GinohnNews

G: We've been on vacation. Here's what we've been up to. Before we left there was a party at Cecily's for Eric and Sean on Saturday August 16th, and there were many many family members and kids/unklings everywhere. Of course the Naabs were around, and Kit, Laura, Kat, and little Kit came up from SC for the party. It was a long all day and night sort of thing.

Sunday the 17th - if you remember what we did you can tell us and we'll edit it in here. We can't remember.

Monday the 18th we went over to Thom's to hang out with Eric and Naabs some more.

Tuesday the 19th we flew out to Seattle for our vacation. We rented the smallest car National had at the time, an HHR, which isn't very small. Everything else was a huge SUV. This was disappointing, but it was late on a weekday and it's understandable that everything with decent gas milage would be gone by then.  We drove to my friend and old college roommate Danielle's house in the rain. We knocked on her door. There were lights on, but no one came to the door. We knocked a while longer, then I called her cell phone. No answer. We started looking for a way inside, thinking she might be asleep. But my phone rang and she was at her boyfriend's and had thought we were coming in the next night. We found the hidden key and Dani showed up a bit later. 

The next day Dani had to work so I called some other friends from college who live in Seattle and we met up with Deane and his wife Amy at the downtown library. They showed us around it a bit, then we proceeded to see many other touristy things with them - a bit of Pike's Market, w/the original Starbucks for John, a cute little cafe we ate at outside, some of the waterfront and The Curiosity Shop there. It was raining by then so we decided to go to the EMP (Experience Music Project and Science Fiction museum and Hall of Fame). I made sure to go to the part where you can get a little automated guided lesson in different instruments, and did the guitar one which was voiced by Izolda! So I got a little guitar lesson from her.

When we were done there I got a call from Jonathan Kruger, ANOTHER old friend in Seattle, and we all went over to his place to wait for Dani and her boyfriend Pete so we could all go to dinner together. We walked to Dragonfish, an asian fusion place, and had wonderful food and a great time with our little Alfredian (Alfred is the college that Dani, Deane, Jon, and I went to) reunion. After we went back to Jon's and Dani admired, and chatted with him about, his photographs.

The next day, Thursday the 21st, Dani had the day off so we went running at Green Lake with her. Then we went to a little cafe for breakfast and more chit-chat. From there we went to Pete's place to clean up and then to Uwajimaya. Jon met us there and we walked around and Dani and I bought gum. We walked around a bit more and then to Green Leaf for lunch, which was awesome. We noticed a Chinese vegetarian bistro on the way and made note of it for later. Then Dani took us to a gallery that had huge photos of some ordinary things (and some nasty dirty sinks). It was very different and interesting and there was much discussion on how it was done.

On the way back to Pete's we stopped by a vegan and gluten free bakery in Freemont called The Flying Apron. John ordered a piece of cake that was big enough for the 3 of us and Dani and I bought some treats for later.

Dani had plans for the night so we went back over to Jon's and hung out and later we went to his favorite brew pub, the Fiddler's Inn. I tried two of their beers that I thought I would like but didn't like either of them, but then I had a black current cider which was excellent.

The next day we moved to Pete's place to stay, since Dani spends most of her time there lately and something was munching on me at night at her place. She had some work to do but we went with her to the Georgetown area and John got a treat when we found out Fantagraphics was down there.
Fantagraphics published John's favorite comic and one he grew up with, Love and Rockets (I am also a fan). He came away with some brand new L'n'R stuff too. After browsing there for a while we went next door to All City Coffee to feed John's addiction.

From there we went with Dani to a place called Bush Shogi screens where Pete is having some shogi screens handmade. We saw the shop and had a nice time there. Then we went to the Veggie Bistro we saw the other day. The food was very tasty but not very healthy and a bit oily.

