My recording of this show by The Mountain Goats has been downloaded 1,786 times.
Wow.
Monthly Archive for May, 2007
5 days legal, 300 miles already. Sometimes, I surprise myself.
Laura and I went on a scenic loop from Portland to Mount Hood this past Sunday. We saw a few waterfalls, rode on the Historic Columbia River Highway for about 15 miles (all that’s left of it), spent too much time on boring I-84, visited the Bonneville Dam, and headed south towards the mountains.
The road from Hood River to the mountains was nice. Not much traffic. At one point, as we were coming down a hill we had an unobstructed view of Mount Hood towering above the pavement in front of us. As we got closer the temperature dropped and caught us by surprise; we entered a “Snow Tire and Chain Zone” and started to see some snow beneath trees on the side of the road. Thankfully, it hadn’t been raining or snowing recently.
At the first sight of civilization, we stopped south of the mountain near Government Camp, got some hot coffee, warmed our hands, and took a break. Fortunately, this was where the road declined sharply back towards the valley, and we had only about 10 more minutes of really cold weather. The ride back to the city wasn’t too bad… nothing much to see, but at least the traffic wasn’t too crazy.
Flickr photos: Motorcycles to Mount Hood
Just in case anyone was wondering what I’m spending my money on, that is the cost of an Oregon driver’s license (with an M endorsement).
Coincidentally, it’s also the cost of getting caught going 52 in a (poorly-marked) 35.
(a good summary of CCD that has killed billions of bees)
(the man who invented taxonomy nomenclature almost 300 years ago)
Things have been hectic lately.
Which is to say, I’ve been having such a goddamn good time that I haven’t had time to write in this thing. So now it’s time to play catchup.
A couple weeks ago, I went camping with Laura at Oswald West State Park on the coast. We only stayed for one night, and got rained on… yet had an amazing time.
Working at the greenhouse is a lot better than the tree farm. For one, I don’t work outside as much, have a real bathroom to use, music to listen to, and a cute girl who helps me with my Spanish. For two, the day goes by a lot faster. And I can pick up 8-10 hrs of overtime each week if I want to (and I’ve needed it lately).
I also cashed in the remainder of my Apple (AAPL) stock, which wasn’t much. But it was enough to get me out of my debt hole and able to buy a 1996 Yamaha Virago 535, in nearly perfect condition, with only 5200 miles on it… for pretty much a song.
That necessitated taking a rider skills course with Team Oregon. So this past weekend I spent all day Saturday and Sunday learning to ride. Last night I went and picked up a nice helmet, riding jacket with armor, and some gloves (helped by the expertise of L). I also talked the sales associate into giving me a 15% discount on everything. Combined with no sales tax in Oregon, I think I got a really good deal.
Today I went on my first ride, about 5 miles around town and up the highway. I hit 60 and it wasn’t scary at all. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, but when (if) it’s clear on Thursday I’m going to ride to work. The safety vest that I ordered should be here in a few days.
Things with LSB have been wonderful. I can’t believe we’ve been together for 6 weeks now. One, because I usually get annoyed by people at this point. And two, because it seems like we’ve been together for much longer.
Future plans.