Month: July 2024

Tuesday, July 16th

Thursday, July 18th

Things continue to be a little strange around Corvallis in these lazy days of summer. The monthly meeting of the Lemon Meringue Pie Society, for example, was not held in any kind of pie place. Instead, it took place at 6:00 p.m. at KH Grill. B, T, H and E were in attendance. KH Grill is a Vietnamese restaurant owned by a veteran Korean chef and staffed mostly by Hispanics. E had vegetarian spring rolls and reports that the rolls were larger but not quite as tasty as when Kim Hoa himself ran the place. She did like that peanut sauce though.

Friday, July 19th

Today E braved the heat of late morning to check out the first day of Sidewalk Sales Weekend in downtown Corvallis. The event used to be called Crazy Days. M has assumed that they changed the name to avoid the appearance of exclusionary bias against people who are not crazy, but E says that wasn’t the reason. She came home with a pair of hot weather gauzy pants, a visor for swimming in the lake and a tank top for working in the yard. What lake, you might ask. Well, E’s trip to Lake George is upcoming in just a couple of weeks.

While she was downtown, E got a call from A , who was just heading out for a camping trip. She was heading south from Vancouver and was planning a stop to charge her Leaf at the I-5 exit nearest Corvallis. We decided to go out and meet her and keep her company while the charging was going on. We talked for about 25 minutes seated around a table in one of those A&W’s that are attached to a gas station. M got himself a root beer float, of which E took a small sip.

A told us about a dog that had come in with an eye problem. The owner said that the dog had been keeping the eye firmly shut for several days and would not allow anyone to touch it. A and her assistant sedated the dog so that A could have a look. What she found were two long blades of grass, scrunched up and folded over, and pushed way back behind the eyeball. A plucked them out and when the dog woke up, the eye opened normally and the dog acted as if nothing had ever been wrong. A says it was probably the most instantaneous veterinary success she has ever had.

Saturday, July 20th

It’s not super hot here, but warm enough. Highs are around 90. We work in the yard early, but we stop around 9:00. Today E tried going out for her walk just at 9:00, but she says that by the end it wasn’t very pleasant.

Even though it was a hot day, E felt it was time to release the flamingo to the yard, rather than keeping it prisoner in the house. It is, however, contained within a little protective fence and seems to be doing well. Next step is to find a little kiddy pool for it to lounge in.

Sunday, July 21st

We went off to Bend today, traveling in the electric car. It would be our longest trip ever in the Ioniq 5. We were sure we had enough range to make it. But still, it was a new and different experience. Bend is only 140 miles away, and the car can theoretically go 260 miles on one charge. But Bend is at 3,600 feet of elevation and the trip involves crossing two 4,500 foot passes. As it happened we needn’t have worried. When we arrived , we still had a comfortable 44% of battery remaining.

Which is not to say that we did not have moments of great anguish and consternation along the way. The worst of these occurred when we were about a third of the way to our destination. We had stopped at Cascadia for a picnic lunch when we looked into the back of the car and noticed that we had forgotten to bring a few things. Had we forgotten the lunch? No, no, we had plenty of lunch. What we had forgotten was our luggage. Ouch! Say it isn’t so! Hmm. What to do. Go back and get it? No, all things considered, it was too late in the day for that. And it was only an overnight trip. We may have lacked luggage, but we were not without resources. We had phones, credit cards, sunglasses and hiking shoes. What more does a person really need? We pushed on toward Bend.

Once we had checked into our hotel, we again took stock of our situation. We now had toothbrushes courtesy of the front desk. But we lacked socks. We were planning to hike the next morning and we would want socks for that. So off we went to the Old Mill Mall and found some. And since E really didn’t want to hike in her traveling clothes, she found a few other things to accompany her new socks. M got a t-shirt so as to have another layer if one were needed.

