new bars and new trails

Hello everyone

I had a great weekend! Friday night I went with a bunch of friends (Elaine, Gina, Kyle, John, Melissa and Brian) to the opening of a new bar, The Chesterfield Club. Our friend Paul is the chef at Tabla and Tabla is doing all their food so he’s in charge of the kitchen. His girlfriend, Farrell, is working there as a cocktail waitress. It was an invite only party and it’s not a huge space so it was definitely packed. Farrell and Paul took great care of us though with drinks and lots of free food (the food was delicious!). I couldn’t stay late though as I had to meet Fooqua downtown for a show. I headed downtown and drove in circles trying to find parking before finally paying to park in a garage. Fooqua met me outside of Dante’s, I pulled out our tickets and we went in. We snagged some seats at the bar and hung out and talked while the opening bands played. Just before the headliner, a band called Tapes ‘n Tapes, came out we moved near the front of the stage. They’re a band from Minneapolis and I’ve seen them before but this time they played a bunch of new songs. It was lots of fun and Fooqua and I both had a great time.

Saturday morning I headed over to Elaine and Gina’s house and we left to Dabney where we met a mob of friends for some frisbee golf. I only threw my discs twice. The frisbee golf flame has definitely died inside of me. I had fun walking around, taking pictures and talking with everyone though. It was a cloudy day but it was warm and everything is bursting green. There were 8 people golfing so it was a slow going mob. Gina and I decided to leave before the round was finished. I went home for a bit then came over to her house to do some laundry and help get their house ready for dinner that evening. Elaine and Gina made a huge pan of enchiladas, Spanish rice and tons of fresh pico de gallo and guacamole. Diana came over dinner along with Kyle and we all were full and happy after dinner. I trimmed Gina’s hair (I can cut a straight line) then Gina, Diana and I played some cards before I called it a night and headed home.

Sunday I headed out into the Gorge with Jess for a hike on the Wygant Trail. It’s about an hour east of Portland but even out there the clouds were hanging on. It was very mild though and the hike was beautiful. We did a 6.1 mile loop with 1200 of elevation gain. There were tons of wildflowers blooming along the trail and several impressive viewpoints of the Gorge. We ate our lunch on a sunny cliffside (the sun was trying to come out). I tick jumped on my hand while we were sitting there, the first tick I’ve ever seen in the Pacific Northwest. Jess found one on her pant leg just a few minutes later so I had to do the full body tick check when I got home (none were found thankfully). We hiked to the upper viewpoint where the wind was tearing over the cliff. I took a few pictures then we retreated back into the calm forest. It was a beautiful hike, one I’d never done before. The hiking book warned us that the trail was infrequently maintained and indeed there were many downed trees we had to climb over. We saw no one else on the trail though which is always nice, especially in the Gorge which can be a bit crowded sometimes. We had a great time and drove back to Portland noticing that the clouds were even thicker than before. Ah well!

That evening I rode my bike over to Elaine and Gina’s house where we had leftover enchiladas and Spanish rice and beans (yummmm!) Kyle and Elaine and I watched Little Children which was disturbing but very good. So that was my weekend. I’m looking forward to the glory days of summer! Please let me know how you are and what you’ve been up to!
xoxo,
carolyn