Dog Day Afternoon…

Along with the millions of amazing things that have happened to us on this trip, one of them is that we have met A lot of Dogs. We Love Dogs. We’ve met all kinds and just like the people, they’re all special. I wish we had a photo of every one of them. They’ve been big, small, Black, White, short & fat. Guard Dogs, Salty Dogs, rescued from Taiwan Dogs. They’ve been Loud, quiet, young & old. They’ve all been good. We’ll never forget how they have kept us safe, kept us happy, laughing and Loving. To all Dogs everywhere and the people who Love them, this Blogs for you!

Stay Dog Stay

VW Dog

Lilly & Kali

Burwash Landing Labs

Sophie!

Mei-Mei

Starfin= Puppy Love

 

 

 

A Cast of Characters

We have slowly been moving down the coast of Oregon to Florence where we’ll head East to Eugene today. Short rides have brought us in contact with many different people, all wonderfully hospitable and full of character. In Seaside we ran across Wild Bill who played us a killer Willie Nelson cover, take your show on the road Bill! A salty dog named Pogo gave us a ride and in exchange we helped him unload his truck full of crab pots when we arrived in Newport, OR. Our night ended in the Hike & Bike section of Honeyman campground, where again we met a hand full of amazing folks, all on Bike Tours. Good Luck David & Martha and Lowell, keep stealin’ the West!!

Onward!

~Starfin

Wild Bill

Haystack Rock

Pogo

Goonies!

Last night I felt like a real Goonie! Here in their hometown of Astoria, OR. we landed for the evening with nowhere to be and so much to see. In search of a friendly place to collect ourselves we found The Wet Dog Brew Pub where the Beer was bitter, so bitter it was appropriately called “bitter bitch”. Our Bartender was cool enough to stow our backpacks away in their kitchen while we strolled through the streets of historic Astoria with our cameras, photographing the amazing 100+-year-old Architecture. Darkness fell upon us with heavy packs and heavy eyes so in the Goonie spirit we ducked into the first yard with a for sale sign, slipping through the gate, and cozying up under the deck, thinking we were in for a quiet nights sleep. Within minutes a road construction crew pulled up about a hundred feet from our heads with bulldozers and all and there they stayed, all night long.We have had a better nights rest.

“Never say die!”

~StarFin

Astoria-Megler Bridge

Columbia River

My Hometown…

Portland in the Summertime is a pretty spectacular place to be. This city is filled with rich history, charm, character and style, as are the people who live here. People watching is a favorite past time.

It’s in the mid 90′s but I’m loving it! Visiting favorite eateries, like Escape from New York Pizza, The Country Cat and you have your choice of McMenamins, they’re almost as easy to find now as a Starbucks. Visiting Family and old friends. Catching up on the front porch, enjoying the warm nights. Through generosity of a friend, Shawn is working this week  doing some Carpentry work. We are ever so grateful for that.

This week in Portland don’t miss Musicfest NW! Three nights of concerts at Pioneer Courthouse Square in addition to shows at 18 of the city’s most venerable music venues. Band of Horses, Iron & Wine, The Kills and Blitzen Trapper to name just a few of the bands you can see this week in Stumptown. Hey, how did Portland get the nick name “Stumptown”? Stumptown was coined in a period of phenomenal growth in Portland after 1847. The city was growing so rapidly that the stumps of trees cut down to make way for roads were left behind until workers could be spared to remove them. In some areas the stumps remained for so long that locals whitewashed them to make them more visible. They also used them to cross the street without sinking into the mud. Captain John C. Ainsworth commented that there were “more stumps than trees” in Portland in the early 1850s. There ya go, thank you Wiki!

Portland in the Summertime. I Love you.

Escape from NY

Hippo Hardware

Creepy

Hollywood Theatre

FIN

Culture shock

Olga store

Wild Flour

Boat with Mt. Baker

We left Orcas Island with some trepidation. We spent Eight lovely days absorbing the serene and unique qualities of Island life on Orcas. Imagine no fast food chains, no Walmart, and no housing developments. Imagine beautiful old lazy farms where sheep, Goats and Horses graze with Deer. Imagine breathing air that smells of Pine and Blackberries all the time. We fell in love. We fell in love with the locals and their relaxed and trusting nature. We fell in love with the Olga store, which is presently for rent…. We fell in love with the newly opened Wild Flour Bakery, owned by Ben and Megan. Ben’s masterful and one of a kind pastries and Breads are seriously the best we’ve ever had. They are also due to give Birth to their third child at any moment. Of course we are anxious to hear when he or she arrives. Speaking of family, Shawn’s family joined us on Orcas for three days, which went by way too fast but it was a good time, as always.

We will miss you Orcas.

Now we’re back in Seattle, a bit of culture shock but we will acclimate. We woke up in the Sheraton Hotel where we had spent the night with family. We went to take advantage of the pool and Jacuzzi on the 35^th floor. Completely relaxed and feeling good we got on the elevator back down and suddenly it started violently shaking like there was an earthquake or one of the cables had broken. We saw our lives flash before our eyes. It stopped, then very slowly descended to the first floor. We’re still alive!

Embracing the lingering Summer and will continue moving south.

Until next time…

Street scene