Eugene Outing

Lori, Jeanette, Sylvia and I did a day trip down the Willamette Valley to Eugene. Our first stop was at Skinner Butte where you can get a view of the the city. From there it was just a short drive to get to 5th St. Public Market for just a quick walk through. Then it was off to do what everyone was really interested in, sampling micro brew beer. First stop was to Nankasi Brewing that we found out had closed their taproom. Fortunately Hop Valley Brewing was just a few blocks away where we were able to sample a flight of beers and get some lunch. Everyone agreed the lunch was good but the beer was not. So we were off to near by Oakshire Brewery to sample a flight of tasters that fell short of expectations. We had one more place to try at Claim 52 that was out of many of their beers so we did a short flight. Again another place not to return to. We finished our day in Eugene at a cemetery where a relative of Jeanette was buried and an appropriate place to end our visit.

Lyle Eagles, Schreiner Farm, Catherine Creek, Fish Hatchery and Backwoods Brewery

Out for a road trip to the East end of the Gorge on a day with no rain or wind just cold. We started at Balfour-Klickitat by Lyle to spot some eagles and then went further East to Schreiner Farm to see some exotic animals. Then it was time to start heading back to Portland with stop at Catherine Creek to see how the flowers were coming along and then another stop at Spring Creek Hatcher to see if the fingerlings were in the raceways and they were. We got there right at feeding time so we saw the water bubble up as the little salmon popping up for lunch. Finally we went to Backwoods for Pizza and beer.

Tuesday Walks

The weather once again was uncertain so we decided to stay close to home. I was out again with lori and Jeanette. We started with the Orenco Nature Park and Rock Creek Trail walk. About 4 miles. Then had lunch at Rock Creek Tavern. Then .8 mile walk around Commonwealth Lake. We were lucky and rain held off until we were done with our hike.