Neptune and Cafe Allora


Monday morning, still in the Pearl... Cafe Allora for an authentic Italian lunch. Very tasty. The hearty red wine was the perfect relaxing compliment to the crusty bread and salami sandwich.

En route, I loved the King Neptune stationed at the Lawrence Gallery. Wouldn't that be fabulous in our front lot?
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First Pumpkin Spice Lattes of the Season!

The sure sign of the return of fall leaves, pumpkins, crisp weather and sunny days.
Ahhh, Pumpkin Spice Lattes. We called the family Barista- Paris, to celebrate! She had mentioned last week that they were coming... and behold- Portland Starbucks got them one day before the Upper Peninsula! Hehe... but Paris gets to have them every day! Alas, the nearest Starbucks to us is in Astoria. A drive we make about every 10 days.

The update on Paris- classes started yesterday. She is busy with school, work (at Starbucks), track, volleyball (yup, you read that right) and she got a new (used) car! We are waiting for photos to post.

This is her senior year at Northern Michigan University. She will be studying for and taking her MCATS- expecting to enter Podiatry Medical School in the fall.
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Cupcake Jones in the Pearl


It is so hard to make a choice, but fortunately they have little mini cupcakes so that you can try most of them!

These are the best cupcakes I have ever had!

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Vancouver Wine/Jazz Festival with Kenny Loggins


Aura hobbled with her 'boot'. We sat in the very front row and enjoyed some wine and champagne. Kenny Loggins played a short set- but it was GREAT! We ran into Sally from Seaview (and Battleground) too. Aura made fun of the old people dancing and getting all excited over Kenny- but she knew all the words to the songs and danced along with us.
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Trip into Portland/Vancouver

On Sunday, Aura and I brought the girls to visit their Mom, who dashed away with them to see the "naked bodies" exhibit at OMSI. She means 'naked'- without skin. The girls gave it mixed reviews.

Aura and I went off on some adventures of our own.
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Long day in Menlo at Pacific County Fair

Last Saturday was our turn at the County Fair. The girls enjoyed the fair while we worked the GOP Booth and CCAP Booth. (Coastal Community Action Program- I am on the Board.) We had a big Cowboy Breakfast made by 4H kids, they went on all the rides (a few times), visited the cows, sheep, chickens, flowers, and ALL the booths. We ate Elephant Ears, Cotton Candy, Kettle Korn, Salmon, Corn Dogs, Pizza and any other Fair food we could stuff into our bodies.




U Village

U Village is so civilized and so pretty. We had drinks and Sushi in the evening. Strong coffee in the morning. Can you see Aura's boot? The bar at Blue C Sushi is open now.
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Ron and Vicki's in Snohomish

The girls spent a night with their Grandparents in Snohomish. I packed the car up with Aura's belongings and we moved her out of the U District.
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Railroad Ties for the Planting Project

My team Long Beach/Seaview (from the National Historic District workshop)- road beautification project... will involve planting hundreds of trees and plants along Hwy 101.

Larkin of Green Angel Gardening donated some railroad ties for the project. They needed to be picked up from Surfside and stored until October when we plant. Brett and his '59 Ford Pickup is tasked with the job. We picked half of them up tonight... the remainder tomorrow.
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Swimming in Astoria, feeding the Koi and Dignitaries in Long Beach

The girls have been reading books, playing on the rope swing, went swimming at the Aquatic Center in Astoria (I worked on laptop- creating the County Fair Booth backdrop), went to Blue Scorcher Bakery, picked up railroad ties (another volunteer project), and dinner at Castaways in Long Beach. They got to meet Mayor Ralph Moore and Councilman Jerry Phillips.


Most important is feeding Brett's Koi Fish.

Key Limeaide

Stopped in Astoria for banking... and couldn't resist a tasty Key Limeaide with fresh Berries. It came with an umbrella and made the trip into Vancouver refreshing.

I was on a mission to pick up our special guests- McKenzie and Brooke. They are my step-grand nieces, ages 8 and 11. Their mother spent similar time with me 30 years ago- while her parents were separating for a divorce. It is an intense time and we hope to provide some good memories for the girls - and to give Kimberly time to deal with things.
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Patti and Emily visit

Emily just finished up PNB (Pacific NW Ballet) Summer Intensive. Patti came out from Connecticut to pick her up and visit family. We met her at Mom & Dad's for lunch (crab quiche) with Hal and Evie... then headed up to Dixie Mtn to check out (brother) Doug's house under construction to check out the progress.

Emily heads back to Kirov Academy (Wash DC) in mid Sept.
(my brother- Graydon's family)

Bite of Oregon

Wine, teepees, Sake tastings, ribs, Iron Chef competition, coconut prawns, sand box, chowder from Mo's, beer, lamb kabobs, music and more.


Highlights: another hat from Mo's for Brett, Arliss the Spoonman and Big Red Wine.