Author: ryan

Categories
Travel

Wahclella Falls

Today, Kelly and I went for a little trip along the Columbia River Gorge to Wahclella Falls, which is about a 40 minute drive east from Portland. I’d first learned of the falls from a local news article last week, and since the weather was so nice today (finally) I thought it’d be a perfect day for a visit.

After paying the $5 fee (in a refreshingly ‘honor system’ style; place your money into an envelope and stick it in a box, nobody standing guard) we started our hike to the falls.

The walk itself was a bit muddy and fairly steep at times, with many smaller falls along the way, but at the end of the mile-long trek was a beautiful two-tiered fall into a large blue-green pool, and a deep thundering sound which echoed through the 350 ft tall canyon.

Unlike the larger and more well-known Multnomah Falls (which was packed today as we drove past), we encountered fewer than 20 people along the trail during the two hours we were there. And like the ‘honor system’ payment method, the trail itself was a welcome change; well tended but not overdone (no fences, hand rails, or stairs unless absolutely necessary) making the hike feel a bit more natural and dangerous, with some fairly precipitous and slippery spots which if you fell, you’d almost certainly break bones (if not fall to your death). It’s definitely had that ‘off the beaten path’ feel.

That said, if you want yourself some beautiful nature, it’s well worth a visit.

More photos in my gallery. Enjoy.

Categories
Beer General Work

March roundup

Again, I’ve been slacking on blogging duties. Work has been keeping me very busy, so much so that I’ve lacked the energy to blog. Since my last post, Kelly and I hosted a little St. Paddy’s Day gathering. Had a great time (thanks to everyone who made it out), and my peeps did some serious damage to the Guinness keg. So much so that it went dry about 4 days afterwards. That meant the keg was dead in about 10 days. A new record!

Since then, no new keg, just been slammed with work. The only other ‘news’ is that I picked up a new flatbed scanner (an Epson Perfection V500) so I could make some real progress scanning in all my old pre-‘digital age’ photos, and a new video card (a BFG nVidia 9800 GTX+ OC) so my games would run better (and boy do they! Call of Duty 4 looks like a brand new game).

I’ve also continued my yard work, clearing up more debris and throwing down a bunch of grass seed to help replace my balding lawn… now I’m just waiting for it to start growing in.

That about covers March. Next up, today’s hike to some very pretty (and off the beaten path) waterfalls.

Categories
Beer

Guinness back on tap

I nearly made it. I almost had the keg of Guinness resting peacefully in the kegerator for two whole weeks before tapping it. But ultimately the taunting of won out. I was going to wait until Friday, but it was just too much. It didn’t help that yesterday my office tapped their own keg of Guinness (after weeks of nasty IPA’s).

So after suffering nearly two weeks of inferior beers purchased from the local grocery store, the delicious Guinness is back at Ryan’s Tavern and Smokehaus. Hooray!

Categories
General

More yardwork (I hate moss)

I’ve spent some time over the past couple weekends trying to strip my lawn (front and back) of all the moss that has started to take over. This past winter, what with the snow, wind storms, etc, seems to have caused a dramatic spread of moss throughout my lawn (git off ma lawn!).

What I’ve been doing is raking the moss out (no easy chore), and then spreading some fertilizer / moss killer mix as I get through various sections. My back hurts from the labor, and my lawn looks like the top of a balding man’s head with a few shoddy comb-overs. However, once I get through raking out the evil moss, and give the fertilizer / moss-killer a few weeks to soak in, I’m going to spread a bunch of grass seed and hope the lawn comes in thick. Time will tell.

One thing is clear, my local garbage company needs to come and pick up yard debris more than once every other week. I’ve got enough moss, clippings, trimmings, needles, and other debris to fill up the back of a large dump truck at the moment.

Categories
Beer General

The cutting of the tree

I had another excellently productive Saturday.

Woke up at about 8am, paid a few bills, cleaned up my office a bit, and then Kelly went with me to to John’s Market so I could pick up another keg of Guinness. I keep saying I’m going to get something else (I’ve had Guinness pouring non-stop since October), but, well, what with St. Patrick’s Day coming in a few weeks, I figured I may as well leave the special Guinness tap and faucet attached to my kegorator, and keep the goodness flowing. I am, however, going to resist tapping it for another week or so. If I can. It taunts me.

After picking up the keg and doing some grocery shopping, Kelly and I tried to beat the rain to get some more pruning and yard work done. I’d picked up some lawn fertilizer / moss killer mix, to try and repair my moss-infested lawn. I spent some back-breaking time trying to rake the moss from the grass, and then spreading the mixture into what quickly became some large mud patches. I only got about half of the back yard done before I had to call it quits.

Part of why I ceased my lawn enhancing activities is that my brother T came over with his chainsaw to help me cut down my falling apricot tree (mentioned previously). Within two hours the tree was reduced to a 5 foot tall stump. It was a bittersweet thing to have to do. I loved that tree, it was gangly and hadn’t produced fruit since moving in, but it provided some beautiful texture to our  yard. Sadly, it was beyond saving, and had started falling on another tree that was perfectly healthy. It had to go. A “cut off the foot to save the leg” kind of thing. Either way, I now have to get the stump removed and figure out what to replace it with.

And now, for your viewing pleasure (and a first for my blog) here’s a video that’s not a YouTube ripoff. Filmed by Kelly while I struck the killing blow. That smile at the end? It’s just me trying to hide my tears over what I’d just done.

[flashvideo file=wp-content/videos/2009-02-28_apricot-tree.flv image=wp-content/videos/2009-02-28_apricot-tree.jpg /]

Ax Men, look out!

Oh, and here’s a really nice shot Kelly took after the damage was done.