We went back to Pete's to get our car, stopped by the Magnolia library, which was a very nice regional library, so Dani could drop off some books, then we went to Discovery Park and Dani took off for the evening. John and I walked around the park for quite a while then went to Jon's place again. We got these soft veggie tacos from a tiny place just outside his building that they apparently put crack in because they were very very tasty and seemingly addictive. Jon says he has to stop himself from eating there every night. We then strolled around the area he lives, Capitol Hill, seeing the sights. We briefly lingered outside a club that had a drag lip sync show going on. Then we stopped at a super groovy place for desserts that were wonderful.

On the 23rd we embarked on a great grueling hike up Pilchuck Peak. The entire path, with an elevation of about 3,000 feet, was filled with bugs, sweat, rocks, and amazing views of mountains, lakes, cliffs, snow, etc. Some guy stopped John and asked to take a picture of his shirt. We later learned that we'd met him before... We returned exhausted and elated from the climb.

That night Dani and Pete made a wonderful spread of grilled veggies & bulgar salad.

The next day we perused the Ballard Sunday Market. Then it rained. We had heard that it was a kind of faux pas to use an umbrella in Seattle; however, we noticed that after it had been raining heavily for a while, many umbrellas appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and not just in tourists' hands. Since we didn't have umbrellas we ducked into a coffee shop for coffee and then into a hair cuttery for haircuts. We then ducked into an Archi McFee store, followed by another Archi McFee store. Fun.

From there we went to REI and John got new shoes. The ones he'd been wearing got a hole in them and his feet were getting wet from all the rain. Then we picked up Jon and stopped by the airport to trade our stupid stinky (smoke & BO) rental car for a little red Yaris. Big sigh of relief.

We then went to Deane & Amy's for spaghetti, salad, wine, and Apples to Apples. Everything was delicious. Dani and Pete came, and so did another Pete who ALSO went to Alfred with us. He used to hang out in Dani's and my room a bit in college.  We also made a point of watching a youtube video of the silly putty drop that happened at Alfred when we were all there. The video features an interview with my then boyfriend Michael at the beginning. It was a lovely lovely evening.

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Headed to Portland and Lee & Annaliesse's place - We drove to their house, and went for a walk with Lee and Lego, their doggie.
Then we headed to a Weird Al concert - We drove down to the Oregon State Fair for the show. Saw awesome double rainbow on the way. Al licked my forehead during "I Wanna B Ur Lover."

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McMenamin's Edgefield -  Lee drove us around, down the Columbia River gorge. After seeing a bunch of houseboats along the way, we stopped at McMenamin's Edgefield, which is a wonderful place. It's a hotel, restaurant, brew pub, and an art and beauty lover's dream. We strolled around looking at the whimsical art in every corner, shopped in the very cool gift shop, had lunch in a gardened patio in the company of a humming bird (and with amazing sweet potato fries), and watched a glass blower make a vase before leaving too soon for our next destination.

Crown Point, Vista House - Beautiful views inside and outside an old restored round stone building.

Columbia River Gorge - Portland's best kept secret! We walked around Latourell falls, Shepherds' Dell, Wahkeena Falls, Multnomah Falls, and Horsetail Falls. I ran into one of my pottery students on her honeymoon! It was a bit mind blowing.

Gotham Tavern - where Lee hosts Scrabble tournaments. Ginohn walked from there up to Mississippi Street, ate at the Laughing Planet, and returned to Gotham for some Scrabble. We tied.

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Lee took us on a tour of Downtown Portland, neighborhoods, and parks, including lunch at Old Wives Tales, and books and coffee at Powell's. We had a fine dinner at LnA's, then went to Pix Patisserie for dessert. YUM.

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Annaliesse took us to Veggie Thai on Hawthorne Street, and then we explored a good chunk of the street shops. 

