The Yellow Roses of Oregon

And red and pink and orange of course. I just got back from an almost-week training in Portland, Oregon and it was a lot of fun. My mentor took me out for a night on the town last night. First, we visited the International Rose Test Garden which is a beautiful (and free) attraction. I had no idea there were so many different varieties of roses. My favorite kinds were those dubbed "hybrid teas" because they smelled so good I wanted to *eat* them. There were many people there poking around, including a book club. In the middle of the garden, there was a large stage on which they have weekly performances; this week, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was being performed.

After that, we went to a great seafood restaurant that floats on the Willamette (pronounced Will-'am'-ett) River in downtown Portland called the Marina Fish House. I'm a spinach-artichoke dip addict, and theirs had crab in it, which made it even better somehow.

After dinner, we took a trip to the Oregon Health & Science University (a teaching hospital) which had implemented an Aerial Tram to connect its buildings on the Willamette River with the hospital way up on Marquam Hill. We took a ride on it; the cars were really high tech-looking. You can read more about it here. I believe students get to ride free of charge, but it's open to the public (i.e., tourists) for the low fee of $4/round trip (you can also buy an annual membership for $100 - not bad if you've seen the hill(s) you'd have to drive up otherwise).

Next, it was time for dessert, and what better place than the hippest and most famously delicious place to get dessert in downtown Portland (and perhaps beyond): Papa Haydn's. They had the largest and most decadent desert menu I've ever seen in my life. I had trouble choosing, but ended up getting the Bourbon Ball - a ball of rich dark chocolate cake soaked in Jim Beam whiskey, coated with a rich chocolate ganache and topped with a chocolate and GOLD coated coffee bean.

My only regret is that I did not have the opportunity to drink many new craft beers. Oregon is well-known for its delicious craft beers.

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Half Moon Baying

Since the California wildfires have shut down many portions of Highway 1, we headed northward to Half Moon Bay for our first beach outing of the summer. I accompanied my ever-faithful interns, and we were pleasantly joined by my long-time friend Brian, who had taken a detour from a business trip to visit me.












Brian and I spent our evenings at a fine Mexican establishment which is tucked upstairs to a restaurant attached to a Super 8 motel. It's actually really good.

This week, I'm going to Portland for training. I'm looking forward to seeing The Dark Knight when I return late Thursday night.

Next weekend intern adventure: Whitewater rafting on the South Fork River.

Independence Day Weekend

Berkeley & San Francisco!

We took one of the 1-hour bay cruises on a random little boat for $15, and it was quite delightful.

Oakland A's vs. San Francisco Giants

It was one of my new friends' birthdays, so they got a huge group together for the Giants vs the A's game last weekend. The A's are actually the "Athletics" but I think they shortened it because it is a very dumb and uncreative name for a baseball team.

This weekend, I'm out on the town with some of my favorite interns in Berkeley and San Francisco. Of course, those shenanigans will be posted later. Happy 4th of July weekend!

Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve

I joined two of the interns for a "moderately challenging" hike Saturday at the Ranco San Antonio Open Space Preserve. We did the Wildcat Loop Trail and the trails leading to it in a little less than three hours.

Our original plan was to hike the trails at Alum Rock Park, but sadly, it was closed due to "extreme threat of fire."

Not so sadly, I found the Rancho San Antonio as an alternative.

Even though the signs at the parking entrance announced that the lots were full, we pulled in to find ample parking. The trails were a little bit crowded when we started around 11am with travellers on apparently their return hike, but as the early afternoon wore on, we found ourselves mostly alone.

There was a variety of wildlife along the trail, including a large family of quail (though some dumb Stanford students chased them off before we could get a picture!), a variety of lizards and snakes and lizards that looked like snakes or snakes that looked like lizards. One really bizarre tiny bright blue "snake" might have actually been a Western Skink. Looking at my pictures versus the California Herps website, the other lizards we saw were most likely the Great Basin Fence Lizard and a San Francisco Alligator Lizard. There were also a number of extremely bold black squirrels.

The hike wasn't too challenging aside from a few steep inclines, but my muscles are still aching quite a bit today.

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Sinbad!

One of the ladies that ran my training classes yesterday is Sinbad's cousin. AWESOME



The transition to Big Kid Job has been pretty seamless thus far. Instead of planning goals for my training days and weeks ahead, now I plan *years* ahead.

Everyone gets really excited/surprised when they see I'm from Ohio. They looked at my birth certificate and driver's license as if I had turned something in from Bulgaria. What, Ohio? Where's the University of Toledo? I work alongside ivy league graduates. Personality and experience go a long way!

San Francisco - More than Rice-a-Roni

Reuben gave us a great tour of San Francisco and Sausalito on Saturday. Thanks, Reuben!!

I had some awesome clam chowder in a bread bowl at Boudin's on the fisherman's wharf and caught some great shows by San Francisco street performers. We capped off the trip with a trolley car ride and a pit stop at the mall for restrooms... Guess what - the SanFran mall is a Westfield Shopping Center as well.

This slideshow is outside California and then into Reuben's tour.

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