Anybody who knows me knows that I don't drink beer. I've never been able to get past the smell. Ironically though, I really have always wanted to like beer. This distaste has been very frustrating to me since college. And here, in the PNW, where everybody seems to drink large quantities of coffee (something I can't drink thanks to an allergy) and microbrews, I've been feeling particularly left out. So I've taken up my beerquest again, diligently trying to find one that I can swallow. And finish at least a half pint before it gets warm. This always proves to be a challenge - I'll take a sip, and convince myself that it isn't too bad and then a friend will dutifully remind me that tolerating a swig is not the same as a whole glass. Curses.

Over the past several weeks, I've been privy to many "beer tastings" during which I've learned:

Don't judge a beer by its color. Just because it looks like an iced tea, doesn't mean it will taste like one.

When the description of the beer says that it tastes like chocolate or caramel, the beermaster is LYING. I may not know beer, but I know chocolate, and there is no way that a beer is ever gonna taste like chocolate.

"IPA" is not a brand name, but a type of beer, like a stout or bitter. This came as quite a surprise to me. The fact that I found IPAs disgusting, however, did not come as a shock.

Not deterred, I continue to keep tasting beer. People have suggested those fruit beers from Belgium... I'm sorry, but that just doesn't cut it. If I'm gonna resort to that, I might as well stick to cider.

On Monday, we headed up Dog Mountain on the Washington side of the gorge. The guidebook promised two things - lots of wildflowers and very sore legs. 3000 feet elevation in 3 miles. Yikes. Needless to say, the hike delivered as promised on both accounts:

While at the Gorge, we stayed at a hostel on the Washington side. The hostel used to be an elementary school. The main hallway still looks like it did when kids were running through it:



Our bunks were in classrooms that still had chalkboards hanging.



The kitchen for hostel guests used to be the cafeteria kitchen.




Having never spent the night in a school, this was an interesting experience. It didn't quite bring to life those "in school" nightmares we all have, but it was close. As we arrived to check in, the creepy janitor was mopping up our bunk room floor. The lockers were all empty, so technically you could still get stuffed in them. The gym was dark and damp with bleachers straight out of an eighties brat pack film. There were five of us, so we couldn't resist the "breakfast club" analogy...

The garden outside the hostel had some beautiful flowers, which sort of made up for the rough edges of the school's interior:

Over the Memorial Day weekend, a bunch of friends and I explored the Columbia River Gorge. For those who are not familiar, this is the river that divides Oregon and Washington. This is also the Gorge of Lewis and Clark fame. It promised to be very beautiful and it did not disappoint. The next few posts will be about that trip.

First some vista shots of the gorge - these are taken from the Oregon side of the Gorge. There is even a photo of me to prove that I was there:





On the Oregon side, there is an "historical" highway - which is really a "scenic route" with lots of gorgeous forests and waterfalls. Some of the falls were enormously tall- i have photos of those, but they weren't my favorites from the weekend, so I'm not posting them here. When I say "tall," I'm talking like 500+ feet tall.

I've posted a lot of pictures previously of the mountains and water that surround my new home. Recently, I've gained an appreciation of the architecture and buildings of Seattle's downtown. Both the new and older buildings are pretty interesting and on a blue sky day, they are downright beautiful.

On Saturday, the temperature in the city was 85 degrees. This is quite honestly the hottest it has been for me in Seattle since i've moved here. It was quite a shock. As a result, I passed up a day of skiing (shock, gasp - I know, for shame) in favor of a hike to a couple of waterfalls and a swimming hole on Sunday. Armed with a hiking guide book and a swimsuit, a friend and I headed off to Bridal Veil Falls and Lake Serene in search of some cooler temps and a chance to swim.

Neither of us had done this hike before, so besides knowing how far it was, how high it went, and that the hike ended at a gorgeous lake, we had no idea what we were in store for. About a mile in, as expected, we found the waterfalls:





You may notice how close I was to these falls while taking the pictures. I was not zooming at all - the trail takes you literally to the base of these falls- to the point that you are not only getting wet from the spray, but you have to cross the pool to continue up the trail. The water level was pretty high, so picking your way across was tricky. Unless you do what I did - just walking through the water and getting pretty soaked.

The hike up after the falls was challenging, but nothing impossible, or too long. Occasionally, we'd see evidence of "trail maintenance" - or the lack there of:





When we had about a mile to the top when all of a sudden, we hit snow.



This part of the hike was tough - two steps forward, one slide back. But the views were spectacular:




Now, at this point, I should have come to the conclusion that there was going to be no swimming for me in Lake Serene. I hadn't totally given up hope yet- I knew it was going to be chilly, having sampled the water coming off the falls already - but the guide book had raved about this fabulous swimming hole and I was ready. I even had my swimsuit on already.

And then we got to the lake and saw this:



Now, what you see here is, Mt. Index, surrounded by a ton of snow. The picture in the guidebook shows Mt. Index behind a LAKE. With WATER. Definitely not the case here. Definitely no swimming for me this time. It was impossible even to get down to the water's edge safely - you couldn't even tell where it was. There was so much snow on and around the lake, i'm not sure if there will any swimming here at all this season here. I did get to use my towel though - laid it out on the snow and sat on it while i ate my lunch.

You know you have a large mug when you can empty out half your tea kettle into it. And you need like six spoons of sugar to sweeten your tea... and when it takes two hands to lift it up when it is full....

I think i got the big mug obsession from my dad. I'm posting pictures of my new favorite mug (purple one, of course, on the right) next to a normal sized mug (on the left) just to give a full illustration of the ridiculousness that is my new favorite mug.

Over the weekend, I went back to Portland, OR. Specifically to see an Impressionist exhibit at the Portland Art Museum. The exhibit was well worth the trip down - I don't have pictures of the exhibit, obviously, but I do have lots of other ones from wandering around the city - which is a very interesting place.

Scattered around the city are public water fountains reportedly to provide Portland workers an alternative to saloons for quenching their thirst, back in the day. They run almost continuously - which truthfully really confuses me considering Portland is such a "green" place. Having these running all the time seems like such a waste... no? But they are rather attractive and enticing:



I passed by an old brick building that was being demolished. I've seen wrecking balls do this - even implosions... but this was really mesmorizing. It literally looked as if the building was being eaten:





Apparently, smoking is still allowed in Portland bars, but speaking on your mobile phone, is not:




We stayed in a very beautiful Victorian area of the city, with gorgeous colored houses, with amazing gardens in front.

Before moving to Seattle, I think the total number of baseball games I'd been to I could count on one hand. In this season alone, I've already been to three Mariners games. This is not because I've suddenly become a baseball fan. No, not exactly. Initially, I think the draw was the truly gorgeous stadium and view from there - as well as the fact that getting to the stadium didn't require hours of transportation - public or otherwise. And did i mention that on any given game night you can basically arrive at the stadium and just get a ticket - a cheap one -the games never seem to come even close to selling out, no matter what the weather.

Having said all this, I think that if I dig really deep, I think the real reason why I've been drawn to Mariners games is that it is the only place in Seattle I've found where they always play Bonjovi. Sometime after the 7th inning, I get a chance to publicly belt out "Living on a Prayer" in its entirety with intense enthusiasm.

You can take the girl out of Jersey, but you can't take the Jersey out of the girl, I guess.

Recently, I went on an historical architectural tour of downtown Seattle. It was cold, raining and altogether pretty miserable. If you are a loyal reader of this blog, you know that I rarely, if ever, complain about the weather here. This particular day though, complaints were utterly warranted. For the first time since i've been here, I lost sensation in my extremities. And this happened in MAY. But I still managed to take a few good shots between the raindrops...