Land of Port: Columbia River Gorge, Part 3

Welcome to my travel blog.

It's not really a travel blog, but that seems to be most of what I blog about these days! OH WELL. :)

What I thought might be one of the less exciting stops along the Historic Columbia River Highway ended up being one of the best and coolest. After waterfall country, we got to the Bonneville Dam.

Pretty impressive looking...

And Erich, the electrical engineer, was mildly interested in how it works.

But the dam itself really wasn't that exciting. However, the fish ladder, a system to aid the fish in their regular migratory patterns, was extremely cool. Sadly, I did not get a picture of the exterior. I know, what was I thinking?

I don't want to leave you hanging, so here's a picture I've taken from Wikipedia.org:


And HERE'S what's going on inside:

We stared at the fish for a while inside and outside, learned about the different types of salmon that come through, had a little snack, then continued on to the fish hatchery. I had never been to a fish hatchery before, and I was shocked and amazed at how fun and interesting it was! First we saw a video of how the actual process works, but there was nothing actually going on this time of year, so we continued to the different fish ponds.

This is Herman the Sturgeon. I think. I suspect there was also a back-up Herman in this pond who was almost as huge. Herman is about ten feet long! Big fish amaze me in a way that makes me feel like a small child.


Next we came upon the rainbow trout pond, which the signs made pretty clear were there just for fun since they don't actually hatch them there. We found 25¢ for a handful of fish food to be well worth it!

(This is so cliché, but I hate hearing my own voice. I wish I knew how to take out the sound.)

I'm glad we didn't see any egg fertilization or sorting or anything because this stuff was WAY cooler to see: the salmon are trying to return to their birth place to spawn! I really wish I could have taken a video, but my camera batteries were dying.


Some of them would leap over a foot out of the water right into those wooden planks! That was sometimes startling but always mesmerizing.

This was a bit further back. Though some fish would take the flying leap to get up to this level, many of them were forced back because there was such a backlog of fish trying to get past the final barriers. Hilariously splashtastic!

From the dam, we went to the town of Hood River. We stocked up on some provisions at Safeway and decided we had waited long enough for dinner. Our Central Daylight Time tummies were hungry for dinner early! Hood River has a lot of wineries and breweries, and the National Geographic guide suggested Full Sail, so we went in search of it. Unfortunately, our GPS failed us here: it seemed unaware of any Full Sail brewery in Hood River. Weird. We went looking blindly and nearly gave up when there it appeared in all its glory! The pub portion of the brewery had a stunning view of the Columbia River, which nearly rivaled the gastronomic experience upon which we were about to embark!

I haven't missed beer too much during my pregnancy, for which I am very thankful. But in this instance, I really wanted to be allowed to order a pint. Though I don't get uptight about taking tastes, I won't actually have an entire drink, so I begrudgingly ordered a Diet Coke (a little caffeine, a little aspartame--well, no one's perfect). Erich ordered the pale ale, described as a "godlike nectar" on the menu, and I chuckled at this. Then I tasted this pale ale and found the description to be quite accurate. YUM.

When our food finally came, we had our second amazingly delicious and fully satisfying meal of the day. I ordered the fish and chips: Alaskan halibut, session lager-battered. The word "amazing" gets overused far too often these days, but it's so appropriate for this meal. I might also throw out the word "foodgasm." I even really liked the cole slaw, and I'm not a big cole slaw eater. Erich enjoyed his burger and his second beer, and I gladly took the keys and booked it out of Hood River to make it to Mt. Hood. We knew it would be nearly dark by the time we got there, but we couldn't get that close to the mountain and not actually see it. It was indeed nearly dark, so we didn't get out of the car or take pictures. But we've now seen Mt. Hood!

We completed the rest of the loop in the dark and got to our hotel nice and late, completely wiped out from our long and adventurous day. Yay, Portland!

P.S.: I loved the flowers at the hatchery:

Duck Parade

Every day around five o'clock, a bunch of ducks walk from the lake across the street to the creek behind our house.

They're totally looking both ways before crossing:

Waddle, waddle.

Oh no! A car's coming!

(I apologize for my ungraceful cinematography.)

The rest of them trek onwards.

This was about a week ago. We've had a lot of rain since then, so the lawn has gotten pretty long. I noticed today that the grass is flattened on the ducks' route! Ducks are cute. They're waaaayyyy better to have around than those honking Canada geese. Oh, how I loathe you, Canada geese.

The Pipe Organ

I just watched this video and immediately had to put it up here on the ol' blog. You should watch it too!

Kevin Hildebrand and Paul Grime do a fantastic job of highlighting all the reasons why the pipe organ truly is the king of instruments. I think it's sad when people view the organ as something old-fashioned or hokey. It really is the best instrument to lead congregational song and, depending on the instrument and the organist, is quite beautiful to listen to.

I love the piano, but I'd take the organ over piano in church any day!

Vacation 2009: Day 2, Part 2

After the first part of our day at Tahquamenon Falls, we trekked across the peninsula, stopping briefly to pick up some delicious smoked fish for dinner, and arrived at my favorite place: Kitchitikipi. Or, depending on what sign you read, Kitch-iti-kipi. Or Kitchi-ti-kipi.

But what IS this remarkable place? you may ask. Well, it's a big spring. It's about 40-feet deep and clear as glass. And it's really, really awesome. We got there late in the day, which was a cool time to see the trees' reflections on the water. I can't do it justice with any more words, so I'll just post a small sampling of the approximately 43,000 photos I took.

This is from the raft on the spring. It feeds into this river. The raft moves along a cable, propelled by a big, kid-friendly wheel.

The view straight down.

Unshaven Uncle Erich being daddy-ish with Emily, looking down into the spring.

This is where the water bubbles up.

And THIS is the spring in action. What's that sound in the background? That's Emily providing narration for what she saw, which was this:

It's a lot more fun than it looks.

All the BILs, and a glimpse of FIL, looking at this:

That's the best picture I could get of the gigantic trout swimming around. I hear there are usually a lot more (maybe earlier in the day?), but we just saw a handful.

I liked the way the light came through the trees.

Back at the house, this was a typical evening activity. Without TV or radio, the Cubs fans were reduced to "watching" the games via phone updates. At least Erich got good enough cell service up there for MLB Gameday!

This was Emily's favorite activity. She says "Boo!"; everyone else acts startled. In this particular game, the little princess learned how little she has to do to captivate an entire room of big people. Who needs TV when you have a toddler?

Werewolf Bar Mitzvah

This is a bit belated for Halloween, but I had to share this hilarity. 30 Rock is a really funny show! It's not for everyone, but if you think this is pretty funny, you should start watching it:



(YouTube link)

And here's a video someone made for the "full version" of the song originally posted on nbc.com:



(YouTube link)

Chipmunks

I think it's a hard and fast rule of comedy that sped up=extremely funny. This just makes me giggle:

It's Hypnotic

Like Slinky for grown-ups.


EepyBird's Sticky Note experiment from Eepybird on Vimeo.

From Videosift

Moments in Spain: Refreshment

Though I've never been a big fan of endless Midwest winters, I've rarely needed winter to end as much as I did this year. Our Spain trip was a Godsend, considering it kept snowing in Illinois through late April.

The weather in the Basquelands is comparable to Seattle. I bought an umbrella in Bilbao and used it often. We were incredibly lucky to have a beautiful weather in San Sebastien, and most of my days in Bilbao were overcast and wet, as you see here. But my last two days or so were much nicer. On this particularly warm and sunny day, I treated myself to a long walk down the Nervion river.

Right now, in the midst of a beautiful, green and blue Chicago September, I don't fully appreciate these pictures. But at the time, it was like a restorative elixir. Just what I needed.

My walk took me to a shopping mall, where I bought a few clothing items. I'm a larger size in Europe.... But I found some cute and inexpensive tops at Zara, which is similar to H&M, so I was happy.

I was also so fascinated by something I saw that I had to take a picture:

This model first caught my eye because she's beautiful. When I looked closer, I noticed that she's skinny--but NOT crazy, unattainable, unhealthy skinny. She has a youthful appearance, but I did see some un-Photoshopped wrinkles around her eyes. It's almost as if this is a real person! I don't care much for the clothes, but I appreciate this ad. How refreshing!

Most of my days in Bilbao consisted of getting up late, venturing out into the city mid-day, then relaxing in the hotel until Erich got back from work so we could get dinner. I could feel bad for my relative inaction, but there truly isn't much to do in Bilbao, especially for someone who doesn't speak Spanish. On this sunny day, I could do some of my sitting around time in a park. So, in typical fashion, I'm going to leave you with one of my moments in Spain:

ETA: I apologize for the delay in getting this video up. There's a 100mb video posting limit, and the one I tried was 99.9. This one is doesn't have Basque people walking by like in the one I tried to upload, but it's the same scene otherwise.

