Spring break!!

After a very hectic finals week that was chock full of important meetings, Ryan and I finally started out on our spring break trip last Saturday at around 5pm. (We intended to leave around 1...) It turned out fine though, as our only plan on Saturday was to go for a hike in Dunes recreation area on the Oregon coast - and we made it there before dusk and had a fun romp in the sand.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/siuslaw/recreation/tripplanning/oregondunes/

I would like to go back and see some more extreme dunes, and possibly rent an ATV and have fun driving on the dunes. As it was, all three of us (including Audrey) had fun climbing up the dunes while the sand avalanched beneath our feet.

Then we headed south along the coast and stopped for a pizza dinner before getting our motel room.

The next morning we took a very nice hike in the Redwood National forest called Damnation Creek. This was the description we found online: "Damnation Creek: Strenuous 4½ mile (7-km) round trip hike through redwoods. Located just north of False Klamath Cove on Highway 101 at mile marker 16.0. This is a steep trail that descends 1,000 feet (330 m) through an ancient forest of redwoods, Sitka spruce, red alder, and all the forest has to offer, traversing all the way to the ocean. Used in the past by Tolowa Indians for food gathering at the ocean, the trail offers excellent photo opportunities of both the forest and the ocean. Expect at least three hours to complete. Bring your own water."

It wasn't that hard a trail - but it helps that it wasn't hot when we hiked. We finished it in 2.5 hours with 15 minutes hanging out at the bottom, and neither of us are in as good shape as we were in the fall. I am glad the weather here is improving and I'll get back to more hiking again!!

We expected a good view of the ocean, but we did not expect the trail to actually end up on the ocean. It ended in a totally private rocky cove and was totally amazing. These are photos I found online - I need to get our pictures from Ryan.










That evening we drove further down the coast to Mendocino and checked into our Bed and Breakfast just in time to eat at the hotel restaurant before they closed. Good thing they were expecting us! Dinner was good - but not our best of the week...

Then we went to our room - which was very nice.

















Unfortunately we couldn't stay there both nights because it was already booked up but our second room was fun - it was in an old converted water tower and was 3 stories high with a sitting room on bottom, bathroom in middle, and bedroom at the top.













Mendocino is a quaint and quiet little town that was great for strolling around. We had a quiet day including a walk to the cliffs overlooking the ocean. We didn't see any whales despite sitting by the coast for a while - but we both did get a little sun. We also walked into a pet store and let audrey pick out the treat she wanted - fortunately for me she wanted one that was 50 cents - if only ryan and I could eat for so little!!

For dinner we had one of the best meals I've ever had at Cafe Beaujolais.

http://www.cafebeaujolais.com/cb_pu_reviews.html

They made me a special dinner of gnocchi and asparagus where every bite tasted delicious. The molten chocolate cake for dessert was so amazing that Ryan and I agreed it was best we ordered two because we'd have killed each other if forced to share it.

That morning and the next morning we pigged out at the hotel restaurant for the breakfast part of the B&B. But we soon had to leave for San Francisco. We stayed in Tiburon with a friend of mine from grad school days who has also moved to the west coast. I'll post a pic of my own soon - but here's a pic I found online that has a similar view to what she sees from her living room every day - I'm quite envious!!











In San Francisco I had a work meeting, but we were also able to go to some great restaurants, go to the golden gate park and have tea in the Japanese tea garden, and shop at my favorite store, Soku hardware - the best place to get Japanese pottery (like sushi plates) for good prices. I bought a lot - but many things were gifts so I don't feel too guilty :)










We also repeated our breakfast location two days in a row at Crepes-a-go-go, Ryan's old haunt from when he lived there. We stuffed ourselves like pigs - he actually ate 3 crepes the 2nd morning! He couldn't get enough nutella strawberry and whipped cream. I enjoyed egg, tomato, cheese and avocado followed by honey kiwi strawberry... YUMM!!

After that we headed to UC Davis where I had another meeting, then on to Chico where I was giving an invited talk and meeting with a collaborator. The trip had come to an end and I had to get back to work. But hey - that's paying for the gas mileage and some smaller expenses, leaving us the money to splurge on food and the B&B so it was well worth it!

Audrey is healthy!!!

I just got the official blood test results this morning - Audrey is now Lymes free. We had to wait 6 months to make sure it was completely out of her system, and it is. A month of 4 antibiotics a day did the trick... I'm so glad she is well...

She currently doesn't look well - she currently looks very impatient for her morning walk... I need to get moving!

