Portland, Oregon in 24 hours.

Over the last few months we visited our old stomping grounds twice - independently, and for work reasons. Conferences always seem to be hectic and stressful, and while we did see some friends and have some fun while we were in town, these were definitely not slow visits.

So when I saw that the Decemberists' Friday night Edgefield show hadn't sold out a few weeks ago, I immediately bought tickets. YAY! A whole weekend of fun!

Then I checked the calendar and realized we would be leaving Thursday late morning and returning early Saturday afternoon. YAY! A whole 50 hours of fun!

Of which nine would be spent driving and at least 14 would be spent sleeping... YAY! A whole ~24 hours of fun!

You can actually pack a lot of Rose City fun into 24 hours, especially during the summer months where festivals abound. Just ask our kind hosts for the weekend who recently published a compilation of 365 weird things to do in Portland, Oregon.

Or you can do what we did, and not do very much at all.

first stop: beer not made by 7 Devils Brewing Co...

Short visits are always a challenge because there are so many people we would love to see (and so many places where we would love to eat). That always ends up hectic and stressful too, so over the past few visits we've switched to quality over quantity. This time we were able to pull off a ¿Por Qué No? dinner reunion with Patrick's former co-workers, a true miracle!

last seen together: 2012(?)

About halfway through dinner I realized that Governor Brown was sitting two tables away. We see our US Senators and Representative fairly regularly around Coos Bay, but we don't see the governor often (or ever, ahem, Kate) and I was a bit star-struck. I resisted taking an awkward photo, but as we were leaving I leaned over and said "Coos Bay says thank you!" I felt like a total hick saying it, but I said it anyway, and the big smile I got in return made me feel... well, even more like a hick.

Otherwise, the only other familiar faces we saw all weekend were those of our hosts. There was travel talk. There was laughter. There was life talk. There was beer. There was beer talk. There was a really nice breakfast sendoff on Saturday. It was good.

When we weren't doing that stuff, we kept it simple.

We drove through some of the neighborhoods where we used to spend time. The phrases "WOW that's weird," "WOW that's new," and "WOW that's cool" were uttered quite a bit. 

weird

new

cool

We did "big city" stuff like buy new running shoes and visit independent record stores. We enjoyed the diversity and all the progressive political signs around town.

we all belong here®

We met one of our hosts for lunch at the PSU food cart pod Friday afternoon. Indian next to Mexican next to Thai next to Turkish next to sushi next to noodles? Heaven.

decisions, decisions...

decision: veggie Turkish pide from Turkish Voodough and

chicken tikki masala/pakoras from New Taste of India

We had a few hours to kill after lunch before meeting our other host for a pre-show beer. There were many, many hour-killing options available so we did what any former SE'ers would do - we avoided any further decision-making and wandered around Laurelhurst Park.

respite for the urban-weary

Laurelhurst Park was the spot of our second date; it's where we ran trails in prep for half-marathons; it was 3 blocks from our old apartment so it's where we headed whenever we needed a little nature. Nice to know that some things about Portland haven't changed.

Speaking of change, we knew the beer scene had multiplied like a wet mogwai since our last extended stay, but holy crap! We further avoided any decision-making and deferred to our host to choose. His recommendation was quick and wise: Ex Novo, where all profits go to charities, where the motto is "We gather, we volunteer, we drink beer! Drink Beer. Do Good. Be Awesome!"

photo courtesy pdx.eater.com

(was so excited to help local charities that I forgot to take a picture)

Pretty awesome.

And still speaking of change - holy crap, Edgefield! Stopping shows by 10pm? Metal detectors? Ninkasi beer? Oh my.

The band was great, scratchy lead voice notwithstanding...

 

approximately the 14th time I've heard that song live

upping the whale game this year

But in keeping with the catchiest tune off their latest album, the crowd was (mostly) awful. Walking to the "restrooms" I followed a drunk man weaving on the path, passed a drunk woman who fell while leaning against a tree, and waded twice through a lawn of drunk people talking through the entire show. We also sat behind a drunk guy wearing the shirt pictured below (I'm pretty sure Colin Meloy would've refunded this man's ticket price and - politely - asked him to leave if he'd seen that shirt).

what is this, the Coos??

When did you become a frat party, Edgefield? I got so annoyed that I went to the front to stand with the people who actually cared that there was a band on stage, and as we were leaving we decided that would be our last show there. At least we went out on a low note (Colin can't hit the high notes right now).

