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Thirsty Thursday: Sobranes Canyon

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: 2013 Chamisal Edna Valley Rosé Wine

The Sobranes Canyon Trail to the Rocky Ridge Trail is always one of our favorite short hikes. We typically go through the canyon first because we like to work for our view. Besides, I think it's better to see the ocean on the way down. It makes the hike a little more relaxing. My favorite part may be watching Massey ping-pong between me and Beth as we stop to take pictures of things. Mas does a pretty decent job of keeping us together (of course, that's until we reach the open spaces at the top). Or, it could be the variety of the terrain that the trail takes you through in a short distance. All in all, the view at the top is worth the hike. See you all out on the trails!

Thirsty Thursday: Portland Wandering

Rambler: Beth

Drink at Hand: Tablas Creek 2011 Mourvedre 

Thirsty Thursday here again, time to pour something yummy and make those weekend plans! And if you are thirsty and you like Rhone varietals, I highly recommend anything from Tablas Creek. Great winery outside Paso Robles. Now, back to the photos...

I had my final Portland State MBA residency weekend last weekend. Yay for a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel (I'll finish in December), but boo for no more required trips to Portland. I've had fun exploring the city and enjoying its quirkiness. Its an urban wilderness for me...a place I can wander and be in my own head without anyone bothering me, much like being out in an actual wilderness. 

I had a flight to catch at 10, but when I woke up and peeked outside, I wanted to go wander with camera in hand. It wasn't raining too much and the soft light was calling me. 

The view from my hotel room that coaxed me outside. 

I had about an hour, so I quickly grabbed the camera and headed out. I just wandered, slightly rushed with only an hour so I didn't have time to immerse myself in many scenes, but I found a few interesting sites. I only had the 40mm f/2.8 with me, and the fixed focal length forced me to work for the compositions I wanted. 

So, after finding food carts, a bubbler, Voodoo doughnuts, and people on bikes all in an hour (and not knowing that I'd find any of those things), I think I had a pretty successful Portland morning photo walk. Someday I'll get back to do a few more photo walkabouts in Portland. 

Thirsty Thursday: Vacation Days

Rambler: Beth

Drink at Hand: Chamomile Tea

Another Thirsty Thursday here again...time to pour something yummy and make those weekend plans. Or in my case, brew something soothing and relax for a few minutes! Its been crazy busy lately, and Terry and I were talking about how it was time for a vacation. Funny, we actually had to define the vacation as a "sit and do nothing in a spot where no one will bother us" which is definitely atypical of the typical Welliver vacation. We've actually never done a vacation like that, but maybe we will some time! 

In the mean time, here are a couple of photos from our last vacation. Cinque Terre was beautiful. 

Hope you enjoy a few minutes of relaxation this weekend! 

Thirsty Thursday: Just Down the One

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: 2012 Ancient Peaks Blanco

Down the 1 just far enough to cross and then a look back. The cool fog rolling in, smothering the hills and across the concrete bridge. The Pacific coast is beautiful and Bixby Bridge is a must see. A few shots later and we're back on the road. More things to do...more places to see...

Thirsty Thursday: Mt. Shasta Attempt

Rambler: Beth (and a few photos from Terry)

Drink at Hand: Trader Joe's Pomegranate Limeade 

Thirsty Thursday here again...time to pour something yummy and make those weekend plans! Apparently last year was our year to climb mountains. And it was also the year to fail at every summit attempt! Well, really we only planned to climb Shasta and Whitney last year, and we succeeded in climbing roughly half of both. Apparently that meteorologist on the climbing team wasn't so good at picking good weather weekends for summit bids. 

We tried to climb Shasta last Memorial Day. We started under beautiful blue skies, and by the time we got to Lake Helen to set up base camp, I was a sweaty mess with sunburned earlobes (missed the sunscreen there). 

We went about doing all the regular camp set-up stuff...boiling water, moving snow around, setting tent anchors, etc...all the while noticing that the clouds were building. 

This is how you get boiled water cool enough to drink in a hurry. 

Ice axes are handy for sinking tent anchors in the snow. 

Soon, it looked like this. Light snow. Thick clouds. And two people trying to keep entertained while we waited out the rest of the daylight. The plan was to go to bed as soon as it started to get dark, given our 3:30 am alpine start the next morning. 

Terry's alarmed mountaineering look. You know, the ones you always see of the serious climber looking seriously at the summit that he seriously can't see because of the serious weather going on. Seriously, those are snowflakes. 

Still kinda nice out. 

Nice so nice anymore. 

Eventually we crawled in the tent, woke up at 3:30 am like we said we would, couldn't see past the last row of tents due to clouds and snow, so we stayed in the tent. Without being able to see the route, it definitely wasn't safe to try to climb it. Not many people made it up that morning. But the inside of the tent was pretty nice. 

Later that morning we packed up and headed back down. Unfortunately we couldn't stay an extra day, but if we had, we likely would have summited the next day. But, the mountain will always be there. Its probably about time that we start thinking about another weekend to try Shasta again! 

Thirsty Thursday: Missing Lupines

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: 2011 Francis Ford Coppola Chardonnay Director’s Cut Russian River Valley

It's pretty much the same time of year and we're missing the lupines. Don't get me wrong, there's a few out there, but nothing like last year. I think even Massey misses them.