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Science Museum (OMSI) - On our own this day, we explored the museum (and I rode a Segway while there, ever so briefly), then went back downtown to Powell's again. Found a fancy Indian restaurant for dinner - Mayur - since we found Veganopolis was closed. Got back late but had a bit of Annaleise's apple crisp, then walked down to their local pub, McMenamin's St John for beer. Captivated by how cool it was, and finally catching on to the concept, we decided our next day's adventures would entail visiting as many McMeniman's establishments as we could.

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Three Hats Farm - Stopped at the farm Annaliesse rides at and saw all the animules before our quest.
Cornelius Pass Roadhouse McMenamin's - one of the more extensive places, a wedding or three were obviously scheduled for the day. Just looked around and headed to the next one:
Rock Creek Tavern - a (comparatively) small, charming place with some amazing decorations.
The Grand Lodge - A refurbished Masonic Temple, this place was huge and definitley had about 3 weddings going on. Plus all the usual beautiful stuff, pubs and restaurants. We had lunch there. They had the sweet potato fries - score!
Kennedy School - Another cool, beautiful, impressive place. We got coffees. We were tired. But we then went to Chapman Elementary School to watch swifts gather in a swarmy mass and then flutter down into a large chimney there.
Later that night we went to a house/yard warming party given by a photographer friend of LnA's, and had a good time. I tried bourbon for probably the first time. It was cherry flavored, and good, and I mixed it with grapefruit cocktail and liked it quite a bit. From there we stopped by a very cool and funky coffee house and dessert place called Rimskys. Highly recommended.

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We took a tour of the coast, stopping at a strip mall we spotted on the way out of town to hit the Oak Hills McMenamin's - one of if not the only non-historic locations we visited. They weren't open for business but they welcomed us to look around and gave me some coasters (I'd started a collection). It was still very cool inside, despite it's location.

We had a lovely drive, with a little rain, to Tillamook, a little town near the coast. We were hungry and had to use the restrooms, and our first choice of a place to eat was closed. We went into a restaurant attached to a hotel (a bad warning sign, but we were a bit desperate to use the restrooms). And they had hummous pita sandwhiches on the menu. We were eating our so-so food when John started spitting out a bit of sand or dirt from his salad. I asked him if he wanted to send it back but he was going to plow through. We kept eating. Suddenly, John revealed a piece of lettuce that had a chunk of dirt on it the size of a couple of quarters. Then I looked down at my salad and there was a dead fly lying in it. We both sat back, astonished. We hestiated because the mistakes here were so egregious, yet most likely not on purpose, that you almost hate to embarass the staff with it. But of course we reported it, refused new dishes, and left without having to pay and without appetites.

From there we drove to the Air Museum. We didn't go in. But you could see it from a mile away. It's a very big blimp hangar. We then stopped at the Tillamook Cheese visitor's center and marvelled at people standing in long lines to sample cheese. We drove north along the coast stopping at various cute towns and lookout spots. It was beautiful. Places we stopped include Barview beach, Rockaway beach (Rock rock, Rockaway beach), Wheeler, and Hug Point, where we spent most of our time. It was beautiful. We walked down a georgeous wooded path with babbling brooks and huge trees (and lots of moss, I haven't really mentioned the moss, but there was tons everywhere and I love that), to a beach surrounded by cliffs, with many surfers, dogs running loose, streams running from the woods to the ocean, some with little falls, tidepools with anenomes and starfish, and beautiful sea green water with the sun reflecting brilliantly off of it. If it had been warm, I would have thought it was paradise. It wasn't too cold though, you could put your feet in. I found out as I was getting in position to take a picture of a starfish, and the water came in and soaked my sneakers. I went barefoot after that. But the surfers were all wearing wet suits.

We stopped at another beach after that one, but didn't stay long as we were getting a bit tired and hungry. We skipped Cannon beach and went on to McMenamin's Sandtrap Pub, pausing to check into some helicopter rides on the way that turned out to be a bit too expensive for our tastes. We had dinner at the pub and then headed back, stopping along the way to see a very large tree in Klootchy Creek park that had recently been snapped in half by lightning. It was still a very impressive size. The base was as big or bigger than some of the biggest redwoods I've seen, and this is a Sitka Spruce.

