camping: lost lake

first summer camping trip 2009!

overnight camping with jamie, rachel and wendy at Lost Lake. it was awesome and we all want to camp there again asap. our only complaint was the bugs but there's lots of water and the skeeters love the water...and our sweet succulent blood. so it was a party when dusk started. they were all about the tent rachel and wendy were setting-up. there was a swarm of at least a hundred of them hovering over the top of it. yuck. we started up citronella and smokey anti-mosquito things but they only helped a little bit. rachel was wearing the most clothing and seemed to be attacked more than the rest of us. i think these bugs liked a challenge. jamie was in her usual short-shorts and tank top and she wasn't getting swarmed nearly as much. or maybe jamie just gassed them out.

the bugs died down as the sun went away. wendy the wick had a raging fire going and i was cooking the chili. rachel and wendy threw garlic bread and corn on the fire. we gave up on the corn but the garlic bread was good with the chili. mm. rachel made up some bloody mary's and jamie had her cocktail. girl's weekend! we pigged-out on my chili (dad's special recipe) and sat around the fire. the stars were so bright! i asked if we could see the stars on the lake so we all walked across the street to the walkway thing and sure enough - stars in the water. beautiful. i think that was my favorite part of the whole trip - standing out there on the lake in the middle of the night with all the stars. we really did have an awesome location to camp at.

morning: coffee, breakfast and strike up camp because jamie had to leave at noon for work. we left a few things at the site and after jamie left, walked to the general store to rent a rowboat. rachel, wendy and i jumped into the boat with their dog and rowed across the lake. rachel and wendy rowed over to the other side like champs. we pulled the boat up to let North out in the water, where she swam in circles. it was pretty amusing. i walked out on a log and north would swim out to me and back again. we get back in the boat and i start rowing. i'm not a good rower. don't get stuck with me in a boat because i won't get us very far. i'm not like everyone else and my left arm is stronger? yeah, weird. so we'd get out a bit and then start going in a circle. i gave up and rachel took over. go muscles! then she said she was having a hard time because of the wind so i didn't feel so retarded. okay, maybe just a little. i have a strong left arm and i row in circles. how does a righty get a stronger left? anyway, the boat was really fun. the view out on the lake was gorgeous. out in the middle you get a view of mount hood, surrounded by other mountains covered in trees. it was a clear day so everything was just, wow. no motors are allowed on the lake so all you hear are other people on the river in row boats, paddle boats and canoes ... and whatever else people like to float around on water with.

no big surprise that no matter how much sunscreen i put on i get sunburned. at least it's somewhere i can reach this time (and not between my shoulder blades). i'm also happy that i didn't get burned on my neck but just under it. which is very convenient because i can cover it with a shirt. no red neck for me! then again, if i brushed my hair out, feathered my bangs and rocked the red neck i could start a new fashion with the hipsters. they seem to gravitate towards looks that are borderline trailer trash.

i'm a lazy cyndi lover

okay, so i'm lazy. haven't blogged in a long time but i'm going to quick-fix it with some cyndi lauper.
this has always been one of my favorite cyndi songs. i love her!

gusty

i am so glad i was off work at 3:30 today so that i was home (and off my bike) before the storm started. around 4:30 i was sitting out on the deck and these big crazy gusts of wind blew through. i heard a loud cracking noise and the wind blew over a tree into our neighbor's yard. yikes! i think he's out of town so he'll have a surprise when he gets home. it's leaning against his house but i think the only damage is his fence and gutter. the wind is still gusting and there's supposed to be thunderstorms and hail. i am SO glad i am not on my bike with these winds. i would have been blown over!

the "severe" weather warning for tonight's storm. hilarious.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH...PREPARE
IMMEDIATELY FOR DAMAGING WINDS...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...AND DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER... PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

i was out on the deck ... obviously not in a shelter of any kind. "deadly" lightning! wow. i didn't see any destructive hail. that's disappointing. i was hoping for the quarter-sized hail abigail promised me.

zebracorn

found in the customer reviews on amazon for these hot zebracorn pants:

The first time I wore these pants, I tried to capture the spirit of the animal print from which they came: the Zebracorn (50% Zebra / 50% Unicorn = 100% real. See Google). I would wear these pants with nothing more than Crocs on my feet and hair on my chest, and prance around the block like the mighty, legendary Zebracorn. It was kind of like skipping, using an intermittent hop, kind of a gallop. Yes, definitely a gallop. And I held my hands in front of my chest like I wasn't exactly sure what to do with them.

more quality customer reviews for the wolves shirt. read them.

zebracorn pants + wolves shirt = wal-mart stud

fat rascal riders

you know what makes me happy? fat people on rascals. i see one of these wonderful combos and i'm all smiles and clapping my hands together. yes, clapping.

