Bailey & Sydney Go For A Walk

Bailey and Sydney are my parents new beloved little furry companions. You see about 10 months ago, we had to say goodbye to "Annie the Wonder Dog" ... aka Annie and the Rocket Dog. Annie, over came several illnesses throughout her life that would have broken the spirit of most dogs, but not "the wonder dog". She had an unrelenting drive...for food, walks and attention, even up to almost the very end. So, it was really hard to say goodbye, but solace comes with tears, time and knowing she had it pretty good...actually, probably couldn't have had it any better. Here's the cutie:

"Annie the Wonder Dog"

Sigh....well, they say the best thing to do to help the pain, is to go looking for other furry little friends, who need you just as much as the ones before them. So after roughly 4 months, I think my Mom caved in, and found Bailey, and then it wasn't long before Sydney came along, which in my opinion looks like a mini Annie.

Puppies are always a challenge. Bailey and Sydney are testing the definition of challenge!

But they are cute, and the Junebug seems to like them too. Sydney is providing payback for all the relentless puppy moments in Juno's not so distant youth.

And this week, marks Bailey and Sydney's first sleepover/vacation, while the parents took a much needed vacation...however, I'm not sure if the parent's vacation is much needed from work and the everyday stresses of life, or rather from these little puff balls. And with that said, Bailey and Sydney definitely don't allow for any dull moments.

And today was no different. Bailey and Sydney went for their first walk....was it success or failure?

Scroll to find out......

Juno is thinking yes, we are going for a walk

(she loves them; walks that is)

If I could guess, Bailey is thinking, I'm not so sure about this....

Sydney (the black streak in the bottom left corner)

is trying to go the other way.

Out the door we go, and curiosity ensues.....

(Just to clarify, now that they are visible,

Bailey is the brown one, and Sydney is solid black)

 Bailey seems to be happy!

And we are walking!!!!

And if you could see Sydney in action,

this is the equivalent of success.

Most of the time she is just a blur in photos

because she's bouncing and charging around

like a "mini rocket dog"...a little uncanny if you ask me 

So, the official results...success it was. Not with out a few tangles along the way, because of course Juno came with us, and that made it all the more fun. But, we did make it around the block. And when you are 10 pounds, that is a long way.

Mom & Dad...if you're reading this, you have a new evening activity waiting for you upon your return! 

-Mo

"Postcards from Portland" - Sights, Sails & Sauces

Postcards from Portland - Sights, Sails & Sauces

I know it's been a couple of weeks since the last post, but it takes me a while to go through all the photos and decide which ones best depict the day, and we've done a little more traveling in the meantime... Boston and Charleston. I think more postcards are in the future because there were just too many yummy spots not to share.

But for now...day 2 of our adventures in and around Portland, OR.

Portland Day 2 consisted of a lot of nature and sightseeing outside of the city, which led to a quaint little town that is known for several different types of sails.

But to get this long day started we began with breakfast at our hotel (The Nines) at Urban Farmer Restaurant, which was probably t-h-e best hotel breakfast I can recall devouring, which included avocado eggs benedict (could that be any more sinful or rich), bacon-cheddar biscuits and chicken-cherry sausage.

After breakfast, we headed out for our first sight of the day, Mt. Hood.

The trek out to Mount Hood is about an hour east of Portland. Once you're there, you have so many options to see the mountain...aka dormant Volcano. You can visit timberline lodge, drive around and stop on the side of the road to take pics, or checkout one of the many nature trails in the park. Just be sure to pick up your recreation park pass (which costs $5 for the day), so you're not worried about getting a ticket. 

up close at the timberline 

from the other side headed towards Hood River

 

a little hiking...so many trails forgot the name

 And then there was this mountain...St. Helens, Adams?

After sightseeing, we headed north towards Hood River to checkout some breweries (Full Sail and Double Mountain). Hood River, Oregon is a great little place to visit. Nestled just off the Columbia River Gorge, it's very windy, so in addition to being the home of some great brews, it's also a great place to catch some wind surfing.

After you've tried your hand at some kite sailing/wind surfing (I won't lie, we didn't event attempt), you can check out the local brews. 

Right as we started planning our trip to Portland I discovered a new Pale Ale by Full Sail. When I went to look it up one day, I was so delighted to find out that another one of my fav brews - Sessions - was also made by the same brew masters and it was located outside of Portland. This ultimately fueled me to do more research on getting us out to PDX and Hood River. So of course this was our first brew stop in Hood River. During the tour at Full Sail, we discovered that the brewery was founded and started by a woman in the 1980's, and today, is owned by the employees, who work 4 days a week (10 hours each). I knew I liked this beer...work hard, play hard...just check out their Mantra.

Our awesome tour guide!

Beer, beer and more beer

So of course not only did we do the tour, but we did some tasting as well. On tap: The Full Sail Ltd. 3 and the IPA. Quite tasty I must say, and so much better on site. We also purchased some souvenirs, which included a water bowl for the Junebug.

After our treks around Mt. Hood and Full Sail, we needed some food. So we headed over to Double Mountain Brewery, which was a great tip from that Portland Resident. On the menu was pizza (the kind that gets charred in a 700 degree oven) and a dry hopped pale ale called the Vaporizor. In three words...it was awesome.

I have to admit, I didn't really want to leave Hood River. There was something about it there that just kind of drew me in. Maybe the wind and beer got to me.

As we headed back to Portland, we stopped in at Multnomah Falls for some great photo ops and a nice little hike. I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but if you get the chance, you really must go to appreciate the sight from the bottom and the top.

View from the top of the falls...it's quite a trek

Sun setting, meant we had to quickly get back to the bottom of the falls, which was much easier than going up. 

Back in Portland, and to end our day, we decided to check out another one of the city's late night happy hours at Saucebox. This place had a great vibe and some tasty bites from Sweet Potato Spring Rolls and Pad Thai to yummy concoctions...such as the Thai Basil Gimlet.

And that folks was Day 2 of Portland....

complete with sights, sails and sauces.

Stay tuned for more!

-Mo Vid