One of my traditions with Alex. A day with our crawdads, catfish and banana pudding! CRAWFEST
Sacramento Crawfish and Catfish Festival 2021
Dec 22nd, 2021 by leigharev2
Quick Trip with the Girls
Sep 21st, 2021 by leigharev2
So, Shanti could not make it, but Eun and Tina came up to Manzanita for a super quick visit. They flew in late Friday night and left Sunday afternoon. We made the most of it and did the Three Capes day trip on Saturday! Sunday was spent running five miles through the park and beach, and shopping the shops of the town.
First stop: Cape Meares. We pretty much had the place to ourselves.
Coffee before we go! 
Eun showing off ‘Multnomah 2’ 
Second Stop: Oceanside
Third stop: Jacobsen Salt Co.
Next stop: Nevor Shellfish Farm
Next stop: Cape Lookout. We hiked the trail a bit, but it was pretty mucky, so we turned around. Lovely trail, though.
Next stop: Cape Kiwanda
Carson Clan 2021 (part 2!)
Sep 20th, 2021 by leigharev2
An opportunity presented itself that Carson – Arevalo fams were able to get together a second time in 2021, including TJ this time! They joined us in Manzanita for almost a week. A bunch of beach time, Fantasy Football draft, video games, sleeping in, a card game or two, and, of course, crab for the crab lovers…
Michelle in Manzanita
Sep 20th, 2021 by leigharev2
A quick weekend visit with Shell-Belle…
Oregon Wine Country with Heidi
Sep 12th, 2021 by leigharev2
A quick little getaway with one of my BFFs. Heidi drove down from North Bend and I met her at the AirBnB we booked in Newberg. A studio mother in law apartment, close to downtown Newberg. It was clean, quiet, and perfect for our stay.
After settling in a bit, we picked up lunch at the Old Town Bar & Grill. Yummy food and beverages. Good service. Worth revisiting.
Next stop… Ransom Wine Co. & Distillery. They have a tasting room in Dundee that offered the option of either wine or spirits tasting. Heidi and I decided to try the spirits. It was six samples of spirits, with a little water to ‘open’ the taste up. We are not used to straight spirits tasting, so it was a bit rough for us and we did not drink it all, but still had fun trying something new.
Ransom’s tasting room had lovely outdoor seating and garden. It was too hot for us to do our tasting there, but after, we walked the garden a little.
Munchies at McMenamin’s Hotel Oregon, and a walk through downtown McMinnville. Cute town. We had hoped to have dinner at what looked to be an incredible tapas place, but, alas, they were closed. Next time. La Rambla.
drove back to Newberg and has more munchies and beverages at Ruddick Wood. They were extemely short staffed and the wait for food was over an hour, so we settled for house made pickles, and olives. The olives were served hot and were a delicious surprise. Eating hot olives was one of the highlights on this trip.
The view from the desk in our room and a deer that greeted us by our car…
Day two: we picked up coffee and pastries at The Coffee Cottage. This place has a wonderful outdoor dining area, and indoor as well. They also sell new and used books; an excellent selection. I bought quite a few books here. This place is close to George Fox University and is a popular place for students to gather and study.
Next stop: Heidi booked us a private vineyard tasting at Ribbon Ridge Winery. Tasting typically takes place inside a yurt, but we were undergoing a ridiculous heatwave and they decided to have us under some shade trees, looking out over the vineyard instead. I think this was even better!
Next stop: Carlton Winemakers Studio. Ribbon Ridge makes their wines at the Carlton Winemakers Studio. This place is a collection of 16 vitners under one roof. We enjoyed a nice tasting, then went to explore the town of Carlton. What an adorable town! Many places were closed due to heat and it being midweek. We had lunch at Park & Main; they have a nice storefront locally curated market and a good variety of counter service food options. Last photo is of us cooling our feet in foot bath… in a cooler!
Next morning, another breakfast of coffee and pastries at The Coffee Cottage, and headed for home.
Snugglin’ with Baby L!
Sep 9th, 2021 by leigharev2
Portland Day Trip
Sep 9th, 2021 by leigharev2
I took the boys into Portland for the day to explore a couple of neighborhoods. First stop was Hawthorne. The last time I had been to Hawthorne was 2009 with Lola and recall it being a great place to shop. Both of my boys enjoy shopping (Alex/contemporary retail, Ryan/vintage thrift), and this neighborhood has both of those. When we arrived, they had the street all torn up with construction, but most of the stores were open. Some remain closed due to Covid. We arrived on the early side, so we picked up a coffee at The Fresh Pot/Hawthorne. Excellent coffee. Friendly baristas. Cool art on the wall. Perfect start to a Portland day…
Next stop was next door to The Fresh Pot. The last time I was on Hawthorne, Powell’s Bookstore had a smaller store here, dedicated to only Home and Garden books. It has moved to a bigger (I think) location and contains a little bit of everything.