All in all, though, it was a great 24 hours. We were happy to visit, and we've already decided to return for several days this fall without any plans.

But we were also happy to get back to little old Coos Bay. We have our challenges here, but we're definitely more comfortable in this rural coastal town than any big city. We're grateful for our experiences over the years that got us here, and we're looking forward to what's next.

Whatever that is...

paying attention to signs

Friday five: County Fair season!

Five reasons to visit a local county fair this summer, whether you're home or traveling, in no particular order...

every year when summer comes around
they stretch a banner 'cross the main street in town
you can feel somethin's happenin' in the air

The animals! Sadly, we missed the pig races (which always amuses me to no end) and we didn't get to visit the chicken and rabbit room, but we spent some time with the other barnyard animals.

OF COURSE WE DID.

For some reason, we only took photos of the llamas - maybe we have enough pictures of close personal goat, cow, sheep, and pig friends already?

baby llama

mama llama

The rides! Okay, so maybe the rides aren't a great reason to visit a fair. This year, our visit coincided with the recent tragedy at the Ohio State Fair. We skipped the extremely pricey death traps, which in all honesty we would've done regardless, but we did watch another form of ride which seemed equally dangerous - small children on bucking baby broncos.

this kid lasted 2 seconds

so did this kid

I was pretty impressed with all the cowgirls who entered the contest, though.

anything you can do,

I can do better...

The juxtaposition! Trump hats and purple hair, Trump hats and tye-dye, Trump hats and Worthy IPA, Trump hats and environmental nonprofit booths...

Trump hats and Coos County Democrats 
(why yes,that is our picture of us with Rep DeFazio)...

Trump hats and Trump-hat-wearing douchebags selling racist flags
(oh, wait, that's to be expected)

A Trump-hat-wearing douchebag actually jumped into the picture above right before I took it. He was smiling and waving his arms around and yee-haw-ing. I begrudgingly held my tongue, but I did put my camera down until he walked away. (Did I mention the Trump hats?)

This was perhaps our favorite juxtaposition of the night...

the latest in reality TV: cake top wars!

The food! To counteract the Trump-hat-wearing douchebags, we partook in a delicious burrito made by our friend Roberta and her friends at Miguel's.

best Mexican food cart in town!

(only Mexican food cart in town?)

And of course there was a deep fried purchase.

it's called a "scone" -

we aren't sure why and we don't care

But I don't just mean the food you can eat. I mean the food that's submitted for competition. This was the first fair I've ever attended where I could've sworn that Oprah was a judge.

"you get a ribbon! and you get a ribbon! ..."

"... and you get a ribbon!"

"... and you, and you, and you..."

"... EVERYBODY gets a ribbon!!"

And speaking of food, the food art always cracks me up. This kid got first place but I was kind of bummed that he didn't also get a ribbon.

guess even Oprah has her limits

The gems! So, so many to choose from this year... First up, as featured in our Facebook photo album, the Unicorn Sandwich.

ingredients: "unicorn horn, hoagy bun (w/sesime seeds), olive, relish, chedar cheese, tomato slices, lettuce, pickle slices, mayo, katchup, mustard, berger patty, egg, swiss cheese, bacon, portabella mushroom, peparoni pizza, steak, ice cream cone, cookie, pancake (w/syrup), cake, chillie, penut butter, black forest ham, jelly, and 1... no, 2 cherrys on top"

Next up: foam core. I haven't seen a lot of science fair exhibits at county fairs...

(middle school flashbacks)

... but there were some gems among those as well.

if I had a cube, this photo would be posted there

apropos of nothing, 
and sandwiched between "sore mouth in goats"

and "it's not just poop!"

The photography exhibits are always a favorite. We spent a while wandering through the aisles, and as usual, I kicked myself for not submitting something. (Next year!) We weren't supposed to take pictures in this exhibit but someone who shall remain nameless was quite enamored with a certain cat photo and couldn't help himself...

"BOOP!"
(the actual caption)

And I was quite enamored with this true gem...

<3 OR

Three hours at the county fair is about our max, so perhaps the best part of the night was walking away. We've already decided that we don't need to go back to the Coos County Fair ever again but we're already looking forward to next season - wherever we may be!

the end

Slowly Global vs the Avenue of the Giants... and some future pondering.

