December stuff

Bits and pieces of socializing before the holiday. B's dad came through town for a doctor's appointment and we took him to Pine Street Biscuits for true Portland hipster experience (he approved of the food). 

and L had a friend's night out in mid-December, heading to Silverton for the holiday lights at the Oregon Gardens. Cold but very lovely.

A tree by any other name

Our Christmas tree didn't get decorated until the week before the holiday but we got it the week BEFORE that. Very busy. We opted to cut our own, heading south to Wilsonville environs and stumbled on a side-business farm with inexpensive trees. After we cut one for us, one for our friend Debbie and one for Sarah, we decided to cross the Willamette on the old-school Canby ferry -- just cause. 

When Jess arrived a week later we did it up right, her first chance to decorate a tree since she started college!

C

Thanks for the memories

After two years of hosting Thanksgiving (and one spent moving house and home), we opted for a road trip this year. We headed up to Tacoma for Leah's house, with Debbie (boyfriend traveling) and Boo (unemployed) coming along. We stayed all weekend but had to work remotely on Friday. 
Brian had a chance to try stand-up paddleboarding on the one day it wasn't very blustery and we took a tour of the art glass museum in town.

Early to bed

We put the Hill Street cabin to bed for the winter in November, making a Veterans Day weekend trip. We didn't work on any projects while there, just the winterizing, so it was a nice calm stay. And we tried a new restaurant! (not a common thing in PC)

Saga of the Huh House

We made serious progress on house projects this year, whether by us or others. Travis continued to help us with various landscaping projects and B with re-siding our old garage. We've finally got  a garden bed in the back, out of the shade of the walnut tree. 

And we hired a contractor to build a small dormer upstairs to bring some much needed light and ventilation to the upstairs. The project took weeks longer than it was anticipated to but wrapped up just before Christmas -- thank goodness.

Put your best foot forward

 Our big fall excitement was a minor foot surgery for the female half of the Troutehole duo. It started out just fine but a fall immediately post-discharge prompted a trip back to the hospital -- this time to the ER. $500 later, but no harm done, it was back at home for a week's recovery and some pretty awkward mobility. 

Many books were read, pages colored, photo editing done...and Netflix threatened to cancel our subscription for overuse. 

A pressing matter

Brian (cheese head) with Gary Stein and a neighbor boy.

Well, we brought a whole bin of apples back to PDX, to let our city friends experience a cider pressing. we were blessed with wonderful weather. Jason and Toby came from Astoria, several of Leslie's work friends attended and 'frag friends' of Brian's. Plus numerous neighbors.

Dave presses with Pat Malee and Brad

Toby get's his game

Cider weekend 2017

Lake Chelan

This year's crop

This year's cider weekend was a simple one. Just the parents, Chuck and the Hole siblings and spouses. for the first time Keith joined us to pick apples. We went down to the Zahn's lower orchard and picked golden delicious and winter banana's. We discovered the most amazing thing, a honey bee hive OUTSIDE of a tree, just hanging in the branches dripping honey. So cool. We also bought a bin of apples from the packing shed to take to PDX for a pressing there. 

Back to the Bay

Fort at base of Golden Gate Bridge, lines on the floor were for the movable batteries

Our one vacation of more than a weekend occurred in late September. We flew down to the Bay Area in California to see Kristin for her birthday weekend but we arrived a couple of days before to be tourists in San Francisco -- again. We enjoyed it so much the last time we were there and there were so many things we did not have the chance to see. 
Although we had stopped at Fort Point on the last visit (where we toured the bridge), this time we stopped and went inside the Civil War-era brick fort built right into the stone where Golden Gate crosses the narrow point. It was fascinating, with rooms for officers and enlisted men, huge fireplaces and many, many gun batteries facing all directions.
We stopped at the fort after a bike ride along the shoreline from Fisherman's Wharf. It took us through the edge of the Presidio and along some sandy beaches. I was riding an electric assist bike, my first time. I'm a convert.
 

View from Coit Tower downtown, looking towards piers

Although the views from the Coit Tower were amazing, one of the best parts was the Depression-era murals on the walls. They featured all manner of industry and culture found in San Francisco. The tower itself reminded us very much of the Astor Column in Astoria.

Palace of Fine Arts, remainder of World's Fair more than 100 years ago

One evening we headed to the waterfront and walked around a very peaceful Palace of Fine Arts, so beautiful at night. Then we hopped on a bus to sightsee but quickly discovered that didn't work well at night as we couldn't see through the windows. 
 

