Brea's Bay Area Baseball weekend

At the end of July I took a solo trip to the bay area. Partially spurred by cheap plane tickets, the dream of visiting Americas ballparks and the urge to see Rose and Kyle.

Everything came together perfectly for an unforgettable whirlwind weekend.

 

On Saturday morning, Kyle and Rose drove up from Salinas CA and picked me up at the San Francisco airport. We parked by the Giant's AT&T stadium and walked down passed the piers.

 

We saw a huge farmers market, historical piers, big boats, sea lions, street performers, 1920's trolleys, Iconic buildings, chiming clock towers, and a pier dedicated to the Americas Cup race that was happening while we were their. I think the New Zealanders won.

 

From the Lexus/Louis Vuitton Americas Cup pier, we could see the famed Alcatraz prison.

And at Pier 39 there is an Alcatraz gift shop that looks like a prison with every kind of black and white striped apparel you could want.

 

"There's Coit Tower!" Kyle jokingly reminded me several times just in case I missed it the first twenty times he pointed it out.

 

The Famous Pier 39.

It was super busy with loads of fun gift shops to check out and good restaurants.

That was the end of the trail for us. We were pooped so we took a vintage trolley back to AT&T Park.  While we were waiting for the trolley a guy in an Oregon Duck jersey came up and asked "when does the MAX comes?" Oh Portlanders! Rose and I reminded him that he was in San Francisco and that the appropriate name is the BART system and that we were waiting for a trolley. So we got on the MAX, I mean the trolley, and rode squished up together back to the stadium.

 

The San Francisco Giants AT&T Park definitely has the most gorgeous view from the nose bleed seats. The outside is really nice as well, it has this old warehouse, pier, mission, California architecture that fits the area so well and has its own grandeur.  The Giants fans are a bit lacking in enthusiasm, but this is definitely not the same team as last year. The wave only went 1/3 of the way around the stadium and our section just gave up after a few attempts at it. Oh well, we had a great time, even though the Cubs won 1-0

 

After the game we drove back to Salinas where five star accommodations were awaiting me at The Beautiful Casa Delancey. The staff barked out big welcomes when I walked through the door. That's Blanche on the left and Sassy on the right.

 

On Sunday morning after having a delicious breakfast in adorable downtown Salinas, Rose and Kyle drove me up to Oakland and dropped me off at O.Co stadium. The Oakland Athletics fans are incredible for west coast fans. They love their A's and with good reason, these guys are awesome. I had a great seat, 7 rows behind home plate for only $35, what a deal!

This game was so much fun I wanted to come back the next weekend. The A's made a new fan that day, and won the game against the Angels 10-6

 

I was just about to leave when I realized it was run the bases day at O.Co stadium.  

Oh my gosh!

But of course I took my time and savored every moment on that field. 

 

That TWA bag is my purse and my luggage, impossible right? But it worked out great.

Fortunately, BART's Airbus leaves straight from the stadium to the Oakland airport, and I was back in Portland by 10pm Sunday night.

What a great weekend. A real dream come true.

Jeanette's Baby Shower

Tailgating while we're Waiting for the Jeremiah to arrive

We had a great time throwing James and Jeanette's baby shower back in July. Jeanette loves football so of course it was football themed with plenty of good food, friends, and fun.

Wings and salsa on the 50 yard line, a football for everyone to autograph, Jeremiah's playbook to keep track of guests and gifts, and special coaches seats for the mom and dad to be

Friends and family came to wish the happy couple well and celebrate.

 

Let the games begin!

Baby food tasting.

Guess which favor is which, and no, dirty gym socks is not a baby food flavor it just tastes like it.

 

Who came hang the clothes on the line the fastest while holding the baby.

We seem some creative parenting skills here. James even attempted to stick the baby in his pocket head first.

Figure out which candy bar has been melted and put in the diaper.

It is quite a sight to see everybody happily sniffing dirty diapers

Diaper the balloon

Careful with those safety pins everyone

Gifts!

James and Jeanette got a pretty good haul, even big brother Bruno was impressed

 



 

Brea and Dani's day at the races

Opening Day 2013 at Portland Meadows

My friend Dani is a big horse buff from Philly, so she was super excited for her first experience at the Portland Meadows race track

Opening Day is a pretty special event at Portland Meadows, so it was a very dapper crowd. There was plenty to do: a hat contest, food, band, and games.

Oh yeah.... and horse races

Dani's is the horse expert, having been raised around them, so I kind of went with her picks. One of her Horses won and the rest placed (that's second place in race talk).

I picked a horse to place and won $3 woohoo!

 

Portland Meadows has live racing on Wednesdays and Sundays starting at 1:45pm to around 5pm July-September and 12pm October-January

 

Brea's Birthday Weekend!

 

Of course the Red Sox were kind enough to come to Seattle and play the Mariners on my Birthday

Our favorite Jacoby Ellsbury, from Madras Oregon, started the game off with a Home Run.

Of course the Red Sox won 8 to 7

Before we headed up to Everett Washington to meet Amber and Lawrence at the awesome Irishmen Restaurant, we stopped at the Hat and Boots in Seattle's Georgetown Neighborhood at Oxbow Park.

Originally built in the 50's on another location, as a gas station. The hat use to house the gas pumps and the bathrooms were in the boots

The hat fit Jody like a glove....or a hat?

But the boots seem to be a couple sizes too big.

When you're In Seattle Washington do not forget to stop in at Archie Mcphee and see what's new in the novelty item world, because they have it all. I bought a astor-turf purse, cowboy rug, and tiny tiki mugs. While you are in the Ballard Neighborhood, check out Dick's Drive-in, cheap and delicious

On Our way back home we stopped in Tacoma to see the World Famous Bob's Java Jive.

It was a coffee shop in the 20's and 30's, but when Bob acquired it in the 50's it became a jumpin' hipster hangout.  Now it's a dive bar " Bob's drama dive," but they are dedicated to keeping it going. They let us in for a tour and it definitely needs fixing up, but it has kitsch appeal for sure.

Back in Portland we ended the weekend at the humungous Palmer Antiques and Collectibles show in the Expo center.
What a great Birthday. Thank you everyone

 

 

 

 

 

 

Castle Rock, Washington

On our way up to Birch Bay, WA, for a little stay with Amber and Lawrence, we stopped in Castle Rock.  They have a great FREE little museum to visit.  They also had a few neat thrift shops, a quilting fabric store, bakery, and like 7 salons and barber shops.  There must have been a barbering/beauty school nearby or something. 

Amazing 1931? restored Fire Engine from Castle Rock Fire Department.

Pick up the phone and hear the actual 911 calls from May 18, 1980.  The day that Mount Saint Helens Erupted.

Samsquanch and me, just hangin' out.

Tree from the volcano blast zone.

Hard hat from the volcano blast zone.

Help Save the 99W Drive-In

If you know me, you know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Drive-In.  Our closest Drive-In theater is The 99w in Newburg, Oregon. This theater opened in 1953 and is still run by the Francis family today. Next year all movies will be digital and no longer produced on film. That means that Drive-Ins across the country have to upgrade to new digital projectors. These are about $80,000. A small independent family run theater just doesn't make that much money.

So here is how you can help...

Honda is running a promotion. Project Drive-In allows people to vote everyday for the next 30 days, for their favorite Drive-In. They are giving away 5 digital projectors to the top 5 Drive-Ins. You can also pledge to support your local Drive-In by, you know, going there. And you can share on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or whatever.

I'm gonna remind you a few times because I feel that it is really important to keep our cultural history alive! So please go and vote AT LEAST once! Please vote for the 99W or your local Drive-In.

Lynden Washington

In June, Amber and Lawrence invited us up to Birch Bay for a long weekend at one of their timeshare locations.  Birch Bay was nice, but we really enjoyed the neighboring town of Lynden Washington

 

Lynden is a Dutch themed town in northern Washington state.  Near Birch Bay and Blaine Washington

 Even the Strip malls have big windmills and Dutch facades

What we really loved was the Lynden Museum. The town really put their skills and incredible collections together for one of the best small town museums we've ever seen.

Ever exhibit was a scaled down structure of a farm, pioneer house, Victorian parlor, forties coffee shop fully complete with working 1920's refrigerator, etc..

A huge collection of carriages, sleighs, and surreys with the fringe on top

The best part was the scaled down replica of Main street in the 1920's

Every building first and second story is packed with original artifacts that belong in the City Drug, Lynden Dept. store, dentist office, train station, fire dept., church, etc.

And on our way out of town we stopped in at the wayside church for a little prayer of thanks for such a great trip.