New Town
Our first week here is in the books. We managed to find a good balance of fun stuff and “have to” stuff. Some of the highlights...Mike and Alex went mountain biking at Lacamas Lake and enjoyed riding the hills in the shade under all the trees and next to waterfalls. They had to watch out for tree roots instead of the rattlesnakes at La Costa. Kendall and I got our ears pierced (second) and picked out fun jewelry. I went to a local farm with my sister and Eva and we picked blueberries ($1/pound). Alex and I went hiking and picked wild blackberries. The kids and I went to Cottonwood beach (5 minutes from our house) on the Columbia River and almost didn’t miss the ocean. It’s been warm here (mid 80’s) so it was a perfect day for the beach. The whole family went to Dougan Falls (30 minutes away). It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen. There was a swimming hole and a lot to explore and only a few other people were there. We also went on a speed boat on the Willamette River in Portland then walked around downtown in the rain. I’m sure it will be tough in the winter but for now, I’m loving the brief periods of rain and thunder. Alex has been helping with household projects and acting all grown up...dangit. We went to the dmv and got our licenses changed. No appointment necessary and the wait was 5 minutes. Yep! Sadie has been coming with us everywhere because dogs are allowed in all parks and beaches. Today we drove to a mall in Portland (no sales tax!) to go back to school shopping. Alex leaves for college this weekend and I’m really enjoying all this time we are spending together. Kendall has another week 1/2 before she starts high school here and will attend new student orientation and meet all of her teachers. She’s nervous and excited. She’s going to do something funky with her hair on Friday so I’ll post pictures. Some observations...pretty much everyone here drives the speed limit. No one is in a hurry. Every cashier makes conversation like they do in SD at Trader Joe’s. They all ask if you have any fun plans for the day/weekend/evening. Everyone is SO nice it’s contagious. Even Kendall, who doesn’t like small talk, is enjoying it and has commented several times how nice people are.