i savor moments like this:
sitting at a traffic light and what is coming up the hill in front of me? first a head...and then yes! fat guy on a rascal! that thing's slowly bringing him up the hill, in traffic, with an angry car behind him. why's he in the traffic lane with his rascal? who cares! it's hilarious.

lots of sightings of fat rascal riders (FRR) happen at grocery stores. i'm waiting at the deli for sandwiches on a 100 degree summer day. in rolls an FRR and i'm using all my strength not to start laughing and then say wtf, outloud. this one's easily 300+ and under her giant lumpy legs there's a dog! poor thing. it was a wiener dog - equally overweight! not only was it overweight the poor thing was stuck underneath her and her body heat on such a hot day. awful.

i was just reminded of another good type of FRR: the ones who have oxygen tanks and roll into the store to buy cigarettes. healthy!

maybe i should start snapping shots of these people and posting them on here...FRR sightings. hmmm. i dunno, that might be too much. too mean even for me? but it would be funny!

bike congestion

another ride into work this morning. they decided to play with the steel bridge and leave it up (it's a draw bridge). the first is the bike/pedi path i take on the bridge, the second picture is bridge up and third picture is bridge as it is normally.

work people informed me bridges will be up and down this week and next monday for Fleet Week. i kinda like watching those big navy ships roll in, as long as it doesn't make me late for work. maybe i'll post pictures if they're coming down the river on my evening commute.

so the bridge was raised. it's annoying because it makes me late but at the same time seeing "bike congestion" makes me happy. there were so many of us waiting on the bridge, on both sides. yay bike commuters! so we're all waiting looking around for the boat or barge because that's what they raise the bridges for. no boats. no barges. there's nothing except for some canadian geese swimming back-and-forth under the bridge honking away. raise the bridge for the royal contingency of canadian geese. honk honk.

one-by-one the bike riders start turning around to find another way to get across the river. i decide to join them and right when i get to the switchback the bzzzzzzz of the bridge moving happens. i wait. it stops and a voice says something about 10 or more minutes for the bridge. ugh. forget that. i continue up the switchback to interstate to head up to the broadway bridge. i stop and call work to tell them i'm late before i hit the hills. the hills aren't too bad, more gradual than anything but still a work out. i think i added another mile to the ride? maybe.

so despite making me late i was happy because i had more time on the bike and rode on some different streets. how many people can say they were happy to be detoured on their morning commute? if i was in a car i'd be annoyed. on a bike it's no big deal, i'm just happy to be out there riding around.

my favorite part is when i have a good stretch and i have a steady comfortable rhythm going with my legs and i feel 'one' with the bike. i know, cheesy. it just feels great! now if i could just learn how to (or have the huevos to) balance and ride with no hands like the other fancy bike riders. i could dance around too....because you know i would.

garden procrastinator

it's supposed to be almost 90 degrees today. i decided to sleep-in and chicken out about riding my bike. this morning it would have been great but it's almost too hot to ride those 6mi back home. last time i rode in that kind of heat my face was as red as a tomato for hours and jamie was asking if i was okay. not hot.

i just checked the weather and the weather sites were lying about it being super hot...damn. i could have rode my bike into work.

yesterday i decided to attack the garden. finally. i've been procrastinating for months. "attack the garden" meaning, create one where there was none. i started around 6 or 7 last night so it was cooler outside. it was a workout! i was sweating like crazy. i decided to turn the soil in the part of the yard that the sun hits the most; in an area of maybe 4'x5' or somewhere around that.

there's this black plastic stuff under the dirt which is super annoying to pull up. i had to use my whole body as leverage to roll it out of the way. it's heavy! obviously it was put down years ago so there's layers of dirt, weeds, and whatnot on top of it. it was used to control weeds? my guess. it's not working. our backyard is overrun with weeds, rasberry bushes and three different vines. it's pretty wild out there.

under the plastic is compacted dirt so i had to get the shovel in there and turn the soil. whew. if you've never done this, believe me it is a pain in the ass and difficult. i broke the soil up (breaking up clumps), aerated it and raked it and turned it over another time. By the time I was done the soil was all nice and smooshy. I grabbed my plants that needed to be planted and put them in the dirt so now I finally have a garden. Yay!

i was filthy. i think i had dirt on my face but it felt great. jamie said the garden looks great and she even watered it for me. :)

soon i will have red, yellow and orange bell peppers. i will also have spinach, roma tomatoes, jalapeno's, cayenne peppers, parsley, garlic chives, garlic, cucumber and japanese eggplant! i still have room for more. i'm thinking about putting in some salad greens. we also have thyme, mint, 3 types of basil, sage, rosemary, and a baby lime tree growing on the deck.

yum. fresh veggies.

