Eating Our Way to India

The trip to Europe this summer opened my eyes to international travel. I couldn’t help but think of all the cool places we could visit. Germany was a bit difficult for a vegetarian eater like Andy. Please don’t get me wrong, we LOVED Germany. We LOVE Germany and want to go back. But there were times it would have been nice to relax and not have to worry about if there was bacon in the salad or if there was beef stock in the mushrooms and creme.

So I thought “Why don’t we go to India?” Granted for some people, going to a location primarily for food is ridiculous. But then again, Andy and I went to Germany, Austria, and Belgium for beer. And if you’ve ever had naan, you’ll know why I want to go to India. Plus it has an amazing history!

We paid for my airline ticket with United Miles. For years, we charged all our groceries, parking, dining, etc on our United credit card (and paid the balance off each month). I joined the Mileage Plus Dining program where if you go to certain restaurants and pay the bill with your credit card you get extra points. Many of the restaurants were places that Andy and I liked.

So after getting my miles balance less than 19k in June, I have managed to get the balance back up to 40k+. You need more than 120k miles for an international round trip ticket so we have a long way to go. Tentatively we’ve scheduled the India trip for 2013. We also have a long way to go to save up the needed funds as well. But slowly but surely we will eat our way to India.

Small town fun

Andy and I ventured into Washington last weekend to one of our favorite areas. We had a fantastic time.

Local Theater

We found the coolest second hand store.

Chamber pot?

Recharge the Batteries

Andy and I left Portland for a few days of backpacking and whitewater rafting. We went up to the Sisters area for backpacking and to Maupin, OR for whitewater rafting.

Our camp

Camping with fire!

Andy!

Me!

On the bridge...almost back to the car.

Me with my pack.

Andy being silly...

Painting on the wall of our room.

Hidden chamber pot in a chair!

Weird stuff!

White River Falls

Smith Rock Sunrise Classic

My friend Amy suggested that we race in the Smith Rock Sunrise Classic a few months ago. I was intrigued by the idea as there were several different lengths to choose from 5k, 10k, and half marathon. I was very worried about my ability to run well due to the issues I’ve had with my IT Band. But a few weeks ago, I did a leg workout and the pain in my IT Band mysteriously disappeared.

Unfortunately Amy was not able to participate because of an ongoing issue with her shoulder/arm. I was very sad that Amy wasn’t able to come with me to Redmond/Terrebonne but I had been training for the half marathon and took time off of work to attend.

On Friday, (the day before the race) I traveled to Eastern Oregon. The start time for the half marathon was 6:15am but after ten minutes of being out at Smith Rock State Park I understood why. It was hot. And dry. And hot.

Smith Rock

Smith Rock

Scouting the location

So beautiful here...

I visited the site of the race, picked up my packet, and checked into my room at Motel 6 in Redmond. I had tried to get a room in Bend but it seemed like every place was booked. Staying in Redmond actually turned out to be better as it was significantly closer to the start of the race. So rather than driving 28-32 miles to Smith Rock State Park at 5am, I only had to drive 5-8 miles.

I laid all my gear out so that when I was cold and clumsy at 4:30am, I wouldn’t waste time looking for items.

That's me!

The official t-shirt

Settling down...kinda

I logged onto Yelp to find some suggestions for dinner. I came across a few promising reviews for a place called Red Dog Depot. If you are in Redmond, I highly recommend that you try the place out. Great food and good service.

I headed back to the hotel to try to get to bed early.

bedtime

I couldn’t really sleep past 3am on the morning of the race but forced myself to lie there until 4:30am. I hurried through pre-run rituals trying to choke down as much oatmeal and banana as I could. I arrived early to the site and was one of the first runners to arrive at the start line.

I felt very ready for the race until I saw the parking attendants slapping their legs. Mosquitoes were rampant at 5:30 in the morning. The next forty-five minutes were spent slapping various body parts, sipping water, stretching, and going to the bathroom.

I had a plan based on some advice I received about starting slow and gradually increasing my pace. I would love to write that I did that. But I did not. I am terrible at pacing. The race wasn’t marked so I wasn’t sure where I was at on the course. During my pre-race preparedness I failed to drive the course to visually mark each mile. I mistakenly assumed that at least some of the miles would be marked. The first mile was the only one that was marked. None of the volunteers knew what mile they were on either. We were told that there would be a porta-potty on mile 8, but later I asked a volunteer where I was at and he said 9k (which made no sense as I was running a 13.1 mile race not a 5k race).

There were a few long rolling hills on the course that I wasn’t anticipating. The landscape was gorgeous. We ran numerous farms where the scent of fresh hay and junipers could be smelled. The other runners were very friendly and jovial. As this was my first half marathon, I didn’t really know what to expect from myself. It was a hard race and I wish I had been much faster but I wasn’t. I finally finished somewhere around the 2 hour 30 minute mark. I was shooting for 2 hours and 15 minutes. But please note that the last mile and a half was very difficult due to the traffic snaggle (the road wasn’t closed to traffic). At one point I had to either stop running (due to a huge school bus that was shuttling runners) or jump over a huge tangle of barbed wire. I chose to stop as I didn’t trust my jumping abilities at that point. I also had to stop when a parking person told me to stop so a car could leave the parking lot. I did NOT appreciate this and let him know. Loudly.

DONE!!

Will I do this again? Hell yeah!

Ape Caves

Last weekend, Andy and I went to visit the Ape Caves. So the caves formed a about two thousand years ago due to a basaltic flow. Basaltic flows are very unusual and normally found only in Hawaii. The caves are called Ape Caves after the sponsor of the Boy Scout troop that first explored the caves. The caves are very dark and very cool.

We went on the more difficult route with little knowledge of how difficult it would be. Here’s the description from the site:

The 1½-mile (2100m), upper portion of the cave takes about 2½ hours to complete, returning on a surface trail. Cavers must climb over approximately 27 boulder piles and scale an 8-foot (2.5m) high lava fall.

The boulder piles, called breakdown, formed after the eruption subsided and the fluid lava drained from the tube. As the lava tube cooled, it began to shrink and crack. These cracks weakened the ceiling and walls causing parts of them to collapse. The entrances to Ape Cave formed in this way.

Andy in the caves

Aleta in the caves.

The lava tube

Family

Last Friday after a couple of glasses I wine, I looked around the room at my family as we had gathered at my Aunt Pat’s house for my Nana’s wake. I realized a how much I had grown up. During my teens and into my twenties, family was something to suffer through like the flu or a J-Lo movie not something you enjoyed. For all of my friends it was like that. We would all gather the evening before a major holiday when we all flew out or traveled to our families homes. We drank cheap pints of PBR one after the other commiserating over our situation. We would all try to up one another with ‘how bad it was going to be this year.’ Each story became a more intense version of Hell complete with nagging mothers, drunken brothers, and spiteful sisters or cousins. Within each story you could sense the feeling of isolation and not belonging to the clan that you were born into.

Me and my mom!

But last Friday night was different. I smiled as my mother recounted how my Uncle Greg was accidentally left behind by my grandparents. Laughed at my cousins impressions of my late Nana and even did a fair amount of teasing myself. These were my people. These were the people that knew the real me. The little girl who pulled her dress over her head, got gum in her hair, and cried when her mean little brother would swing her beloved Barbie’s around by their hair. You can fool your friends with how smart or cool you think you are but family never forget the acne, crooked bangs, and red hots and cheese up the nose (don’t ask). I think the awkward and sometimes uncomfortable thing about family is that they force you to acknowledge that you haven’t always been this smart, pretty, thin, or cool. But maybe my acknowledging how far we’ve come will help us to realize how much farther we can go. Or maybe I’ve spent way to much time over analyzing this situation. Oh well. I had fun with my family. That’s what counts.

New Mexico

Each time I go back home to New Mexico, I have such mixed feelings. On one hand, I absolutely love the food, my family, the scenery and usually the weather. But then on the other hand, I dislike the fact that the mass transit system is relegated to Greyhound and a few city buses in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. The poverty in New Mexico is not only staggering but sobering. You can’t help but feel privileged when you see the large hungry eyes of small children clad only diapers on a cool day.

Living in Portland, Oregon has changed me in many ways. My views on animals mirrors organizations like PETA (I know my father would cringe if he read this), I eat things like TVP and drink microbrew beer. I haven’t carried an umbrella in over ten years and don’t run inside when it rains anymore. Summertime now is an exhausting couple of months filled with as many outdoor activities as I can fit in. My skin has turned a lighter side and is now prone to peeling sunburns. But I love it! All except I cannot find good spicy New Mexican food.

My recent visit to New Mexico was a mixed bag of sadness and joy. As most of you know, my Nana has been diagnosed with ALS and its marching through her body quickly. My nephew Trenton said that her muscles were broke which is the best description I can think of. I used to think the worst part of getting older was gray hair and wrinkles. Now I know its watching your loved ones suffer from a disease in which there is no cure and virtually no treatment for. All you can do is try to make them comfortable. I tried to be strong the first morning I went to see her but you know me…I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Gone was the vibrant, out going woman who has had such a huge impact on my life. Instead she was replaced with a little old woman who couldn’t talk. She put her head on my shoulder and allowed me to cry softly into her hair. I was happy to get to tell her that I loved her.

Nana and Trenton

After that my brother Jimmy took me on what I initially thought was a 20-30 mile bike ride. It turned out that it was 50 miles. I’m still very surprised that I was able to finish the ride in one piece. My legs were shaky afterwords and I think I told my sister-in-law that I loved her. She picked me and my brother up rather than having us ride an additional 12 miles uphill!!! You’d love her too! My brother Jimmy took me for a beer and wings while my sister-in-law got her nails done. That Fat Tire and barbecued wings were the best things I had consumed in a long time!!

My dad and I hung out on Friday. He took me to two museums (New Mexico Museum of Natural History and the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology) and to get the worlds best beef jerky. We don’t get to spend a lot of time alone which is unfortunate because we are very similar. We both like striped shirts, BBC, history, and making fun of people. We met my mom for lunch at Blake’s where we all enjoyed green chile burgers. It was a good day!