For the first time in about three months, we did nothing this past weekend. It was amazing.

"Living like a local" for an extended period of time finds us with jobs, which means that the concept of "weekends" has meaning again, and man, are they precious! These Saturdays and Sundays, when we're not working on house and yard maintenance (which, honestly, is neither super time-consuming nor physically taxing), we're involved in local politics, which finds us attending weekend meetings and rallies on a regular basis. There's also a pleasantly surprising amount of weekend entertainment in Coos Bay which finds us enjoying everything from geology talks at the local college to drag shows downtown. "Living like a local" has been kind of exhausting, actually.

Speaking of exhausting, "living like a local" in Coos Bay also found us joining our Where Is Your Toothbrush/The Salad Lobby friends, Peter and Lindsay, for the Avenue of the Giants half-marathon a few weekends ago. They had raved about it last year and we figured the training prep would be a good way to stay in shape over the miserable, rainy-sometimes-snowy, southern coast winter. So we signed up, and joined a gym, and ran ran ran.

All those evening and weekend training hours turned out to be completely worth it. The run itself was pretty surreal - gigantic beautiful trees, perfect weather, and downhill both ways (or so it seemed - an illusion from the tall trees, perhaps?). We all finished with good times and no injuries.

before

 ran across some friends along the run

 after 

We camped in Myers Flat with our friends and some of their family who had driven up for the weekend. The campground was right next to the South Fork Eel River, and other than a pretty wicked wind each evening (and that kid riding his bike in circles playing awful country music on his portable radio), it was quite pleasant. 

 have river, need van

This was SG's first camping trip of the season. We're sad to report that we forgot to take pictures of the campsite, but we're happy to report that our tent, heretofore named Old Reliable, held up against the wind (and awful country music)... We're still buying a new tent someday, though - thanks, REI dividend!

Anyway. Monday morning, we broke camp and took the slow route home, first driving the Avenue that we'd run the day before and stopping for a few short walks.

another one for the "Subaru ad" file

    someone, somewhere, definitely heard this

 tree hugging me

or me hugging tree?

happy campers

We also took the scenic route through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, which was well worth the detour, and spent an hour or so trying to find the Myrtle Creek Botanic Area just north of Crescent City (hint: if the park rangers at the info station haven't heard of it, maybe just keep going).

not the trail

(but turned out, we were sooooooooo close)

One last stop at Chetco Brewing Company for a taster flight, snack, and beer trivia...

Willa Nelson IPA for the win

And then it was home. "Home," I mean.

But that was two weekends ago. This past weekend? Nada. No meetings, no rallies, no entertainment, and best of all - no long runs. We got some things done, mind you, but other than a few quick errands and a short run, we didn't leave the house. It was lovely.

Even more lovely was the wanderlust inspiration that came from this Redwoods road trip. It's ironic - or maybe not? - that prolonged stability has resulted in our need for motion again. And prolonged residence next to a major town road, in a town devoid of pine trees, has resulted in our need for nature again.

We are here for a while yet, in part because our housesit hosts have a bit of wanderlust inspiration themselves and they are still figuring out their plan for returning to the area. And in part because we are (mostly) enjoying our jobs and (definitely) enjoying the bank account replenishment.

But talk has begun. Research has initiated. Ideas are being mentally filed away. Things are being assessed for long-term viability (in other words, does it fit in the car?). The jar has been counted and set aside for a planned purchase, and will be replenished according to the original methodology.

We're nowhere near a plan, and we don't expect to have one anytime soon. We want to be certain that we're running toward something. (But that's a much longer post that would be better shared over a beer someday. Come visit!)

For now, photosynthesis certainly ain't the plan, but we'll enjoy the post-yard-work happy hours in the sun while we have them.

cheers!

Local WWOOFing near Myrtle Point, Oregon.

I had this idea to do a Friday Five featuring five things we learned during our recent WWOOF gig near Myrtle Point, Oregon. As I sat down to make the list, though, I realized that five things wouldn't cut it - even with 16 farms and homesteads already under our belts, we still learned a surprising number of new things during our 5-week stay at this beautiful garden and orchard!

the garden

the orchard

For example, we learned how to harvest watercress, lemon verbena, and chamomile.

watercress: cut the tips for salads, 
then give it all a good haircut to promote growth

lemon verbena: three leaves per leaf cluster -

pick two to dehydrate for tea, leave the third leaf

As for chamomile... It's complicated. Next time I see you, I'll explain.

