my place at the start line, as I waited for about an hour and a half 

the end of the line, about person number 650 I heard. 

My Evening with the Decemberists

Well, it was 4:30 on a Friday afternoon when my watch sounded with it's quitting time beep. I promptly waterproofed myself for my bike commute to a date with the Decemberists. A quick 30 block bike ride from my work to NW Portland's Music Millenium would be my destination. The band was there promoting there new album, The Crane Wife and signing autographs for the 100's of fans (I was something like 20th in line :) The following will be a display of pictures with brief descriptions if any, of what transpired. 

keep scrolling down for more rose garden pics.

"secret" was my favorite of all the roses i smelled. there's literally thousands of species, so i didn't even see a fraction of them, but this was the best (in my opinion). we had a great time--i can't believe that this sanctuary is right in the middle of town! we had to drive just past downtown and there we were--you can even take the bus there! i'd never been before, so we figured that we'd drive up there today. we were going to check out the japanese gardens, but it cost like $8 to get in, and i've heard that it's much more spectacular when it's raining. we'll just have to save that for a rainy weekend. the zoo and the forestry museum are also up here, but both were packed today, so again...save it for a rainy day.

 

roses roses roses...and anne.


 

these were taken on the hike up through washington park. well, the third picture is of the tennis courts up by the rose gardens. mom and paul: i bet you'd love to play some tennis up here surrounded by beautiful roses and fresh mountain air!


 

holy roses!

mike and i went to the rose gardens today. it's hard to believe that it's october and everything is still in bloom! some of the most fragrant roses i've ever seen in my life are here. it's a truly magical place.


 

today we went to the farmers market as usual, and then to trader joe's. at both places i ran into people i know. i finally ran into my brother grant's ex-girlfriend, amy. she works at trader joe's. anyway, i knew it would happen eventually, but in a town of almost 2 million people, you'd think it would've taken a bit longer.

the weather is still awesome. if i were to suggest any time to come visit portland, september/october is definitely my favotire time of year so far. it's just perfect. anyway, i've got weeknends off for now. mike and i are heading up to hawthorne for sushi tonight. it's so great to have TWO days off together. i wonder what we'll come up with for tomorrow...?

more later!

--anne

the barrenness i am talking about in hte next post. 

we just got back from a daytrip to mount hood. it's really big. and it's so beautiful up there. i was suprised at how barren it is beyond the treeline. not sure if the treelessness is from the year-round snow, or the fact that it's a volcano. anyway, the snow-capped mountain behind mike in the seond picture is mount adams. the last picture is of us once we got as far as we were gonna get on mount hood. we couldn't find timberline lodge (the lodge where the interior shots for the shining was filmed), but it's probably for the better, as i don't want and nightmares tonight.


 

mount hood: the shadowy mountain.

mount tabor

today was glorious. mike was at work, so i drove up to mount tabor park and went for a walk. it's absolutely clear and lovely outside, and the temps are in the mid-70s. this may be one of the last times we can see mount hood until the springtime, so i took advantage. the leaves haven't really changed yet, but you can see they're just about to.


 

weekend!

well i managed to get myself a three-day weekend. mike has to work tomorrow morning, but i'm going to "the bins" tomorrow with my friend beth. "the bins" are some sort of wacky thrift store where you buy crap by the pound. i don't know what i'm in the market for, but i have to check this place out--apparently it's a portland phenomenon.

after the thrift store, i think i'm headed to the farmer's market because we're having kim and kevin over for dinner tomorrow evening. mike is making some sort of apple butter-marinated fish, and i'll be making dutch apple pie for dessert. yum! kevin finally got a job (they've been here like 3 months and he had no luck finding anything). he's the new wine specialist at wild oats in tigard (suburb). i'm so excited because--we'll get DEEP DISCOUNTS on WINE! woohoo!

okay, anyway, the weather is glorious: crisp (upper 60s-mid70s) and sunny and, well, just gorgeous. the leaves haven't quite changed color yet, but i can tell that it's going to be spectacular once they do. i can't wait.

work-wise, i've volunteered to take over our gift department at borders (stationary, journals, assorted crap). while i'm sure it'll mean no extra money for me, my 6-month review is coming up and it'll probably get me a raise then. i've been working closing shifts for the past month and a half or so, and i hate it. i'm really hoping that with this new responsibility, they'll switch me back to days.

that's all for now. i'll snap some pics tomorrow so you can all see what i'm seeing!

love, anne

My Rainy Bike Commute...

Well today was my first day of pretty heavy rain while riding my bike to work. Luckily some things have come along in the world of technofibers, so that I dont have to ride with an umbrella in one hand. My bike has a set of full fenders on both the front and back wheels, so it keeps my feet dry from the wheels at least. I was a bit skiddish today, since i have never really ridden a bike in the rain on city streets during rush hours. My bike is a hybrid, so it has features of both a road bike and a mountain bike. It has road bike tires (really skinny and slick) which I like because of the speed you can get going on dry pavement. But in the rain it's an entirely different feeling. I must say I really loved it though, riding in the rain that is. There was just a fraction of the amount of bike riders there are on nice days, it really kinda felt like the rode was yours. And well about 2000 cars also. Anyway, I just needed to right that. I show up to work soaking wet, and I get home from work soaking wet, and I dont think I could be smiling any wider. Ciao

runzas in paradise

 
 

i decided to bring runzas to oregon. people might think i'm strange for loving them, but i think everyone knows what a runza is; it's just under another name. my friend sarah calls them pasties, and beth calls them kolaches. i call them runzas because that's what nebraskans call them. they are a meat-filled sweet dough. i think every culture on earth has a version. and they are DELICIOUS!

bon appetit! 

here comes the rain again

 

it's officially fall here. let's see how tough these pacific northwest winters really are! 

waterfall wrap-up

so by the time friday rolled around, i was sick as a dog. poor kirsten had put in enough couch time, so we got out and drove to the gorge. the scenic columbia gorge highway was closed for a spell, so we missed a few of the good waterfalls, but we made it to the big daddy: multnomah falls. it's about 620 feet tall (2nd largest in no. amer., so i've heard) top and bottom combined. it's pretty impressive. i didn't venture on the short hike to the bridge spanning the second tier of the falls, but kirsten did. once she sends me pics, i'll post em. anyway, on the way back we stopped quickly at wakanea falls (i don't know if that's the real name of it--i sorta made that up). whatever it's called, it's not that impressive. i mean, if you see it after multnomah, you're in for a pretty big disappointment. but a waterfall is a waterfall, am i right? apparently you can't swing a dead cat in oregon without hitting a waterfall, or a scenic overlook. so i guess that's something.

waterfalls on friday