Oregon Brewer’s Festival

I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it this year due to my travel schedule but I did! I flew in Thursday night, went to a work luncheon on Friday and then skipped over to the Brewer’s Festival with my boss and coworker in tow. We chatted for a few minutes and then parted ways. This is the 25th anniversary of the festival and it was packed at 1:15pm on Friday. Given that the festival opens up at noon, that’s saying something.

Andy was able to go to the parade on Thursday and spent some time catching up with his friend Todd.

Andy also got to talk with Fred Eckhardt again this year.

There were some not tasty beers….

We met up with Todd and Jessica to show them the ropes as this was their first festival.

We stayed for a bit, drank some beer, and then headed for some food and water. Then bussed it home. It is good to be back in Portland!!

Our Adventures

Currently I’m sitting on the floor of the bathroom. The movers are here to load the massive truck that Andy rented for us. We’re getting old and didn’t want to load the truck ourselves. Moving from a second floor apartment is rough. The cats are freaked out. Especially Shem. He knows what all this means somehow. And he does not like it. I don’t like for the cats to get all freaked out. It worries me.

So we’re moving back to Portland. There were a lot of factors in our decision. I think living in the Valley was a great opportunity for both of us to really discover a lot about ourselves. Yeah I know it sounds all hippie/crystals/running around naked but its true.

I’m really excited to be moving back. I have a great new job waiting for me along with my friends who are really my family. And I missed them so much!!But for the next few days, we have a lot of stuff to do. Next post was be published from Portland. Goodbye Ashland!

Sierra Nevada Brewery

Andy and I have been wanting to go to Sierra Nevada for years. We had the perfect opportunity on our way back from Yosemite. If you have never been to Chico, CA, then you are in for a surprise. It’s hot there. I mean really, really hot. Pretty much the only thing awesome in Chico is Sierra Nevada.

Andy and I went on two tours of Sierra Nevada. The first was the brewery tour and the second was the sustainability tour. Sierra Nevada not only makes great beer but also leads the brewing industry in sustainability. Actually they are heads and shoulders above 98% of companies with their sustainability efforts. I highly recommend to anyone in any industry that they go and tour the facility. I walked away with a lot of great ideas for my company.

Industrial size composter. They use food waste and the spent hops from one of their beers to fill the composter. They use the left over product in their hop fields.

They have a large (HUGE) solar panel farm that covers most buildings including their parking garage as well as hydrogen fuel cells.

The food at the pub was pretty good too. I recommend the flat bread. It was this delicious soft bread with spicy hummus on it and covered by this delicious salad that had feta and cucumbers in it. Yum!!

More Vacation

We camped by a little lake in California. We were at just below 10,000 feet. It was a gorgeous area.

There were chipmunks, squirrels and even yellow bellied marmots.

Yosemite

Andy and I went to Yosemite for Independence Day/Weekend. It was hot, crowded and awesome. Here are some photos.

Then Andy decided to run in the meadow. He had a good time!


Pine cone from a sugar pine. It’s huge!

We saw some big trees!

Yosemite Valley. This is what I wanted to see!