Kristin and Steven at Point Reyes beach

Our time with Steven and Kristin in Napa was short but lovely. We were able to see Kristin's school and meet a few of her students and on Saturday we drove to Point Reyes to get in some beach time. Then we drove north from there to another beach, had a lovely lunch in Point Reyes, a little hippie dippy town. 
On Sunday morning we went for a short hike in the hills outside Napa, then found a place for vegan brunch in Oakland. 
 

View from Angel Island

We were surprised to find that our visit to Angel and Alcatraz islands was not what we expected. Angel Island, which was huge and full of interesting things, included a old quarantine hospital, military barracks, gun batteries, and a charming little harbor. We only had a couple of hours there and wish we had more. 
Alcatraz was worth the time and money but so CROWDED. We decided to walk around outside first, to avoid the crowds. So once we circled the island and buildings on its edges, we headed to the main building but not where everyone else entered. So we were like fish going against the tide, a huge school of tourists with headphones, wandering around but flowing towards us. 

Alcatraz

 After Coit Tower we walked off the hills and down into Chinatown. We didn't go into a lot of places, since we'd done the shopping thing there before. We popped into a tea house to take a break and ended up staying there more than an hour. We tasted many types of tea and chatted with the very knowledgeable tea expert.

teahouse in Chinatown

A raven or a rose?

PDX girlfriends dinner at Raven & Rose

For Mary's birthday this year we surprised her with a (touring) production "Billy Elliott". We met for dinner at the Raven &Rose, the former carriage house for the Ladd mansion. Of course, the 'carriage' house LOOKS like a mansion.
The show was in a wonderful modern theater, right sized so not too big or too small. Great show!

Billy Elliott

downtown theater, Newmark

Leslie clowning around at Newmark

Labor Day Blues

B cleans fish with the Fosters

Brent Foster tackles the crab

Brian took a boatload of crab when out fishing this time

The dorys launch

We spent Labor Day weekend at the beach, making progress on the bathroom remodel and exterior paint. In addition, B did lots of crabbing and fishing and we brought both back to Pdx with us. Score!

We escaped the heat and ash from wildfires at the beach

the highlights

Leslie and B at Cirque Du Soleil

It wasn't ALL work and no play. We went to a Lyle Lovett show, taking Sarah and Kristin (who grew up listening to their mom listen to Lyle) at the Schnitzer. It was amazing.

We finally got to see Steven's band, Counterfeit Cash, play at their last performance in PDX in July. 
And in August we went to an open air concert in Eugene, Nate Radliff.

In September we went to see an amazing Cirque Du Soleil show, a first for both of us. And Brian got back to ComicCon with his friend Jason.  

"Curios" circus

Steven at O'Neills, the last show of Counterfeit Cash

Jason and Brian, still high from ComicCon

professional campers

Noble Rot

Nancy came to see us in mid-August. She was working as a camp host with her sister in Washington State and came to stay on her 'day off' to visit us, do some laundry and errands. We took her to Noble Rot, a Burnside Ave restaurant with a rooftop patio. We helped her with her new tablet and smartphone as well!

B and his mom, working out a cell phone

In the path of totality

Jess' first time on the Amy M., boating on the Nestucca River

We spent the Great American Eclipse in Pacific City, which was in the path of totality. Keith was already down there, working on his house. Jess joined us from Ashland and Michael and Leah came from Olympia. We didn't do any Hill Street chores for three whole days, it was great!. Jess got to try her hand at captaining the Amy M. on a river journey.

Leah and Michael on the deck at Hill Street

B and Leah waiting for the fog to burn off

On eclipse day we woke up socked in with fog. We debated driving inland a bit and Leah made plans to do so. But we decided to wait it out and sure enough, the fog dissipated just in time. And Leah changed her mind as well, so we all gathered at Hill street to watch. 

It was fascinating to watch the moon make its way across the sun but the best was the five minutes before the big event and shortly after. As it got darker and cooler, the light changed its tone and got an eerie look, like the light under a street lamp. The temperature dropped and the fog started to come back in from the ocean. The totality was breathtaking, even if for just those few minutes. It was worth every minute, every hassle, worth taking vacation days. All for those two minutes.

B, Jess and Leslie, geeking out

Not taken by us but EXACTLY what it looked like