It's a "B" Day in Bend

Friends J & J are here for a week and Janet and I got up VERY early so we could be in Bend for the "Balloons Over Bend" lift off at 6:30 (AM). We joined a hundred or so other early risers (most of whom probably didn't have to leave home at 5:30) on a cold (Janet had to scrape frost from the car windows....) morning on a grade school field to watch 4 balloons take off. They were filling this one when we arrived.
Beautiful blue sky was the background for the colorful Balloons.
This lady brought her 3 rescue greyhounds - they were all shaking because they were so cold.
Lift off for one of the balloons
We followed this one to where it landed - turned out to be not a great location, so they lifted off again and presumably found a better spot. We decided to go to breakfast instead of following them.
Breakfast was at the famous Jake's in Bend. We split an omelet that was soooo good (and soooo HUGE) that I forgot to take a photo until there was just an empty plate. After Breakfast, we walked the trail to the top of Pilot Butte, a landmark in Bend. The nature trail winds around the Butte with interpretive markers along the way and occasional benches from which to enjoy the view. Janet insisted on having one photo with me in it, so here I am. Mt Jefferson is in the background.
Looking west towards downtown and the Cascade Range. From right to left the major peaks you can see are - North Sister, Middle Sister, South Sister, Broken Top, and the well known Mount Bachelor. Still plenty of snow on "them thar" hills in June. Our weather has been a bit peculiar, as has everyone's, I think. Today, however, was a bare arm day (and would have been a bare leg day, too, if we hadn't had to leave home at 5:30 AM when it was still burrrrr freezing out!)Janet with the peak name finder display. We're so glad that Pilot Butte isn't covered with Mc Mansions like most of the other hills around the area. (He who builds on the highest hill wins.......) Looking South from the Butte - one of the many, many "round-abouts" that the city has become fond of. The best thing about them, though, is the large art installations in the center of most - all is very creative - some very wonderful - some not so much.....From the Butte, we went to Costco, which is only a few blocks away, to stock up on a few things. While there - we bought bathing suits, but I think we're both going to return them. Then, to the Balloons Over Bend Festival in the Old Mill District. Mostly, it was children's activities and a few commercial booths, but the highlight for us was the chalk sidewalk art on the foot bridge over the Deschutes River. Here are a few examples. This first one is similar to the realistic 3 dimensional looking chalk art circulating on the internet. These people were freshening up theirs because people had walked on it the previous evening.And, of course, I had to take a photo of the Peace Sign., Denise!The ducks and the kayakers share the river. Made us want to go home a get the boats!
The Old Mill District is a mostly posh shopping mall now, but it used to be the lumber mill which was the major employer in the city. They have kept some of the "artifacts" from the mill. The city of Bend has at least doubled in population in the last 10 years. With the population has come the shopping, of course. And the Mc Mansions.................. After we browsed in the posh shops (where I did purchase some unique Barbecue sauce), we went to Goodwill where I bought some bargain books and a blouse and Janet scored on a Donney and Bourke bag (purse)! Then we headed to the Deschutes Brewery on Bond Street for lunch, preceeded, of course, by a taster of brew. We tasted, on this day, the following Brews: Cinder Cone Red, Twilight Ale, Down and Dirty, NW Pale, Chocolate Porter, and Virgilator. We later had a glass of Nitro Obsidian Stout and filled the special Deschutes Growler with 60 oz of Virgilator to bring home.
Oh, yes, we also ate a couple of really good salads..................mine had a Balsalmic dressingHaving had some of the high octane Virgilator and Stout, we decided to take a walk and wandered over to Drake Park at Mirror Pond on the Deschutes near Brooks Street. This couple was feeding the ducks and gave me a piece of bread, so I fed them, too.
These people were doing hula hoop exercises (?) in the park to music! Wish I had a video camera because they were quite good!Looking back toward Brooks Street and downtown.
Looking west - nice homes are on the "pond" - like 1 mil and up. But they have to deal with the duck, goose and other bird poop!Pretty yellow plants - clinging to the rock walls on the walkway along the river
By now, we were winding down - time to head home and spoil ourselves with some balneotherapy (the medical practice of treatment by immersion in baths). In other words - we went out and soaked in the hut tub! Believe it or not, we both got a little sunburn, even though it was after 4:00 in the afternoon. Not long after we came in, the guys showed up from their fishing expedition to Prineville Reservoir. We fixed some dinner, then 3 of us (not Jim......) played some board games. Pretty soon, we were all ready for BED!

Getting back to "normal"

Things are gradually getting back to normal around here. The weather has been off and on - not much rain, but some cloudy days and a "breeze". Activities are picking up on the ranch - they have been chipping up at the limb dump to make room for more. The Lions operate the limb dump now because when it was free, people dumped just anything. The Lions charge a small amount and monitor it so that only vegetation is brought in. We burn most of our limbs, but when we were clearing the property, we would take loads to the dump. One day, I remember taking 9 trailer loads in one day. I posted this photo before, but this is when we were getting ready for house building and the fire dept was sending around a chipper/mulcher to encourage people to clear their property. This is our pile, which was reduced to a small pile of mulch........