Probably about as political as this blog will get

Sarah Palin rocks. Tina Fey: also a pretty fun lady. I'm sure Tina Fey probably doesn't think Sarah Palin is very awesome, but she does do a darn fine impersonation of her:

It's about time

I'm a church musician and an organist. I'm all for traditional liturgy and styles in the church.

But I'm SICK and TIRED of all this BASHING of contemporary Christian music. I mean, I need music that speaks to ME in MY generation, or I just don't GET it. God's word isn't enough, and that's why it needs to be put into a context that I can understand. C'mon, I'm in the generation of the Millenials. If you don't meet my personal needs WHILE making me feel completely good about myself, I'm just going to move right along. YouTube is chock full of other theologies that would meet my needs.

What I need is a friend. A friend named Jesus. A friend named Jesus that I can learn all about in an upbeat, uplifting ska song.



See, I never knew Jesus was like a mountie. That really just helped contextualize the whole bible for me. Thanks, Sonseed!

H/T: Putting Out the Fire via Issues, etc.

Hawai'i, Part 7: Out on the Town

We got home from Hawai'i just under a year ago. My last post about it was over nine months ago. Yikes! But, as the title of this blog suggests, I can do whatever I want with MY blog. I've been thinking about Hawai'i a lot these days since we were getting ready for it a year ago, so here's another installment, long overdue:

In addition to the lu'au at the Polynesian Cultural Center, we had a few memorable nights out to get the full Hawai'ian experience.

One place we went early on was La Mariana Sailing Club in Honolulu. We liked it so much, we went back when we got back from the Big Island. Our guide book had described as a place right out of the fifties, and it did not disappoint.

We sat inside, but we may as well have been on the lana'i. We could feel the breeze and watch the sunset from our cozy table, sipping our mai tais with the mini-umbrellas.

Some blind musicians serenaded the few guests. The building had the feel of a cross between some kind of hut and a garden party. The setting was so fun yet relaxing...

This picture just says it all. The pint of beer with the "hang loose" hand sign on the glass, the look of utter serenity on my new husband's face. This was ultimate "wedding recovery." We never wanted to leave.

I caught a picture of this little bugger crawling around the walls and ceiling.

The sun sets beyond the sailboats.

Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of any of the food we had at La Mariana. And actually, our entrées weren't anything to write home about--or blog about. But the poke! Have I mentioned poke (pronounced po'-kee) yet? It was our favorite Hawai'ian dish, and we had it for the first time as a pupu (appetizer) at La Mariana. Sesame oil-marinated raw ahi tuna with seaweed and green onions on a bed of shredded cabbage... we were in heaven. When we went back a week later, it was for the poke and mai tais.

Our other big Hawai'ian night out was on our last night in Hawai'i. We went to Germaine's Lu'au, which was not quite as culturally accurate as the PCC's lu'au, but at least they served adult beverages. Most of the Germaine's guests came on a bus from Waikiki, but since Erich and I had a car and the lu'au was closer to our part of O'ahu anyway, we drove.

We got their early enough to get a pretty decent spot. Interesting tidbit: the outfit I'm wearing in this picture is the outfit I bought for and wore on Erich's and my first date!

Another great thing about Germaine's was how close it was to the ocean. This beach was far too rocky to be safe for walking or swimming, but it was nice to look at and photograph:



I can't decide which of the next two photos I like better. What do you think?

One thing is certain: Pacific sunsets are the best.

Last but not least, Germaine's put on a good show. Enjoy this clip and please excuse my shaky camerawork:

September

I love September. That would be why I chose to get married in September. Now that it's here again, I've been thinking a lot about where I was and what I was doing this time last year.

When I remember last year, I always thank God that my life is so much more stable now. Late August was almost too much to bear last year. We were coming down to the wire with wedding plans, I was starting the school year as a teacher in the church's school for the first time, and people were calling me for piano lessons left and right. And my piano schedule was like a jigsaw puzzle where the picture on the box was constantly changing. I had moved out of my old place, so I had to teach at a combination of church and people's homes until Erich and I got a piano for our place, where I did not yet officially live. On top of that, I was preparing all of my students for my name change, which I was barely getting used to myself.