I had a good time in New Mexico but am happy to be home with Andy and my cats. I must say that I did enjoy having Jimmy’s dog Bodie sleep behind my knees.

New Mexico

In approximately sixteen days, I will be leaving to go visit New Mexico. My Grandmother was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease and recently moved from her home in Midland, Texas to a nursing home in Rio Rancho, NM. My little brother Jimmy is the Administrator of the facility which is fantastic because he can keep a close eye on her.

I never imagined how difficult it was going to be watching your loved ones grow old, get sick, and eventually die. I know in my heart and brain that this is the circle of life. The way it’s supposed to be. That knowledge doesn’t make it any easier to watch someone you love suffer. It’s going to be very hard to visit my grandmother and see that she can no longer talk, cannot open up her hands or get around without her walker.

I spent several summers with my grandparents. I worked out to Richard Simmons “Sweaty to the Oldies” with Nana, went camping in Pagosa Springs, CO , climbed around Mesa Verde, baked thousands of cookies, learned how to write a check, and numerous other things that escape me right now. I won’t say that my Nana is the nicest woman in the world. But she was well educated and always gave her opinion whether it was asked for or not. She raised four children, owned a business, obtained a Masters Degree, and taught special needs children. She is an amazing woman.

When I started writing this post, the focus was going to be how I hated leaving Andy at home while I went to visit my family. His schooling always comes first. No matter how much he wants to go with me. Or vice versa. But I’ve found that in writing, sometimes it’s best to let a piece goes where it wants to no matter how painful.

More on New Mexico in the coming weeks!

Camping

Andy and I have been out and about camping. First we went to Willapa Bay and camped in what turned out to be an urban area close to the Bay. The camp ground was called “Bush Park” and was off of Bay Center Dike Road. I do not recommend this site due to its location and suspicious activity that I attribute to drug dealing. (No camper has that much vehicle traffic!)Bush Park has two parts: one is open to the public and has a beautiful picnicking area complete with playground equipment and the other is camping area. The roving gangs of bored kids who lived in the surrounding area (think ghetto Lord of the Flies) made us very nervous as it seemed like they had run of the entire camp site. But this is Willapa Bay and we love oysters:

One look says it all..

The next day, Andy and I explored the area going from one oyster purveyor to another. It was so much! We both ate oyster shooters until we were fat and happy. We found a great store that had some of the best clam chowder I’ve ever eaten. I believe they added smoked clams or oysters to it. Fantastic! We visited one of our favorite bars, Top Notch, and added our dollar to their large collection of bills taped, tacked, and stabled to anything and everything in the bar.

Our Dollar is up there!

After that we decided we wanted to go back out again. This time Andy decided to take me to one of his favorite spots: Three Pools. The area was so much prettier than Willapa Bay (although there were no oysters) and had areas to swim in. Although I have to say that the surrounding water was SO cold. I mean Arctic cold. Here are a few photos:

King of the Icechest!

What? Look!

Here I am?

So pretty!

If only it weren't so cold...

More photos

I think our next step is to take a longer camping trip and/or going on a backpacking trip. We’ll let you know.

Oysters, Anchors, and Beer

After spending time with Andy’s amazing family, he and I left Des Moines, Washington for Astoria, Oregon. As usual, we had a fantastic time getting there. It’s great traveling with Andy because he likes to stop for the same things I do: beer, roadside food, and historical markers. Along the way, we found Raymond, Washington which is a wonderful cool little town with an awesome bar called Top Notch.

After enjoying a beer, we cruised along the main drag and found a visitor area complete with an old firetruck.

From Raymond, WA, we took Highway 101 to South Bend, Washington which is the self proclaimed “Oyster Capital of the World.”

For those of you who don’t know, Andy is a huge fan of oysters. I mean, I love oysters but Andy LOVES oysters. We bought two shooters from East Point Seafood Market

Usually an oyster shooter is one oyster. The oyster shooters from East Point Seafood Market contained 7 oysters in a plastic cup. And they were fantastic!!
I had to literally pull Andy away from the market. He wanted to stay–probably forever. He even talked about us getting jobs in the area. He would be an oyster farmer and I could find a job somewhere in the area providing valuable marketing services.
So away we went to Astoria, Oregon. I read that at the height of Astoria’s glory in the 1800′s over half of the people in Astoria could claim to be Finnish. My Swedish ancestors lived in Finland, so this was somewhat interesting to me.
We visited the Fort George Brewery and enjoyed several different beers and some food. I highly recommend their seasonal fruit beer-they had a nice raspberry on tap. Andy liked their IPA. The beer, food, and service was verygood. If you are anywhere near Astoria, I recommend stopping in and saying hello.

We walked around Astoria taking photos and exploring the downtown area. Being that Astoria is a fishing/seaside town, there are old anchors all around town!


The next day, we visited the Astoria Column which is really, really interesting. It costs a dollar to park in the park but the view is spectacular. At the top, you can see the Columbia River (which is the biggest river I have ever seen. Not to hard when you consider that I grew up with the Rio Grande)

All in all it was a wonderful trip. But we are also very happy to be at home.