So, we were out for a walk the other day and the phone rang. Why is this surprising? #1 - Dean actually had his phone with him, #2 - we had reception, #3 - Dean was out walking with Abby and I, and #4 - it was Trish! He stood admiring the view while he talked. I was taking photos of the little yellow flowers in the foreground. To prove that spring is just around the corner..... Jim and Janet stopped for a few days on their way back from snowbirding in the SW, We went on a couple of hikes - this is a "shortcut" that Bill told us about. He forgot to mention that there was one kinda tricky place. Janet and I slid down. I'm taking photos of Jim taking photos of Janet's big adventure.


We had a nice hike - Dean and Janet took Abby and the shorter route and Jim and I stretched it out by another mile or so. It was a perfect day for a hike.
Another day, we went over to the pinnacles and took a side trip to see "Earl". Joyce and I found this marker one day while doing a cross country - it's in the middle of nowhere, not on a trail or anything. Earl was only 24 years old when he died. Makes me curious. Google doesn't help.
It was nice having them here for a while. Janet and I did a shopping day in Bend and stopped at Deschutes for lunch and BEER. We shared a taster and also got a snifter of Coffee Double Black - amazing porter - almost 11% alcohol, so I let Janet have most of it, but we did get the growler filled with it. YUM!
They arrived the day after we got back from cleaning out Carol's apartment, so we just had time to move the bed into the guest room and set up the dining room table. I'm enjoying setting out Carol's things and cherishing memories. The house needs a good straightening, though, so I'm off to that project.

Weekend Update (Thanks, SNL...)

Lori Ann and Dimitri came to visit this weekend - and a fun time was had by all - as usual. We met them in downtown Terrebonne and traveled into the BIG city for a nice lunch at Deschutes.Came home and sat around talking for hours. Had a "wee" bite to eat, then went to the "hole" (formally known as the Sandbagger) for the standard ranch entertainment - karaoke! The highlight of the whole evening was when 4 guys got up and did a SUPERB "Seven Bridges Road". Amazing! It gave me goose bumps. Judy was there - our favorite - and Maka was serving up her usual. A great evening!
This morning, we got up, had breakfast and the 4 (er, 5, counting Abby...) took off on a morning walk. Went the long way - down along the river trail below our place. Here, Lori Ann and Dimitri take a break with Abby. This is below our place.
Interesting stratification - red rock below, then river rock and ash, and nice rock walls above. I'm not a geologist (duh!) but this sure shows eons of time.
More of the same........
This was the very first wildflower I have seen this year, so I HAD to take a picture of it. Spring is on it's way!
Coming up the steep part - lots of scrambling amongst the rocks. And, BTW, we saw more of the "cat" tracks and have come to the conclusion that they are Cougar (Mountain Lion) tracks - way too big for bobcat. We have heard that a pair of Cougar have been spotted crossing the North Pasture here on the ranch which is not too far from us. Well, we know where they have been hanging out lately! The BIG climb out.
This is the flat that we came up from the river trail to the main trail. It's sure pretty down there. And wild!When we got back to the house, this is where we headed. Nice and sunny and warm on the deck. I think Dean is taking a nap while Dimitri catches up on the brew news.
Well, D and LA are now off to Bend and a snowshoeing adventure this evening under the almost full moon. Followed by a night at Mc Menamins St Francis, and a soak in the famous Turkish soaking tub. It was great having them come to visit again and we look forward to the next time. Dimitri is coming over while poor LA goes to Paris for Spring Break..... They both love it over here, so we are looking forward to them making it more permanent.

In honor of their "mixed marriage" (Greek and Irish) today the BUSHISM will be replaced by a couple of quotes:

"He was a wise man who invented beer."
Plato (Greek philosopher) 428- 347 BC

"Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat."
Alex Levine

Thanks for visiting - come back soon! XOXO

Whoops -

I got called on it - no Bushism yesterday, so I better start out with it:
BUSHISM
"Laura is out campaigning along with out girls. And she speaks English a lot better than I do. I think people understand what she's saying."
Third presidential debate, Tempe, Arizona, 2004

On to less important things - like the weather is beautiful - cold, crisp, and clear. Nice long walk this morning. Only exciting thing was watching a raven on top of a power pole munching on a small bird. We could see the feathers floating down........ Didn't know they ate their own kind.

I'm feeling a bit political after the Obama victories this last Tuesday, so thought I would share a couple of things. Here is another site that matches your opinions with those of the candidates - it is a little more comprehensive, I think. And this (link is no longer good - I have copy/pasted the article at the bottom of this post) is an interesting article that examines the Obama drawing power. And this one is about his speech writer - just a young kid who "channels" Obama when he writes.... I'm finding myself far more interested in the campaign that I had thought I would be.