I don’t recall all the shops we went in, but the highlight for Ryan and myself was House of Vintage. It was huge and we could have spent the whole day there. He ended up buying an incredible custom leather jacket from one of the Indianapolis 500 races. Alex found a few items at a contemporary store, but I don’t recall the name of it. It was mostly shoes and accessories and had a nice variety for both men and women.
A few hours later, we were ready for lunch Headed over to the Hawthorne Asylum, a pod of 21 food trucks. It was busy and it took a while to get our food, but it was ‘fummy’ (yummy and fun). I think I just made up a new word…
After lunch, we headed over to the Alberta Arts district, but I think we were all running out of steam. We drove along the commercial corridor and none of the shops jumped out at the boys. There were a few boutiques that caught my attention and decided to come back with a girlfriend later.
We decided to head for home and stopped at Camp 18 Restaurant for dinner. It’s on state route 26, in the middle of the forest. A huge log cabin restaurant. They have a short walking trail loop along the river that we enjoyed after dinner. We also enjoyed watching all the birds eat from the many bird feeders on their decks.
Modeling his new jacket 
Fathers Day 2021
Sep 9th, 2021 by leigharev2
The plan was to do a beach picnic, but the weather did not cooperate. It was WINDY! So, plan B…and a lovely plan B it was. We moved the picnic to Nehalem Bay State Park and enjoyed the bay instead. It was sheltered enough from the wind that it actually was a bit too warm. It was low tide, so we walked a way to get to the water to cool off. The bay was so gentle, the dogs walked into the water on their own without our prompting. I could see there were a bunch of clam airholes and showed the boys how to dig them up with my foot! (These clams nestled within a foot or two.) It wasn’t the day we had planned, but it was a day we thoroughly enjoyed.
Our Fathers Day Menu:
Napa Almond Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Pesto Potato Salad
Watermelon Fruit Salad
Chips
Rice Krispy Treats
Soda, Sparkling Water, and Hard Cider
My love, and wonderful father, Daddy David 
The park has a small airstrip. We watched one come in. 
Guarding the Hondo…
Astoria Riverwalk
Sep 9th, 2021 by leigharev2
I took a six(?) mile walk on the Astoria Riverwalk and explored a few spots on it and near it. This is such a lovely place to walk, run, or bike.
Stop 1: Coffee Girl on Pier 39. This is where I turned around to head back and picked up some water. I would love to come back and hang out at this lovely location.
Stop 2: Where my walk began and ended. Bridgewater Bistro. Delicious food. Nice ambience. I ordered a local hard cider with my lunch and loved it so much, I had to track it down. This led me to unexpected stop 3…
Stop 3: Hondo’s Brew and Cork
Three Capes Day Trip
Sep 8th, 2021 by leigharev2
I am so looking forward to discovering all the North Oregon coast has to offer. David and I took the boys on a day trip to explore an area south of us. There’s a popular route known as the Three Capes…
First stop: Cape Meares
We left early and arrived before anyone else and had Cape Meares to ourselves. We walked down to the lighthouse and enjoyed the beautiful views…
On the way to see the “Octopus Tree”, we encountered two very tame deer. They came right up to us, even with our two little dogs with us!
The ‘Octopus Tree‘- a 250-300-year-old Spruce
Second stop: Oceanside
What an adorable town! We arrived on the early side and were able to enjoy the beach before the summer crowd arrived. We saw a bunch of agate hunters harvesting their treasures. There are two beaches in one here. One beach is a typical, sandy beach. On the north end, you can either a) walk around the rock formation at low tide, or b) walk through a tunnel, to get to the other beach. The other beach has beautiful rocks, laden with sealife!
We tried to stop at Cape Lookout, but there was no parking available at the trailhead. So, we moved on to Pacific City/Cape Kiwanda…
Third stop: Cape Kiwanda
This cape has a few really neat things going for it. They have a large monolith also called ‘Haystack’, (the other one, and the only true one, IMO, is up in Cannon Beach). A lovely sandstone beach, and an incredibly huge dune, 240 feet high! The boys and I decided to hike up the dune. It was a terrific workout, and the view at the top was worth it!
On the way home, we picked up snacks at Bear Creek Artichokes. This place is a super cute deli/grocery/gift store.