We learned that edible flowers like calendula, nasturtium, and borage make a good salad great.

almost too pretty to eat... almost

We learned about the espalier method of fruit tree training, which saves space, is much easier to manage, and (if done corrrectly) should result in a better harvest yield year-to-year.

espalier: French for Italian for

"something to rest the shoulder against"

We learned new methods of composting and mulching, including scattering coffee grounds around roses and blueberries; improving orchards with taproot plants that are cultivated as mulch for trees; and using biochar as a soil amendment.

chicory feeding the trees

charcoal goodness

Oh, and we learned how biochar is made - in fact, we saw it firsthand!

fire in the hole

I learned how to drive a Mule (correctly) and use a riding lawnmower... both of which rank right up there with leafblowing and weed-whacking in my book. But thanks to my Mule training, I finally understand differential locking. So there's that.

We learned that it's okay to plant cover crops with vegetable crops.

pak choy, meet buckwheat and barley

I learned how to can peaches and pears...

pie coming soon

... and I finally, FINALLY got some practice making cheese - in this case, chevre made from raw cow's milk and kefir grains.

recipe here - who knew it was so easy?

They also make their own brie, gorgonzola, feta, parmesan, and cheddar. And they make their own butter, buttermilk, yogurt, and of course kefir. And a whole lot of other things. (Like bread. Lots and lots of bread. Which we did not enjoy one bit.)

We learned that you CAN grow kiwi in the Pacific Northwest. Maybe bananas too - the jury is still out on that one...

really, coastal Southern Oregon? really?

We learned that bugs are doing their part to keep Oregon weird.

banded alder borer,

our first cabin visitor

"black and yellow garden spider"

(dear bug namers, could you be a little more original?)

We learned that there really is something to herbal remedies. One of the daily routines was "infusion" tea, which supposedly reduces allergies and respiratory issues, and also improves skin, hair, and general health. 

dandelion root, oat straw, and nettle, soaked overnight

Daily gardening and living in a cabin with a wood stove can sometimes lead to a stuffy nose. We definitely noticed a breathing improvement on the days we drank our "infusion," so we're continuing the practice at our coastal housesit. I also learned the hard way, that arnica salve helps to reduce swelling and pain in tweaked tendons. (And I learned not to cut buckwheat with scissors. Ouch.)

We learned that small towns kinda rock.

3rd annual GOATZILLA!

(and the crowd goes wild)

70th annual Bandon Cranberry Festival

Coquille Valley Seed Community's annual tomato tasting

We learned that kittens are AH-DOR-AH-ABLE.

Shaam

Pepper & Ravi

You knew that already, though.

We learned that army mobile units make pretty good cabins for WWOOFers.

shack #1

shack #2

But the most important thing we learned, we actually re-learned. See, we specifically chose this WWOOF experience because of the intentional community aspect. This is definitely something we want to explore as we think about our farm future - assuming you find the right mix of people, it's a great way to share the burdens of cost and labor, and there is much to be said for being surrounded by "your people." (There is also much to be said when things don't go as planned and you find yourself not surrounded by "your people." Exhibit A: Slowly Global's Farm Internship 2016.)

During this WWOOF stint, we spent five weeks with 11 friends who, over the past 25(ish) years, have created a shared space, a shared business, and a shared life together. The only way for this to be successful is to set aside egos, actively listen, and make time for each other. Common sense for any relationship - friends, family, significant other, business partner - right? Well, after the stressful year we'd had to date, let's just say that we really needed this reminder for us. And surely it will pay off if we do go the communal farm route.

This was our first local WWOOF gig, and now that we're housesitting 20 miles away over the winter, we're happy to say that we're walking away without actually walking away. In addition to introducing us to numerous people in the community, our new friends have hired Patrick at their business. I'll be visiting the garden now and then, and we both look forward to continuing to socialize in the coming months. It's pretty unusual to be able to move into a new community having already made a solid group of friends, and we're really grateful that these folks opened their doors and their lives to us.

But first things first! Our Coos Bay housesit runs through February, which gives us just enough time to save up some money, figure out Operation Five Year Plan (catchy acronym pending), and set it in motion... Stay tuned - we may be standing still, but exciting things are coming soon!

in the meantime, can't complain about our new backyard playground...