We drove back to Portland and met Lee and Annaliese at McMenamin's Chapel Pub, which as you may imagine used to be a wedding chapel and funeral service place. It was lovely. We had some drinks and then went back to Pix for dessert.

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The next day, we said goodbye to Lee, Annaliese, and Lego, and as we headed out of Portland to go back to Seattle we swung a little south to hit the White Eagle McMenamin's (with its odd history of shanghai tunnels and rock and roll), then back north to the Olympic Club McMenamin's (with pool tables from the 1890's), and finally the McMenamin's Spar Café.

We had dinner at Pete's that night— more delicious grilled veggies, and spent much of the evening YouTubing with Pete, Jon, and Dani.

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Tuesday Sept. 2nd, we went to see the Foster Island Trail on Jon's recommendation. This was a nature boardwalk along some little islands that led to the Washington Park Arboretum. We wallked around there for a while and then back to the trail and back to the car. I noticed some impressive looking buildings, like a castle, in the distance and over a very cute bridge, so we headed that way but couldn't quite find the castle. We soon figured out it was the University of Washington. Check out these lovely pictures of what we missed. We drove around a bit aimlessly until John saw a sign in a window of a colorful building that said "Vegan Sandwiches." So we went there for lunch. The service was very slow and the food greasy, but it was tasty enough.

I didn't feel like we had gotten the entire Pike Market experience the first time around, so we headed back there and made sure we saw it all. Then we went to Jon's and from there met Deane and Amy at the only historic McMenamin's in Seattle, Six Arms.

We went to a place right by Jon's for dessert, Chez Gaudy. It was Tuesday, Tapas and wine at a discounted price, but we just wanted desserts. They had small pieces of cake (tapas desserts!), so that went over well, since we were all full from McM's.

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On this, our last day, we went all over the place with Dani. We started off at Cafe Besalu where she and John got coffee. Then we stopped at a cool shoe store called The Sneakery. I can't remeber why but Dani wanted to go there and we liked it a lot. We stopped at the Goodwill nearby and John got a little bag to bring all the books he bought home in. Then we saw our last McMeniman's, Dad Watson's in Freemont. We ate across the street at the Flying Apron Bakery for lunch, though. Then we walked around a bit and saw some shops and a Lenin statue. We then headed to the downtown area again to visit the Sculpture garden at the Waterfront. That was very cool. We then went back to Fantagraphics and All City Coffee; John wanted something else from there. Then we went to Seward Park, which was fabulous. They had a really nice pottery studio, right on the water. We walked along a path along the water, then through some really nice woods, and looped around to the beginning, getting fabulous views of the mountain at the end. It was a lovely end to our tour of Seattle. That night we had dinner at Pete's, and then John and I headed for the airport and our overnight flight home, which was uneventful and pleasant enough for that sort of thing.

By the way, if you got this far and want more, we have nearly 800 pictures, just click on any of them!

J: Looky! Cows have compass ability!

I don't think so. That is to say, I'm very very skeptical. (No big news there.)

Here's some one-eyebrow-raising quotes:

"Dr Sabine Begall and colleagues from the University of Duisburg-Essen looked at thousands of images of cattle on Google Earth in Britain, Ireland, India and the USA. [...] Although, in many cases, the images were not clear enough to determine which way the cattle were facing they were aligned on a north/south axis." - Telegraph

"We guessed that about 60-70% of the cows in our data set are oriented appr. N-S (+-30°)" - authors' comments

And here's my prediction: When Google Earth gets better resolution, we'll find that a lot of the cows in the Northern Hemisphere point roughly North, while the cows in the Southern Hemisphere point roughly South (+-30°!), because the sun (which is always burning when Google scans) is roughly to the South or North, depending on the hemisphere, and the cows generally don't like it in their eyes.