Yesterday was our "town day". Yep, the BIG city of Bend. Took Abby in for her twice yearly grooming - her hair was soooo long and now that it is (was) warming up, she needed to have some of it removed. We have tried a couple of places in Redmond (trying to keep the $$$ closer to home) but they have been pretty bad. So, we dropped off the dog, went to Costco, then Food 4 Less, Best Buy for a new wireless router (which I haven' been able to get to work yet, but that's another story), then to Sleep Country to "look" at mattresses. But we found a deal and it will be delivered on Friday! We picked up Abby then went to Deschutes for lunch and I tell you, it was the most amazing meal either of us have had in a very long time. Empanadas with a sausage and scallop filling and a verde cream sauce. WOW! Then we filled up the growler for Dimitri and headed home.

So, now it's getting ready for LoriAnn and Dimitri's visit this weekend> Whoot! Whoot!

Just so you don't miss the photos, Sam, here are a few more from the archives
These are from the fishing trip in October with Jim and Janet and Larry and Zenna Schaffer from California. We met up at Hells Canyon on the Snake River, which you can see in the background. Here, the guys are cleaning part of the day's catch. We were able to eat fish every night and even came back home with some.
I hope that Janet will appreciate the humor in this one...............After a long day of fishing. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very cooperative. Mostly cloudy, cool, and rainy. But we had a good time anyway.
this is the article referenced above - the link no longer works and you would have to "sign in" to see it anyway, so am reproducing it here:

Salvation Show

The Emotion Behind Obama's Appeal

Sen. Barack Obama embraces supporters at a rally yesterday in East Rutherford, N.J. (By Chip Somodevilla -- Getty Images)
Buy Photo

By E. J. Dionne Jr.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008; Page A19

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Democrats are divided this year not by the issues but by a feeling and a theory.

This helps explain why the preferences of voters in the Democratic presidential primaries so far have gyrated so wildly. In the absence of deep divisions on policy, Democrats have been cut loose from their ideological moorings. Philosophical unity has bred new forms of conflict.

Barack Obama has surged to rough parity with Hillary Clinton in the national polls not because Democrats reject her carefully thought-out solutions to the central public problems but because he has created in the party's rank and file a feeling of liberation -- from intimidation by Republicans, from old divisions, from history itself.

At a packed rally in a downtown square here on Sunday, emblematic of Obama's appearances around the country, the candidate drew the usual applause for the usual Democratic applause lines on the infamy of the Bush administration, the urgency of universal health care and the unfairness of Republican economic policies.

But he connected most when he spoke of his willingness to oppose the Iraq war when many, including Clinton, didn't. This marked his liberation from Republican bullying on national security. He spoke of the surge of young people into politics and the extraordinary levels of participation in the Democratic primaries. This spoke to his party's desire to be liberated from the old math of the Reagan era.

And on it went: He noted the multitude he drew to a rally in Boise, Idaho, of all places (liberation from the old electoral map); the support he has won from Republicans (liberation from divisiveness); and his determination to govern "not by the polls but by principle" (liberation from calculation and, to some, from Clintonism).

All this strikes Hillary Clinton's supporters as terribly unfair. Some liberals who support Obama acknowledge privately that many of her positions on domestic issues are more carefully crafted and in some respects more liberal than his.

Her steadfastness in supporting a requirement that all Americans buy health insurance is instructive. Clinton is right that universal coverage will require a mandate of some sort. Obama's political attacks on the mandate are not only wrong, they may set back the future prospects of health-care reform by feeding ammunition to its opponents.

One piece of Obama campaign literature looks suspiciously similar to the "Harry and Louise" ads run in the 1990s by the health insurance industry against the Clinton health plan. The Obama ad depicts a concerned young couple and charges: "Hillary's plan forces everyone to buy insurance, even if you can't afford it."

Gene Sperling, a Hillary Clinton economic adviser, says he's disappointed in Obama, whom he generally likes. "I'd rather be in the tradition of Harry Truman, who supported universal coverage," he said, "than in the tradition of Harry and Louise."

But even on this issue, Clinton's advantage is undercut by her repeated refusal -- on display Sunday on ABC's "This Week" -- to specify the penalty she'd impose on those who failed to buy health insurance. Her reticence underscores the political challenge of supporting mandates of any kind.

The larger difference between Clinton and Obama is in their respective theories of change. Implicit in the Clinton narrative, as she put it on the stump last weekend, is the idea that "making change is hard." Only someone with carefully laid plans and the toughness to go toe-to-toe with the Republicans in the daily and weekly Washington slog can hope to achieve reform.

Obama agrees to an extent. "I know how hard change is," he says. But he promises to transcend the old fights -- the liberation narrative again -- by building a "bottom-up" movement to create inexorable pressure for reform that would draw in even Republicans.

"Good intentions are not enough," he said in his Wilmington speech. They need to be "fortified with political will or political power." Obama marries a softer rhetorical line on Republicans with a more far-reaching and activist analysis of how change happens. He thus manages to go to Clinton's right and left at the same time.

That's why Obama is on the move in a way that worries Clinton's lieutenants. She promises toughness, competence, clarity and experience in a year when many Democrats are seeking something closer to salvation.

One of the politicians who spoke before Obama at the rally, Delaware state Treasurer Jack Markell, cited the New Testament letter to the Hebrews in which Saint Paul spoke of "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." It was a revealing moment: While Clinton wages a campaign, Obama is preaching a revival.