Whale Watching

Sunday, March 25th we took a mini-road trip to the Oregon Coast. It is funny how back in MD we would say we were going to "the beach," but in Oregon, you're going to "the coast."

The main objective (as far as I was concerned) was to see the whales, but we ended up doing that and so much more!

Got up early for a Sunday, and we picked up our friend Angela by 7:45am..this is Dan's early morning face:









We don't have binoculars, so I had to improvise:









Along the way we saw the oldest Sitka tree in Oregon, which is about to keel over and die. The next tree we saw (pictured below) is much more vibrant. It is an "octopus" tree (also a Sitka), and the base of the tree is 50 feet in circumference, and each of the tentacles (oops I mean branches!) is 12 feet in circumference at the base. A sight to see for sure!









A view of the beautiful coast, from Cape Meares:









Now I know what you're thinking about this next picture: "but Julia, I can't see any whales, it's all a hoax!" I promise, we saw whales!! They were really far away, but we could see them spray up water spouts with our bare eyes! A kind volunteer let us borrow her binoculars, and we saw the action a little more magnified. Even though it wasn't necessarily the most spectacular sight ever, I found it really thrilling, just to think that these HUGE animals were passing by right then! On their way from Mexico to Alaska! I jumped up and down I was so excited. Then we put 3 from Maryland on the volunteer's tally, even though Angela isn't from Maryland and we didn't actually come all the way from Maryland for the migration. Had to give our state a little boost.









The day kept getting better...we found this cute little cafe in Oceanside (a few miles south of Cape Meares), and this was our view as we ate lunch:









Parasailers were floating down the whole time we ate:









And after we finished, we couldn't resist the urge to take off the shoes and run for the water...although we ran back away from the freezing Pacific just as fast as we had run to it...









Dan & Angela and their shoes:









Our final beach effort was this fine stew:









And on the way home, we stopped by the Tillamook Cheese factory for a self-guided tour and some delicious ice cream!

Now back to work for the week, but we are getting ready to move this weekend, which is exciting, and I've started to gear up for my Gallaudet interview by hanging out with friends who sign (what an awesome way to study!) OH and tomorrow we are going to see one of my all-time favorites in concert at the Crystal Ballroom, India Arie. Reminds me of college and the summer we all went to Camp Pollack and saw her perform live at this event in Baltimore. I can't remember the name of the event..its driving me crazy. The one at Maryland was called Art Attack, and the one in Baltimore was......ArtScape or ArtFest or something like that.

Anyway!

Happy Spring!

Good News..

I got an Interview at Gallaudet!

For the interpreting program :)

Why I love Portland

Lately, I've really been missing Maryland and the general D.C. area. But this weekend reminded me of why I have come to love Portland so much...

First, Dan and I went to the Portland Urban Iditarod. The description from the website captures the event much better than I could:

"The event is held on the same date the “real” race each year - the first Saturday of March. In the Alaskan Iditarod, more than sixty dog sled teams race across the frozen tundra from Anchorage to Nome. In our urban version, teams of ‘dogs’ lead by a musher will pull their sleds (shopping carts) through some of Portland’s most scenic areas. These teams of barking humans must negotiate through the unrelenting and unforgiving dangers of Portland’s urban frontier."

The best part is, each team dresses up alike and likewise dresses up their shopping cart. My favorite team was the USPS team:









Here is the mayhem at the start line (with the Hawthorne bridge and the city in the background):









And the ninja turtles team:









Then Saturday night we went contra dancing!

And Sunday my friend Jonny of PCS fame took me cross country skiing!

Here is Jonny, taking a break from teaching me the basics:









A nice gentle slope












Jonny's girlfriend Linda has a huge turtle who rode through the snow with us (it's been in the car for 12 years)









After the 3 miles or so of skiing, we went up to the Timberline lodge, which is where the Jack Nicholson version of The Shining was filmed. I loved the snow drifts piled up against the window!!












When I got home from my skiing adventure, Dan had a surprise! He bought his first road bike from a Craig's List seller, and here it is!!












We tried it out on a ride to NW Portland (apartment hunting). It is very smooth and is especially nice going up hills!! I think he should name it Gazelle, becuase it is very lightweight and stealthy. Any other name suggestions???