It was 92 degrees in Bend and the weather had seemed mostly sunny. But just as we came out of the store, a sudden heavy shower came pelting down, which complicated our walk back to where we’d parked the car. The oversized raindrops soon changed to zillions of largish hailstones. At first we took shelter next to a building, but finally we just made a run for it to the car. A few minutes later it was all over, except that the parking lot was temporarily flooded.

By then it was time for dinner. Bend has a very active restaurant scene. We went to a downtown cocktail and tapas place called Bar Rio. E had a margarita and Jibaritos: fried plantains tossed in Tajín, filled with grilled yam, guacamole, and verde salsa. She liked it a lot. M had cava and a dish they called paella. It had chorizo and rice in it, but it didn’t taste like paella at all. And, in fact, calling it paella was an insult to real paellas everywhere. Once you got past that, however, it was delicious.

After dinner, we found our Electrify America station at the Bend Walmart and charged up.

Monday, July 22th

Up early and had a good breakfast at our Fairfield Inn by Marriot. Then we headed back westward to our hiking destination: the Sahalie Waterfalls Trail on the MacKenzie River. When we arrived, the weather was cool and the site uncrowded. (By the time we left, things were different.)

After our hike we headed back to Corvallis, arriving in the early afternoon with a very comfortable 58% of charge still remaining in the Ioniq’s battery. In the kitchen we found our luggage still waiting patiently for us to do something with it. We noticed that we had done quite a nice job of packing. But at that point E had to get busy and bake a cake cuz today was M’s birthday. Besides making M’s favorite cake, she also gave him presents! Altogether it was a quite wonderful day.

Tuesday, July 23rd

E was busy again today, what with a medical appointment, an exercise class and lunch with her THEPAJ group at Common Fields. M worked at home on this and that. His lunch included a piece of birthday cake.

Tuesday, July 2nd

E had lunch today with C₁ and her daughter C₂. C₂ was a childhood friend of Becca and thus is currently the age that Becca would be if she were still around. She lives in Colorado with her husband and two boys, the older of whom is starting college in the fall.

Saturday, July 6th

Jam!

Monday, July 8th

Well it’s definitely summer now. Corvallis temperatures have been around 100 for the last four or five days. Only the early mornings are cool. It’s very nice out before 8:00, so that’s the only time we’ve been doing much outside.

But that’s no way to live, so today we went to the ocean for an overnight break from the heat. Last night we decided to go to the area around Cape Meares and made a hotel reservation in the town of Tillamook. This morning we packed up a few things–including a lunch–and set out at around 10:00. We decided not to use the Ioniq 5 because fast charging stations are few and far between up there. Instead we drove the mighty Jaguar, but not with the top down. It was already getting hot and we’re wimpy about that.

Based on information in our favorite Oregon coast guidebook, M had planned a couple of stops. The first was the Munson State Natural Area to see Munson Falls–the highest waterfall in the Coast Range. A trail leads up toward the falls, but the upper part of the trail was destroyed during a severe storm in 1996. These days you can’t get close enough to get a really good look. But the whole place is beautiful, lots of rugged terrain covered by profuse rainforest vegetation. And there are some nice picnic tables at the parking area. And today, just as we had hoped, the temperature was twenty degrees cooler than in Corvallis.

After lunching at Munson, we went to nearby Oceanside, a tiny but now heavily developed hamlet, just one headland south of Cape Meares. We stopped to see Oceanside because of something that E found out from C₂ at their lunch last week. It turns out that C₂‘s father’s family has a long history in Oceanside, beginning in 1910 when the Rosenberg family arrived in Oregon and made a home there. By 1920 the chief property owners in the area were two brothers: Judson and Hudson Rosenberg. The brothers were both married and in fact had married two sisters. In 1922, this foursome–Judson, Hudson, Dora and Dolly–donated one acre of land to the State of Oregon for the purpose of giving public access to the Oceanside beach.

