Monday, August 25, 2014

In the wild

What another glorious camping trip! Probably the last of this year. 
For something different we went en masse, 5 couples. Double campsite, tent village. Lots of meat, lots of bacon. Lots  of stories. Lots of wood to burn.  Characters, plus one beast of a dog. 

Sampson freezing his legs off

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Gone coastal

Wrapping up my travels and birthday tour I enjoyed time and people on the coast...
Brightest seaweed
Peaceful
Bright
Ferry chickens (that's all the commotion at that truck)
Back seat driving and sleeping 
Lucky girl got another trip to a winery
Best beets ever

Thank you to my hosts and lovely treats. It was wonderful! See you again soon! X

Thursday, August 7, 2014

my roses

I was lucky to get to spend another birthday in Portland. We tried to figure it out, maybe 4 or 5 birthdays in PDX over the last decade with my man CR and a few of the crew. 
I had the apartment in the city pretty much to myself and wandered, drank fancy coffees, bit of shopping, interesting drinks, fun people and had a really nice time. 
Besides the gun range we also checked out some new bars/restaurants, I had an amazing birthday dinner cooked for me, surprize rendezvous with some friends from home, and a sake brewery. 
Change room change up
Coopers Hall Winery, east side
Target practice
Hello, salmon birthday dinner
St. Cupcake cupcakes aftermath, Cards Against Humanity
Birthday hazelnut affogato in the Pearl
This is how you make sake in 18 simple steps 
My view of the soccer stadium
#pdxcarpet is actually a hashtag. Check it. 

Great week, great people. Thank you CR and Miss A for an awesome time. 

Monday, August 4, 2014

trigger happy

Sometimes the "only in America" rings so, so true. This week while in Portland I was going about a usual day, wandering through town, a bit of shopping when CR texts me and drops a casual "btw we are going to a gun range tonight".  It was actually a birthday plan for another friend who's day it was the week before and this was what he asked to do for a celebratory treat. 
Unbeknownst to CR this is something I have very much wanted to do for quite some time. As I rode the Max out to Beaverton to meet them I was so excited... but also preparing for disappointment that they wouldn't let a Canadian out there with a gun, or fear when I suddenly had no idea what kind of yahoos I was going to shoot guns with. In America. 

This was a private gun club that another friend of CR's belongs to. He is ex army and he owns the guns we shot with, brought all the ammo, and was an amazingly serious, informative and kind instructor. It was awesome. 

We started with the hand-gun pistols. I was up first and I hit the black target in my first shot. Not bad for first round. The guns are, surprisingly heavy. Plus trying to stay calm and focused, some nervous tension AND hit your target, lets just say my arms were sore the next day. 
We went on to a different range area to shoot rifles. Here you could lean the gun on the table, use a couple props to help you aim. I was most nervous about the kickback and that I was going to get hit in the face accidentally by the body of the gun- but if you pull it in close, and lean your cheek on the gun, your whole body moves with it. It was also a lot less startling when I was the one pulling the trigger. You know what's coming. Turns out I'm a pretty good shot. 
Reloading
Shrapnel
Yeah. I'm a ten. 

BTW if you're going to do it, I figured I gotta do it right. Yes I rocked the red lipstick at the gun range. I was the only lady there and I meant business.