Frisbee golf is a surprisingly rewarding way to spend an hour or two. I played my first game of the summer at Washington State University Vancouver where a humble, dandelion-studded course lies on the east side of the campus. I grabbed my Frisbee and my mom and sister and dog and went to enjoy an evening round. I’m glad we chose the evening because they are doing a lot of building and the construction cuts very close to the course but by the time we arrived the work had stopped for the day.
The three of us had to share Frisbees which made it slow going and the dog discovered a group of foraging rabbits which was a bit chaotic. But we had the course and evening breeze to ourselves so we didn’t need to worry about holding anyone up or distracting anyone with the dog. Read the rest of Frisbee Golf at WSU Vancouver »
A friend told me about a “My Ideal Garden Class” sponsored by Shorty’s Garden & Home. Since I would like to figure out what to do with my runaway yard, I agreed to go. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t a real class; which is what it turned out to be. And a very informative class it was. You don’t want to be late because it starts on time!
Jeff Naramor, owner of America the Beautiful Landscape Design and a Certified Professional Horticultist, is the instructor for this two hour free class. He provides a small workbook which covers everything from who lives in your house and what type of contact they have with the yard to figuring out a plan of action for making your dream garden a reality.
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I have always thought there should be a park tucked away in this area nestled between I-205 and SR-500, little did I know that it was already a reality. The official address is 10500 NE 47th Street, but I went to the entrance located just south of SR500 at the intersection of 51st Circle and 112th Avenue. Turn right if going south and follow the road until it circles back. The park is on the right of the circle. There are no parking “spaces” as such, but parking is available on the side of the road on both locations.
It has a very nice playground, a couple of benches and nothing else in the way of amenities, but we saw many people using it for taking walks around the neighborhood; which consists of Forest Service and other commercial buildings on one side of the park and housing on the other. The sidewalks are regular width and in good condition for strollers or wheelchairs, the park itself provides a fair amount of shade but the sidewalks are mostly sunny.
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It’s time for a Staycation. The sign at the gas station read $4.08 a gallon. You read that right, that is for gas. It’s a bit crazy, but the reality we now live in. They expect gas over $5 by summers end and some are saying that $7 a gallon is not all that far fetched. With the increase cost of fuel for our cars, pretty much everything else is going up in price too. Airfare, hotels and pretty much everything are up.
Our plans for a trip to California and vacation in Canada have now been sidelined. Yes that sound you just heard was my family’s collective groan. They were looking forward to some awesome vacations. But don’t worry my family, and you don’t worry either, a staycation is just what we need! What’s a staycation you ask? Well that is a vacation where you don’t leave the comforts of your home town and do things during your vacation that are within a tank of gas or less. And thanks to OneThousandThingsToDo.com, there are so many ideas that you and your family should be able to have a great time to. Read the rest of Staycation in Vancouver and Portland »
I love sunshine, just as long as I can enjoy it from the shade. That is one of the reasons I enjoy the 26 acre Marine Park, located to the south of SR14 Exit 1, on Columbia Way and SE Marine Park Way. The park has a nice mix of sun and shade, trees and bright green grass, a baseball field, playground, restrooms, and water to a small group of picnic tables, including a covered area. There is also a boat ramp at the far western portion of the park, but it is a fair walk from where we parked the car so we did not visit it.
We hit the playground first for about half an hour before heading east on the wide concrete pathway, part of the Waterfront River Renaissance Trail which is well used by strollers, bikers, dog walkers and lollygaggers like us. We came to a series of signs showing habitats and what species of animal, bird or plant we were looking it. I was amazed at how much space the Himilayan blackberry, which is not native to the area, could cover in the course of a year. Another plant not native to the northwest is the English ivy, which is choking the life out of many of our majestic trees. I had to have a magnificent maple and a tall fir cut down for this reason.
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In need of a few titles I headed out on one of my Powell’s Books Expeditions. Indeed, the largest used book store in the nation is expedition worthy and to prepare adequately I decided to tack on a stop at another classic destination in the surrounding district: Fuller’s diner on 9th and Davis.
Fuller’s has been a classic diner in a small space serving great homemade bread since 1947. One U-shaped counter made up the sitting space and dotting the counter’s periphery were around two dozen cushioned stools bolted to the floor. The stools were close to each other and close to the counter which made for cozy elbow room and a puzzle as to what to do with my knees. I wiggled in and set my elbows squarely on the counter top to mark out my territory and took up the single page laminated menu. I was not surprised to find the usual diner fare of omelets and hash browns, eggs done the way you like them. But I knew what I had come for: their homemade bread.
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Since I visited the labyrinth on Mill Plain, I’ve wanted to try another one. I heard some time ago that there is a labyrinth at a Hazel Dell church, and I found it! Here’s the sign at the north end of the parking lot; pointing out the path that leads down the hill.
Don’t you love this quiet, shady path? The trees are fully grown and woodsy, but the area is still garden-like. There are tall fir, cedar, and maple trees, an ivy-covered bank, and on the other hand there are tidy privets, lilacs, rhodies, lavender, and azaleas.
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Saturday I visited the Fulton Community Center in Portland for a Contra Dance. Click here for several definitions of contra dancing. What kind of music is played for a contra dance? Most of the tunes are either jigs or reels, but there are usually a few schottisches, marches, and waltzes thrown in for good measure. The evening is traditionally ended with a waltz. Read the rest of Portland Contra Dance »
It was cloudy with a touch of drizzle, but that didn’t stop me from grabbing a coat, backpack with lunch and my just-in-case umbrella and heading out for my first walking tour of Portland. There’s only one thing I’d do differently next time: I wouldn’t take a group of five fifth graders along for the ride. Just my own will do, thank you. Read the rest of A Self-Guided Walking Tour of Portland »
I’m not a restaurant reviewer. But I like food and I know when it’s good and when it’s not. I also like to go to movies. And with three kids left to a babysitter, the usual nearby pub and mega-size movie-plex is standard fare to get us out of the house and back home before the sitter’s bill outnumbers the evening’s entertainment. Only not this time. Read the rest of Not Your Ordinary Dinner-and-a-Movie Date Night »
