Produce Time

We have been eating zucchini fritters, Fiesta Zucchini, Thai tofu with Zucchini, Bell Pepper & Lime. And Chocolate Zucchini Cake.



We have lots of grated zucchini in the freezer, and some zucchini fritters. We made and canned a batch of tomato pasta sauce, and we made a huge batch of pesto for the freezer. And it's only the beginning. Lots more tomatoes ripe now so more sauce to be made. More zucchinis in the fridge and on the vine. And grapes! Hooray for grapes. White ones and black ones. Seedless. Sweet.

Something Exciting Happened in Newberg and I Missed It

Maybe if I went to Freddy's more often I too would have seen Robin Williams when he was in town. Evidently he went on a supervised shopping trip and was seen by locals. I'm sure they didn't go to the tasting rooms...

I just don't pay enough attention to the comings and goings of the stars. Especially ones I don't like much...

Occasionally on our walks around town we walk past the treatment center. Not too long ago we did. Maybe he was even there then.

Nothing Exciting Ever Happens in our Neighborhood

The guy who lives behind us, Steve, occasionally buys contents of abandoned storage units and then has garage sales and sells all the stuff. Recently he bought stuff from a storage unit near McDonalds in Newberg. He brought some of the stuff home yesterday, and started going through it. In one of the boxes, he found a pipe bomb. So he called 911, and they put him in touch with the State Police in Salem. They had to come all the way from Salem with their special equipment. This all took several hours. The local fire and sheriff departments blocked off the street, and they of course evacuated his property. Then they built some sort of little shelter out of cement block, and used a robot to carry the bomb and put it into the shelter. If you look closely at the photo, you can see the robot on the left, and the guy in a protective suit. Then they set off the bomb. We were watching from behind Daryl's house. There wasn't much of an explosion, so we don't know if it actually had explosives in it or what. They use a rifle or something to set it off. We didn't get all the information yet about what actually happened. Waiting for Daryl to get the scoop and share. The photo above was taken after they set it off, and the guy in protective clothing is checking to make sure it is safe.
Interesting thing is that a couple weeks ago they found 4 pipe bombs under people's cars in Salem, so we don't know if this was the guy who did that or what. Assume they are tracking him down...
Here's a picture of the spectators (Rich, Daryl, Vonnie):

Other than that, we've been eating lots of tomatoes and zucchini.

Crater Lake

Last weekend we spent 3 days at Crater Lake National Park. We camped at the campground in Mazama Village, which is about 7 miles from the Lake and the lodge. It was a very nice campground - clean, quiet, roomy campsites. On friday we hiked part way around the lake. Took some photos, but they do not do the lake justice. Sun was bright and they make it look a little faded.
Friday night we tried eating dinner at a new restaurant (the only restaurant near the campground) called Annie Creek Restaurant. It was terrible. As we had planned to eat there both nights, we ended up eating crackers and cheese and tomatos in the campground Saturday night.

Saturday we hiked a trail near the campground, into Annie Creek Canyon. It was a great hike and fantastic scenery. We thought the trail looked a little like a mini version of the World's Most Dangerous Road. Which is ever present on our minds.



Baba, Sue, David and Blaine were also at Crater Lake, but they all stayed in the Lodge. They had to get reservations several months in advance, which we didn't want to do, which is why we stayed at the campground. Sue went on the hike with us. David and Blaine climbed Mt. Thielsen on Saturday. Saturday afternoon, Rich, Baba, Sue & I drove around the lake. It was magnificent. In the late afternoon smoke from nearby forest fires blew up and made it kind of hazy and smoky.

We also drove to Diamond Lake, where Baba had gone as a child, because she really wanted to go there again. Rich and I and the boys had been camping there once, in 1995, when our kitty was a baby. We took her with us and she went for a hike with us on a leash.

All in all, a nice trip. On the way home we stopped at several places along the Umpqua River, between Crater Lake and Roseburg. Beautiful.

It is Strangely Quiet in Our House Now

It was a rat. And it is no more. Notice that it didn't even get to eat the cheese. The other 2 nights that we didn't catch it, it ate all the food out of the trap. Gross, huh?

Noises in the Kitchen

We don't like looking under the kitchen sink. It is pretty gross. This is a very old house, and as soon as our new kitchen is done (soon maybe?) we will have to tear up and replace the floor of the old kitchen, as it is pretty rotten. Especially under the sink, where old drips have rotted the floor. A favorite hiding place for mice that the cat brings in and releases, and occasionally even a slug manages to crawl up there from the outside. So it is all in all pretty disgusting. But last week we started to hear really loud noises. One evening I was in the next room and I thought the cat was chasing a mouse somehow inside the drawer where we keep all the plastic containers. But the cat was upstairs. Then I heard noises in the computer room (or under it?) as well. Then gnawing noises under the sink. So I pulled everything out from under the sink. Usually we keep a compost bucket just under the sink. When I pulled everything out, there were some old cat dishes stacked in the back, with a half an avocado sitting in the top one. I pulled them out, pulled the compost bucket out, and everything else. Shining a flashlight back there revealed a gnawed hole in the floor next to the wall. I swear at one point I caught a glimpse of a little nose sticking up through it briefly. Then we went for a walk and left everything sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor. When we got back from the walk, the avocado and a slice of tomato out of the compost were back under the sink next to the hole. Rich thought it was just a mouse. He said maybe a very big mouse. And a very noisy one. I was skeptical. But he set a mousetrap. Didn't catch anything. Then we went away for the weekend. Sunday night when we got home, he set a big live trap. He put chocolate, doritos, and a few other things in there. But we didn't catch anything. Last night, he set a regular rat trap, with chocolate and cheese. This morning? Chocolate and cheese gone, rat trap standing on end by the hole. Funny thing is, there are NO droppings anywhere. Wouldn't a rat leave great big droppings all over the kitchen? It has been going all the way across the kitchen floor to eat the dry cat food every night, making the cat yell at us all in the wee hours of the morning because she is hungry. So this is our big mystery. I'll keep you posted.

Kayaking in the Willamette

In the interest of exploring Newberg as if we were tourists, a couple weekends ago we decided to venture out into the Willamette River with our kayaks. We did this about 5 years ago and found it to be a little scary and disgusting. There didn't seem to be much life on the river, and it was a little smelly. So we were kind of afraid to take our "skin" kayaks down there, thinking they might disintegrate or something. We were pleasantly surprised. It was actually quite nice, not smelly, and we saw birds and signs that there were critters living in the banks. It is still worrisome that people are water skiing and swimming. There were also people camped along the river, and people picnicking. The river is still just not all that clean, especially by Newberg, because of all the agricultural runoff and other scary stuff. But it was a nice day and good to realize that we had a good kayaking opportunity nearby. No swimming though.

Friday Art Walk, Newberg

Probably the biggest event in Newberg is the monthly first friday Art Walk. A nice event, actually. Quality artwork for the most part and lots of wine tasting.

This is a photo of the French Bear restaurant, which is by far the best restaurant in Newberg. Most of the time you can get in without a reservation, but on first friday it is packed!

Welcome to Newberg

Here is where we are. Newberg. Just a little post to get started with.
An interesting meeting tonight in Dundee about the Newberg Dundee bypass project. The whole thing is a bad idea. Huge expensive toll road? MORE stop lights? Better to look at a fast train to Portland, getting rid of stop lights, making 99W 4 lanes through Dundee, and using roundabouts. More info: http://www.dundeeparkinglot.com/