Again, I love September and could not have asked for a better wedding, but in retrospect, it might have been much better for my mental health to have gotten married in the spring.

Life is a bit crazy again this year. I'm not teaching a school choir, but I do have about 18 piano students and I'm directing the handbell choir at church, which is just getting started. But compared to last year with the wedding plans, this is total cake. So with the extra time I have left I've been doing what I love best: reminiscing!

We really did have an awesome wedding. And we had a great band who played at the reception! The drummer of the band, the Endless Knights, cuts my dad's hair and keeps him informed of the band's upcoming gigs. My dad, wisely, has never promised to be there. (I'm sure the wedding gig made up for my dad's lack of attendance at other gigs.) But ever since the wedding we have tried to go out to see them, Erich and me and my parents, and we could never make it work until this past Friday, when we went out to see them play at a local pub.

They surpassed even my best memory of them. In my opinion, they embody everything that's good about secular music. The band consists of five people: drummer, keyboardist extraordinaire, bassist, female vocalist, and guitarist/lead vocalist. They're not much to look at: they're all 50-somethings with day jobs, but they are all skilled musicians who obviously love to play. Their style is what I consider to be just perfect for a wedding: they play mostly classic rock but a little bit of everything and they're very easy to dance to. After their first set break, they started rifling through music and found a tango to try to entice Erich and I to get up and dance. So how could we say no, especially with a little "liquid confidence" in our systems?

Remember our wedding tango? Remember??? Here it is again, in case you forgot:



Our tango on Friday night was not nearly so good. But it was fun! And they played a few swing numbers later, to which we also danced.

I really enjoyed the chance to enjoy listening to the band and dancing. I had hoped to do more of that at my wedding, but there were just too many great people to talk to. This felt like a perfect way to remember and supplement our wedding festivities. And we'll definitely get out to see the Endless Knights again sometime.

I'm a recording artist!

Erich and I were in Michigan last week, and we decided to take a day trip to Greenfield Village on Tuesday. What a cool place! Even though I've been to the Detroit area many, many times in my life, I had never been there. Now I'm sure we will have to go back since we didn't even see everything at Greenfield Village, not to mention the fact that we didn't go to the Henry Ford museum.

There were lots of cool things to see at Greenfield Village--more than I can enumerate. My favorite picture was this one I got of a monarch butterfly:


One of the best places we saved for the end of the day: Edison's workshop. This is far and away Erich's favorite, and I enjoyed it as well. I mean, just look: there's a pipe organ in his workshop!


And then the very, very coolest thing I got to do was record on an original Edison phonograph! I had to literally yell at the top of my lungs into the cone, which, in a process Erich could more accurately describe, transfered the sound to a sheet of tin foil. Here's the video: (Remember, I sound weird because I'm SCREAMING into the device.)




"This is the greatest invention ever!"

So Sad, So Funny

Pardon me, I'll be in the fridge.

Moments in Spain: Oh, How I Love Beaches

I don't know what it is about a beach that just pulls me in. I could stare at it all day. My spirit flies off into the deep blue and I'm in a very happy place.

Erich and I arrived in Spain around noon on a Friday. We had left a very snowy Chicago the night before. On Saturday morning, we boarded a bus to San Sebastien. The weather was chilly but the skies were clear--a promising day. We arrived in San Sebastien and walked from the bus station to our hotel. We got checked in, etc., then went to explore the town. We walked not a hundred paces out the front door of our hotel before we saw this. It was about 70 degrees and clear as can be. I was temporarily in heaven.


This was exactly what I needed. A little retreat from the winter at home that seemed to have no end. Just staring at the waves was like an antidote to the emptiness I still felt only six weeks after my devastating miscarriage. The long hours of travel through cold and snow just melted away in the abundant sunshine and beautiful colors of San Sebastien.

We didn't even walk on the sand. I didn't dip my feet in the water. All I needed was a look. I probably stood there for a good fifteen minutes, taking pictures and soaking it in. It was more refreshing than a cold glass of water on a hot day. Thank you, God, for beaches!

I mean, what could be better than this?



Hmmm... still needs something.... I've got it!
....Perfect!

Don't you just want to paint this?

Outside the protected harbor, the seas weren't so friendly:

Sunset on a perfect day.