March 13-20, 2007

Unfortunately, our camera went kaput this week and has to be sent to the service center for repair. I guess it couldn't take in all the beauty it was experiencing! So there will be no original pictures for a while, just some I download from the web.


We got a sense of the power of water last week when we took a hike along the Sandy River. Heavy rains and flooding late last year completely re-directed the river flow washing out a bridge abutment and eliminating access to the trail we intended to hike. There was an incredible amount of silt and debris (dead trees and stumps) in the river bed and on the land adjacent to the river.


Friday through Sunday brought sunny weather and temps as high as the mid-70s. We drove down the Willamette Valley went to the annual Daffodil Festival in Junction City and then through the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, home of the NCAA Sweet 16 Ducks!

Seeing the daffodils reminds us of a poem Susan's mom recited to her children every spring and now she sends it by mail with a new picture of daffodils to celebrate spring's arrival. Here it is:

I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud
by William Wordworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils,
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

On Sunday, we came into Portland to join Jay and Toni for a Patty Griffin (www.pattygriffin.com) concert at the Aladdin. It's a very small hall and we had second row seats. Patty has a beautiful, strong voice and she and her band gave a powerful concert.

On Monday night, Jay and Toni invited us to join them for the annual fundraiser for Portland State University at the convention center. Earvin (Magic) Johnson was the keynoter and, typical of our Oregon experience to date, we sat at the most front and center table and Sue and I had the closest seats to the stage! We kind of feel like "Forrest Gump" inserted into all these prominent situations. It was a great opportunity to meet some new people and prove to ourselves that we could actually wear dressy clothing again- if you ask me, we looked pretty damn good!

We continue to savor this gift we have been given!

Getting a Head Start on St. Paddy's Day- Sunday, March 11

Spring came to Portland where we spent the weekend. Temps hit 70 on Sunday and the cherry trees are blossoming, people are mowing lawns, and the smells of new growth fill the air. We are treated to an early St. Patrick's Day parade which came down the street parallel to Jay and Toni's home in the NE section of Portland- the annual Irish Wolfhound parade. Believe it or not, Susan actually made the 11 o'clock news on KOIN channel 6!

There does seem to be a sub-theme of dogs emerging. Between caring for the 'lil focker, talking walks with Radar (Tara's dog) and now the Irish Wolfhounds, one has to ask..."will Susan soften enough to allow a dog of their own in the Ristau household?!" Stay tuned...

We love the early start of daylight savings time and with forecasts for sun and temps in the high 60s, and the annual daffodil festival in Eugene next weekend, it won't be long before Stephen gets out on his bike...it is awesome out here!!

We sign off today with a special prayer for Stephen's dad, Ed, who died 3 years ago today. We love you, dad, and hold you in our hearts!

Friday, March 9

Well, where did the week go? We now know what many retirees mean when they say they don't know where the time goes! And we're only transitionally retired! Or maybe not if we keep having the experiences we are having with the natural beauty that surrounds us. We had 6 consecutive days of full or partial sun this week and spent considerable time outdoors hiking , snowshoeing, and yes, x-country skiing. Stephen finally found a pair of new ski boots and on perhaps the finest weather day yet, we set out to Trillium Lake. The mountain was omnipresent and awesome!

We dogsat "Ben" (not our son!) whom we affectionally have dubbed "the 'lil focker" this week. Ben is Toni's Yorkie and he found that Sue's lap was an acceptable alternative- he definitely prefers women!

Today, we came into Portland to take in a Rod Stewart concert...boy, has HE gotten OLD!!!!

Until next time, stay young at heart!

March 1- Happy Birthday, Ed!

Today, we celebrated the 83rd birthday of Stephen's father, Ed, by hanging out in his 'hood in Bend, OR. You just never know where this great man will show up!

Bend is a place that Stephen has fallen in love with but apparently alot of other people have, too. Since his first trip out here about 10 years ago, the population has about doubled (the locals call it "little L.A.). Housing prices have soared and it is very clear that we will NOT be living in Bend!We took a great hike along the Deschutes River. The first time Susan was here, we rafted with Jay and Toni through some pretty intense rapids. Toni would have preferred today's trip which was all on land...about 6 miles long up one side and down the other. These pictures (except the one with Susan!) don't do it justice.

No trip to Bend is complete without a couple of pints at the Deschutes Brewery. We completed this visit!

Feb 28- Over the mountain and through the woods...to central Oregon we go

We woke this morning to quite a surprise...5" of snow at the cabin and snowing hard. Our plan for the day was to head east over the mountain passes and into central Oregon for a couple days of sun and exploration. This is what we woke to... not bad, huh?

We had to do some laundry (and it was snowing like hell so we had to wait it out), so off we went to Welches about 5 minutes west on Highway 26. This is about as helpful as Stephen was with the laundry!

With Susan clutching the passenger side door and using the imaginary brake on her side (sh-h-h-h, she thinks it's real!), we ventured over the two passes of the Cascade Range.

We were told to expect less snow on the other side and we also hoped that the sun would be more visible- we were not disappointed. Central Oregon is very dry and touts itself as having 300 days of sun a year. There were some clouds on this day but the sun was a -shining.

We encountered some flurries before reaching Redmond, OR about 2 hours later. That night, we attended an excellent talk by Franciscan father Richard Rohr at Eagle Crest Resort sponsored by a local spiritual life center that we hope to become involved with.

Once more, we are amazed by the radical climate changes here in Oregon within short distances of one another!

Winter Wonderland Feb 25, 2007

Over the past two weeks, over 40" of snow have dumped on Mt Hood and elevations above the cabin (we just get rain!), so we have headed up there to snowshoe regularly. On Sunday, we were joined by Toni Bloom and her granddaughter, Ryan, for a hike around Enid Lake. Susan and I were amazed by how much more snow had come since our last snowshoe trip just a couple days earlier!