for a bit and posted some of my hiking photos on Flickr. I drove down to the museum for my volunteer shift. Again it was a very busy day with big crowds of people coming through to see the Hesse exhibit. I think it's going to remain crazy busy until the exhibit leaves the museum in late April. I did get a chance to walk through an exhibit of ancient Chinese art. There was some really unusual pieces and I wished I'd had more time to go through the collection. When my shift was over I walked across the street to the Park Blocks where I found a bench in the sun and read my book for a bit to decompress after the craziness at the museum. I called up Mark and went to the eastside to meet up with him at his friends Mike & Eva's house. We had beers in the backyard and enjoyed the last warmth from the afternoon sun. We went to the Laurelhurst where the guys played pool and we asked Trivia Pursuit questions. (Who offered Albert Einstein their presidency in 1952? Israel) We then drove to Caldera, a restaurant/pub on the side of Mt Tabor where we all had dinner. We had an amazing appetizer of bourbon soaked brie topped with nuts and brown sugar that was served with crusty bread and apple slices. heavenly! After dinner we went back to Mark's house for a bit then went to his neighborhood bar for some more pool before taking Beth to the airport. After repeatedly checking on her flight it seemed that the snowy weather in New York was not going to delay her flight and indeed she left without any problems. It's hard for me to imagine living somewhere with a real winter like that. Four winters in Portland have forever changed me. I saw an iris blooming the other day. amazing...

I'll post some pictures now and a few more this evening so check back if you'd like to check them out. Please let me know how you are and what you've been doing.

xoxoxo,
carolyn

my mossy heart

my mossy heart, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

next to my house in Portland

I love living here.

snapshots

snapshots, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

me with an old family photo taken by my mom of my dad, my brother, me (sliding down in the center) and my sister

on the wall behind my shoulder is a carving my parents bought in Haiti before I was born. My parents gave it to me when I moved into my first apartment. I'm sure it was hanging on the wall in the living room in the photo (Seattle 1979).

I've been collecting family stories & geneaology information in earnest from my grandma via email. I'm so happy to have a written record of these things. It's amazing some of things I'm learning.

winter growth

winter growth, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

these damn plants are taking over my vegetable garden. the wall is not nearly so colorful in summer.

low brow high brow

low brow high brow, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

the Nintendo (my family's original from 1985) sits atop a stack of art books in my living room

soft landings

soft landings, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

the steps up to my house

picture of a picture of home sweet home

picture of a picture of home sweet home, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

photo taken by my sister Sara for high school photography class (1991 perhaps)

my parents' house & backyard taken with a fish eye lens and then solarized. the reflection of the house in the pond though didn't solarize. I like it even better that way.

home

the rain relents and the blooming begins

Hello everyone!

I had a pretty mellow weekend. Friday night I met up with Gina & John at the T&P on NW 23rd, the same place as last Friday. They played pool and harassed each other endlessly, good-naturedly I should add. Around 10pm Gina & I both were yawning much too much and had some coffee. We watched a very long incident involving a drunkard who refused/was unable to leave. He was finally deposited on one of the picnic tables just outside. I wonder what he's doing right now? Gina and John played a zillion games of pool until none of us could take it anymore. We left around midnight. It was a stormy drive home and I was happy to find my bed and sleep sleep sleep.

Saturday morning I woke up and did my Pilates dvd. I cleaned the house some then Camille & I watched a short movie/documentary called Microcosmos. It was really amazing macro cinematography of bugs and plants and other assorted creatures. How'd they do that? I read for a awhile and listened to music. It was rather odd to be listening to the Scheherazade, open up a book of poetry (Crush by Richard Siken) I had randomly checked out from the library and find the first poem entitled "Scheherazade". hmmmm I also discovered that the poems of Rainier Maria Rilke don't really do it for me as I only really liked two out of the whole collection. hmmmm

I took a shower and took some photographs then went over to Elaine's house. She'd been cooking up a storm to prepare for Dave's mom's birthday party. She made me a little plate of the hummus, baba ganouche & tabouleh she had made to take to the party. yummmmmm! Later that night I met Mark at his friend Mike & Eva's house. From there we all drove to the Horse Brass Pub on Belmont for some food & beers. We had planned on playing darts but the joint was packed so we left after a few beers and went to the Clinton Street Bar. I later found out that one of Elaine's uncles used to own it and she would hang out there all the time. For a Saturday night they were playing some real low-key woe-is-me depressive music. Mark went to put some money in the juke box to choose something more rockin only to discover there was no juke box and the music was the bartender's choice. sheesh! We decided to cross the street to go to Dot's where we magically scored the big kidney bean table which we promptly filled as more & more friends showed up. I had a great time talking with Mark's friends and we stayed until just after 1 am.

Sunday I passed on an early morning round of frisbee golf in favor of more sleep. We woke up to the sun (omigod!) and blue skies. It's supposed to be dry all week which is a welcome relief from our weeks and weeks and weeks of rain. We walked to the Stepping Stone Cafe a few blocks from Mark's house and had a great breakfast. While walking I saw the first blooming daffodils of the season. yeah! I've also seen the early pink rhododendrons blooming! yeah! Back at his house we hung out, read the paper, watched basketball and lounged. I dropped him off at his friend's house for a Super Bowl gathering and I went home for a bit before going to Elaine & Gina's. Elaine prepared a huge batch of taco dip. We also ate the leftover hummus, baba ganouche & tabouleh she had made the night before. We watched the game and yelled and groaned as the Seahawks were soundly defeated by the Steelers. bah! I went home and read before going to sleep early. So that was my weekend. Please let me know how you are and what you're up to!

xoxo,
carolyn

sheltering sky

sheltering sky, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

a driftwood shelter (using the term quite loosely) at Gleneden Beach, Oregon. I was a few minutes away from a downpour but the light was so perfect it was difficult for me to leave the beach.

I made it back to the lodge *just* as it started raining.

slither

slither, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

grass on the beach

rain redux

rain redux, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

you can see a headland jutting out into the water to the north where it is pouring rain...soon the rain arrived here.

beach house

beach house, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

I didn't even coil the rope like that...found as is.

the sea was frothy that day

the sea was frothy that day, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

incredible amounts of sea foam from the very stormy weather

I think I know them

I think I know them, originally uploaded by carolyn_in_oregon.

looking south on Gleneden Beach. I think those are my co-workers down there. I couldn't believe there weren't more people on the beach enjoying the glorious sunlight!