"what have i done to deserve this"

...nothing really but i like this song.

thoughts on being single. i love it. it's safe. it's fun. it's freedom. i think loads of people in my life will applaud the girl who can settle me down. in the meantime it's me-time. there's my complication ladies - commitment scares the [fill in the blank] out of me. great, huh.

so what do i do with me-time? i go on long-ass bike rides and to the gym (when motivated to). i spend my time bouncing from friend to friend to nap to my room to event to person and so on. i read books. i savor doing things spur-of-the-moment. sometimes i take a really long time doing laundry because i can.

long bike rides are a new thing for me. a new thing i am totally addicted to. saturday was one of those days. i was taking a long and leisurely time sleeping-in, coffee with housemates on the deck and laundry. i totally forget about my phone until i see it flashing and there are a bunch of missed calls and text messages. why, because i left my phone on my bed stand on vibrate. it was one of those mornings. jess was one of the texts & missed calls - wanting to get outside to do something. of course i'm game! jess-kelly time is my favorite time. i get out of the house by 12:45 and ride over to her house for a tandem bike ride in the sunshine.

we get on the tandem, fill the tires up at the recyclery and ride over to the esplanade. let the smiles begin! people love us on the tandem. we get waved-at, smiles and people in cars getting really excited about how cute we are on the tandem. amazing. ding ding of the bell for smiles! i like to think it's because we're two curly-haired girls on a tandem bike. or maybe it's just the bike.

we ride down the esplanade, the springwater corridor and down to the Bins. park the "station-wagon-grocery-bringer-tandem" halfway in the handicap ramp. *shrug there's enough room for a wheel chair...if they're not huge. or a rascal but secretly i want to see a super wide person on a rascal attempting to get around the tandem, red in the face with frustration. backing up and forward and back and forward....we decided we could always listen for the loudspeaker asking "whoever owns the big giant bike...could you move it out of the handicap ramp...." luckily that didn't happen.

went through the bins for awhile and found a few things. i might have to see jess in her turquoise running outfit. maybe that could be worn on the next tandem ride. except then i would have to wear something as um, colorful. i might have to re-think that. we see the springwater trail and jump on the trail because neither of us have been over there. surprise - it's awesome. lots of the nature happening. a river of sorts. bridges. in one word - gorgeous. summer spot for sure. we take a route across a bridge and down a bumpy hill into a country club? random. make our way around there feeling lost until we find tacoma. ride over the freeway and down a very steep hill which is frightening on a tandem! especially when you're sitting in the back and not seeing where you're going. eeek.

we head through a neighborhood trying to find the corridor/esplanade and on the way head up a hill. the hill. did i mention the bike is 50lbs? yeah. heavy. so we're huffing and puffing. car's coming at us and we run into a big black truck that's been out in the sun all day. that means it's hot kids. jess took the brunt of the impact to avoid scratching the truck. causing a burn on her arm that she said felt like a really bad indian rub burn. we jump off the bike and what do i do? walk ahead of jess while she's in pain and leading the bike up the rest of the hill by herself. what? yeah, i know. i plead insanity. my reputation of "nice" kelly out the window. yeah, i can be clueless. what. so jess gives me shit, as she should. i feel like an ass. we get back on the bike and look for somewhere to eat. dairy queen! ice cream! that makes everything better. jess shows me how to make dirty things in the ice cream and we laugh about me being an ass while she's in pain and hauling a big heavy bike up the hill. we jump back on the wagon to head back to portland and find somewhere to eat along the way.

We decide to stop at roadside attraction for the patio. sandwiches and beer. i watch jess get more and more tired. meanwhile i'm trying to maintain my energy for the next long bike ride. walk the bike to her place, watch her crash for her double shift and i'm on my way home to meet people in a half hour. legs are starting to burn...

jamie joined cassie and i for a bike ride. remember that i just finished about 20 miles on a tandem with jess. so yes, my second long ride of the day. go me! so off we go! almost the same route: tillamook (street), 7th and down to esplanade. esplanade to springwater and a bit around sellwood. then back. my ass is totally hurting at this point and continued to ache for days afterward. it hurt to sit for long periods of time. so the second ride was super fun. it was mostly riding at a moderate-to-fast pace. we stopped for sushi on the way back. i had grilled tuna because i don't really like sushi. then back home where i took a shower and collapsed into bed. so tired!

it was a great day. i can't believe i was still going! wow.

baby cheesus strikes again

cheesus strikes again and this time they're wondering "how much could we get on ebay for this?"

for previous cheesus reference see my previous cheesus post from last year.

super creepy banker

this face greeted me from my credit union's website. she has super creepy crazy eyes.

Look into my eyes!

YOU WILL BANK WITH _______.

YOU WILL GET A CREDIT CARD.

YOU WILL GET A SAVINGS ACCOUNT.

YOU WILL GET A CD.

YOU WILL GET A LOAN.