The beach is only a few hundred yards long and is blocked off at both ends by steep headlands. To the north the formation is called Maxwell Point. In 1926 the Rosenbergs dug a tunnel through Maxwell Point which gave access to another small beach, one that was otherwise inaccessible by land. In 1968 the family donated an additional 1.9 acres, which included most of Maxwell Point itself.

From Oceanside we continued up to Cape Meares to see the lighthouse. It’s a short, stubby building and almost looks like a toy light. It is perched, however, at the top of a 200 foot cliff, which gives it the highest elevation of any Oregon lighthouse.

Tuesday, July 9th

After a night in a Tillamook motel whose name we won’t mention, we started our return to Corvallis by heading east on Oregon Highway 6 toward Forest Grove. On the way we stopped at the Tillamook Forest Center, a really great place that turned out to be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. But we were able to take a little hike along the Wilson River trail and get onto the suspension bridge that crosses the river at the Center’s rear entrance.

When we left, we continued on Highway 6 until eventually turning south in the direction of Yamhill, Carlton and McMinnville. By then we were back into 100 degree weather. Feeling adventurous, we had lunch at a place in Carlton called The Horse Radish. E liked her veggie sandwich and her house-made potato chips, but she loved the iced tea.

Wednesday, July 10th

Cooler today, with a high of only 90. Cool most of the morning.

Thursday, July 11th

Tomatoes!

Saturday, July 13th

Our front yard delphinium is finally blooming. Too bad it is nine days out of sync with the red and white roses that grow behind it.

Sunday, July 14th

And finally, E installed this in our back yard. The frosted glass bowl is from a thrift shop and contains half an inch of water; the purple part is from Pennsylvania. But what is it for?

Sunday, June 23rd

Wednesday, June 26th

E needed new hiking boots, so we drove up to the big REI in Tualitin. Walking into such a store is dangerous. Once E got her boots, we couldn’t help but buy four or five other little items that we suddenly seemed to need.

Today is Becca’s birthday, so on the way back to Corvallis we stopped in Salem to buy her some cake. We bought just one piece (large enough to share of course) and took it home to have after dinner.

Thursday, June 27th

M had what was supposed to be his final eye appointment following surgery. Unfortunately he has an issue that will require followup treatment. More eye drops–lots of eye drops.

Friday, June 28h

We had a walk this morning with M, L and A at Chip Ross park. L did the driving in their Subaru EV. We had meant to walk in the OSU forest on Vineyard Mountain; but as it happened, the whole forest was closed for herbicide spraying. Wanting no part of that, we went to Chip Ross Park instead and got to see that wonderful view looking out over the town. After that we made our way to Coffee Culture and had avocado bagels for lunch.

SPECIAL UPDATE ON TOMATOES IN THE SEWING KIT We have heard from three readers who say they also have sewing kit tomatoes. Adding these to H and E, we now have five tomato owners. Are they any more out there? If so, send a photo for our gallery…

Saturday, June 29th

Here’s a photo from C’s birthday party a few weeks ago.

For some crazy reason, we decided to have this same crew over for dinner today. E made trucha a la Navarra. First she got a bunch of trout and soaked them in red wine for several hours. Then the fish went into the oven and E worked on steamed potatoes and also cooked chard dressed with pomegranate molasses. During that critical final hour before the guests arrived, M was no help at all. He just got in the Jaguar and left! He made it back in time for dinner, though, having picked up C somewhere along the way. Apparently they had driven to Independence and back and had once or twice travelled at speeds in excess of the legal limit. What better way to honor C’s important birthday?

The trout was very good and so was the dessert contributed by J–a coconut meringue lime pie from the British Baking Show. We had dinner inside then had dessert out on the patio.

Sunday, June 30th

On a few occasions in the past we have mentioned having things like chocolate croissants, maple donuts, or syrup-soaked waffles for breakfast. It strikes us that we may have given the impression that those are our usual breakfast foods. Nothing could be further from the truth! Normally we have very frugal breakfasts, something like a handful of unsalted nuts or a quarter of an apple. Here’s an example, just fifteen tiny raisins and nothing more.