What she also doesn't know is that I've signed her up for an Agility class this Wed night - it'll be our first class since moving out here. I'm sure she'll be super excited when we get there. She loves to work with me, especially if there are treats involved :)

More tango

This weekend I went dancing without my boyfriend for the first time since we've been dating. I'm not sure if it was the "no guy in tow" or the really hot new tango shoes I recently bought, but I was very popular. I got non-stop dances for over 2 hours, and I had to stop at that point and call it quits because my feet couldn't take any more. I think my new shoes are formally broken in now.

It's truly amazing how much the quality of the lead matters. I've had a few private lessons in the last month so I've gotten better, but I still haven't learned how to do anything fancy in the dance - just to follow some basic leads and how to carry myself (which I'm sure will be an ongoing thing to work on).

With some leads it was so awkward - it was hard to tell which foot to step on even, and things were getting all confused. With a good lead, however, I was doing flourishes and sweeping the floor with my feet and kicking my leg up and things that I've not even formally learned. It felt amazing. I am glad I had that experience because it motivates me to want to learn more - it makes me re-appreciate why I wanted to learn this dance.

Here is a video showing off the dance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=142FjGbCZTk

A student here wants to start a tango club so I may be able to dance in my town more often soon, and get more lessons. If only I can convince my boyfriend to take more lessons without me so he can make more progress... it would be awesome to dance smoothly with him...

Tango weekend

This weekend was one of the biggest argentine tango festivals in the US: valentango, in Portland.

http://www.claysdancestudio.com/valentango/index.shtml

My boyfriend and I spent Saturday at workshops learning from world-class instructors. We at first thought the price was steep for such crowded classes, but we both felt we learned a lot. I also splurged on some hand-made (in Buenos Aires) spike-high-heal tango shoes - I'll have to post a pic at some point.

http://www.close-embrace.com/links.html

That night we went out to try our knew knowledge at the grand tango ball. It was a disaster! The floor was super crowded and we could barely keep time with the music. Tango is danced around the floor counter-clock-wise. One song we only managed to get 1/4 of the way around the floor the whole song! Neither of us know enough moves yet to make the most of being stuck in one spot, but at least we gave it a good solid try. There was a live orchestra there, and they had showcase dances from some of the instructors. It was a nice event, even if we have yet to really be able to practice our dancing!

One of the things I find most unique about Oregon is the mix of people/fashions. At the ball there were people in formal gowns, and people in jeans and t-shirts. There were people with posh hair and lots of make up, and organic looking hippie types with pony-tails and no makeup. There were also a handful of guys with bandannas in their hair!

Audrey's slumber party

After my mid-week wine-country meet-up with my boyfriend he came back to my town to spend the day. I had a very busy day on Friday and he knew I wouldn't have time to play with Audrey before our drive up to Portland Friday night. Because of that he offered to take Audrey back to Portland with him Thursday night and she could spend the day with him. I was reluctant to part with the two beings I love at the same time but thought it would double as good practice for when he's going to watch her while I'm at my next conference. So I said yes...

Friday morning I woke up to an eearliy quiet house... it was so lonely there without my little dog! And meanwhile up in Portland she was getting a rare treat: fresh bacon! I'm not even sure she's ever had that (certainly I don't make it for her). I worried she'd want to abandon me and go live with the meat-eater who spoils her, but she was thrilled to see me when I walked in the door Friday night... She's still my girl!

I love my job :)

So sometimes I work like crazy and am totally stressed out. But then there are days like today. So far today I've gone to ballet class, stocked up on groceries at the food coop, come home to take Audrey for a walk, worked on teaching myself to skateboard, and am now making lunch. I'll head to work after lunch and certainly put in my fair share of hours before going to bed - but what a nice way to spend a Tuesday!! It's not over yet, too - I am meeting my girlfriends for dinner later. But for now, time to work!

Some fun despite the hard work

So even though I worked like a dog all Jan, I did manage to have some fun. We took Audrey up a mountain to play in the snow one afternoon:











And now that I am searching for photos - it seems most of the fun we had was after I finished teaching that intensive course. The weekend after that ended we took Audrey to the beach:










I'm not sure how much fun I was at the beach, still recovering from working way too hard in Jan:











Audrey had enough fun for all of us, though:












But after too much fun, miss Audrey has to have a bath, which isn't so much fun:











Then we had our little wine-country retreat for Valentine's day (without the "child", I mean dog, in tow) - amazing that this is only about an hour from my house: