Banks to Vernonia Bike ride

 

 

It was Sunday afternoon and Sandi was sleeping for work that night.  Instead of staying around the house, I decided to check an activity off my do-to list: the Banks to Vernonia bike trail.  It is a 21-mile one-way trail on an old railroad track.  It's really nice, especially on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. 

It started out flat.  When you come upon this farm house it you begin a gentle grade for the next several miles.

 

 

This is about 1/2 way to Vernonia.  Most of the trail is through the forest, but there are a lot of open, sunny parts.

 

Finally, I reach Vernonia.  This is the high school.

I added a 3-mile loop around Lake Vernonia.  Not terribly pretty, but it gave me a few more miles.

 

I'm about 10-miles from my car at this point.  Time to take a break.

 

From car to car: 45 miles.  I was working the last few miles.  I will need to train more if I ever plan on a day-long ride.

Garden update

It's been a couple months since we planted our garden.  The herbs are doing well, except the cilantro which celebrates Independence Day by going to seed and dying.  We are still waiting on most of our vegetables, but our kale and lettuce are going gang-busters.

 

The raspberries are doing really well considering their recent transplant.  The rhubarb, not so much.

The kale exceeded my expectations.  The variety on the upper right is our favorite.

The peas and beans are just coming on line.

Got any recipes that call for lots of chives?

Our basil is doing fairly well, but we always want more.  The oregano in back is trying to stage a coup.  The thyme sits by passively.

Tomatoes: when, oh when will you produce more than flowers?  Get here before the basil dies off, please.

Meet Chandler

Chandler is our newest addition to our backyard.  We got him at the Farmer's Market last week. He is a late-season blueberry bush that purportedly produces the largest blueberries.  He is five years old and we expect great things from him.

 

'Chandler' is the variety

 

Waiting for August...

Redemption

Sandi and I were at her parent's house for Easter.  Their neighbors had a pile of wood with a 'free' sign.  I rifled through it and saw some used exotic hardwood lumber.  I was determined to highlight this wood and we've been wanting an end table for the family room so it didn't take long to draw up plans.  A friend allowed me to consume his entire Saturday and his plainer and joiner.  After the rough wood was planed and joined I brought it back to my woodshop.  It took awhile, but I am pleased with the result.

Note: I just found out the wood is ipe - a Brasilian hardwood.

 

I wanted to feature the beautiful grain and let the wood speak for itself. 

 

Simplicity

 

Beauty

 

Redemption

Central Oregon Vacaton: Black Butte

 

The interesting thing about Black Butte trail is the combination of incredible views of the Cascades and birds-eye views of the scenery below.

Black Butte Ranch below

 Three of seven mountains we saw (probably the Sisters, but could have been Washington, Adams, or Jefferson).

It was little too cloudy to see Mt. Hood.

It's WINDY at the top, so we stayed long enough to snap our pictures.

A fully operational fire watch tower.

Central Oregon Vacaton: Best part of camping

Clearly the best part of camping is the food.  Rather than go for the usual Sun Chips, bratwurst and smores, we took it up a notch.  In fact, we probably ate more gourmet at the campsite than we usually do at home.

We started off with chicken in a creamy white-wine sauce, topped with our own kale.

Don't forget the Parmesan.

For breakfast: fresh fruit and a variety of bagels.

We grilled pork chops on the fire on our second night

Dinner complete with a salad, black bean side and a bottle of Dad's finest red.

Central Oregon Vacaton: Metolius River (Sisters OR)

Sandi and I took advantage of 3 nights off and headed to Sisters, OR for a quick vacation.  We camped along the Metolius River.  It's a fly-fishing meca, so we came armed with books and food.