Working Hard

We live a hard life. As you can see from previous posts we have been working really hard lately. Between all of our hikes and trips and hanging out there is hardly time for the pool and tennis and reading. It has just really gotten difficult to fit everything that needs to get done into one day. One such activity that has really begun to take up a large portion of our days would be...TENNIS. Oh how we love tennis (Please tell us some of you watched Wimbeldon? Fabulosity at its finest). A few days after arriving we drove ourselves to the local Target and bought some quality rackets. It has taken a few weeks of practice- but we can play a mean game of doubles. Don't we just look like naturals? We love Oregon and its abundance of parks and tennis courts.

Since arriving in Oregon we have really turned over some new leaves so to speak. Not only have we become tennis stars, but we are now quality berry pickers. Thats right. This is our new favorite pass time. Oregon is over run by huge berry farms. One of our new friends took Megan for the first time last week to pick blueberries...that was the start of a new love in our lives. Within a few days we have picked enough raspberries and blueberries to last a very long time. Boysenberries are ready for pickin' next week and blackberries in August! We LOVE our berries! By the end of the summer we will have enough jam and home made ice cream to serve a small country. They are delicious.

We had an awesome weekend full of more of the same...work work work. Rather than bore your with the details I will just post some photos. You know- A picture is worth a thousand words.
This was our extravaganza downtown...strictly work. Tyler, Parker, Tim, Anthony, and Simon.

Calie, Brittany, Megan

Delicious pizza place called "Escape from New York"

Working hard at the pool.


We had a delicious Kabob BBQ at the pool.

We loved our kabobs!

We spent last night at a concert in the park by our house. And let me tell you it was a LOT of work to walk the entire mile there. Seriously. We are just really looking forward to a break when we can finally relax and do something fun. We will keep you posted on how it goes.

Summer Fun

One of the best parts of living in Portland is that there is so much to see and do. We being just a few minutes from the city center while also being so close to beautiful hiking areas and the breathtaking Oregon coast. We have decided to make the most of our simultaneous unemployment and school-free time and get to work on seeing and doing all the fun stuff we can before we have to go back to being responsible adults. So after another fruitless job interview we hopped in the car and cruised to the coast with Larry and Marilee. Our destination was Cannon Beach. It was beautiful! We love the little town with all of the great little shops and restaurants. We especially loved the Cannon Beach farmers market. They sold fresh home grown produce, and home made baked goods and all of our favorite things. We had a delicious lunch of fish and chips. Then we went to check out Haystack rock. Oregon is so beautiful! We just can't get enough of it.

The next stop on our unemployment party was to visit the Chinese Gardens in downtown Portland. Thanks to our wonderful new friends Brittany and Tim, we learned about a little thing called the "Cultural Pass of Adventure!" Sound fun? Well it is. Trust us. This is a little pass you check out from the library and it gets you into all sorts of cool places for free ninety free. Our favorite amount these days. So anyways- we went to the Chinese Gardens for FREE! Yay. It was very strange to be walking through the crazy busy streets of Portland and then step into this quiet little garden. Very enjoyable if we might say so ourselves.

TyTy's favorite part was the pretty vases we found in the room for quiet meditation (or something along those lines) and the little bonsai trees.

Megan preferred the water lillies...lame

By far the coolest thing we've done in our new Northwestern homeland is the hike we did in the remarkably beautiful Columbia River Gorge. While we are still paying the price for our 14 mile voyage, we are in total agreement that the lingering pain is well worth it. During the course of the hike you pass 6 waterfalls, cling to "safety" cables to avoid falling off the 3 foot wide trail to your death 200 feet below, and spend the entire time in the most lush and awe inspiring forest we have ever seen.

Here is Tyler before the exhaustion and cramps set in.

This part didn't even have the safety cables!!

There were little streams and babbling brooks galor.

100 foot Metlako falls was our first stop.

There were many times we wanted to get in the water and swim.

We took a short side trail to Punchbowl falls.

The waterfalls were great but the whole trail was beautiful.

Loowit falls marked the halfway point of our upstream journey.

Then it was time for lunch.

We continued for a couple more hours and just when we started get sore and wondering if the long haul was going to be worthwhile, all our doubts were quashed as we rounded the corner to see the magnificent 175 foot Tunnel falls.

Tunnel falls is so named for the 30 foot tunnel that explorers blasted out behind the falls when they discovered it in 1902.

On one side of the tunnel the trail continues on an incredibly narrow, wet, slippery, yet beautiful path. Megan nearly wet her pants as she pictured herself plunging to her death. Luckily Tyler was a bit more composed. Megan took this picture (below) of Tyler on the trail ahead from inside the tunnel.

We continued on the section of the hike known as "Vertigo Mile" for another half mile (again there were images of death running through one of our minds) until we came to the 200 foot tall Twister falls.

That white spot in the shadow is Tyler on the trail right before Twister falls.

After a Snickers and some grapes we called it day and turned back. 7 miles later we were back at the car; Tyler need hip replacement surgery and Megan had a blister on her heel the size of AA battery but we loved it and plan to do it again soon with family and/or friends (who ever visits first).

OHSU

Tyler starts dental school at Oregon Health and Sciences University in August. We are very excited and slightly apprehensive...but knowing Tyler he will soar through it! The school is so beautiful and it is set up on a huge hill overlooking the city. So here is a little taste of OHSU...the place Tyler will be spending about 18 of his 24 hours each day. (Well hopefully not that bad!)

The Update

Well it has been oh so long since we last posted. And oh how things have changed! In the last month Tyler graduated, then we packed up our little apartment, drove a HUGE Uhaul 750 miles across the country, moved into our new apartment in Portland, spent over two weeks Hawaii (hard times I know) and finally returned to Portland to figure out our new life. To say the least...it has been a whirl wind. So here is the basic update.

I have to say we were not all that sad to get out of our little apartment.

This Uhaul cost us so much in gas that I weep when I think about it.

But after two days of driving we finally made it to beautiful Portland, OR. Only... upon arriving to our supposed apartment we found cigarette burns in the carpet, mold crawling up the walls and across the floor of the bathroom and it reeked of cigarettes and other things I could not put my finger on nor wanted to. So we found ourselves in a bit of a predicament. Our flight for Hawaii was four days away and we had no where to live and no idea where to start looking...oh yeah- and a 27 foot Uhaul to drive around.

But to make a long story short we managed to find a spectacular apartment that far exceeded our expectations.







This is Cresent Hill Apartments...

The move in:

It was slightly overwhelming...

Marilee was a painting machine.

After 3 days of total unpacking/decorating madness we ended up with a wonderful final product.

So it is a major upgrade from where we were before. We love our new home and Portland is absolutely gorgeous. So hopefully we can get back into the flow of life agian soon...but until then we will just enjoy doing nothing in our new home! : ) Oh and if any of you want to come visit we have a lovely extra bedroom (with a queen bed) and bathroom (way better than hotel commodities) AND we live about 6 steps from the pool and hot tub. So come on up to Portland and visit us!