Chris and Mariko Visit

ChrisP and Mariko came out for a visit this past weekend. We had a great time hosting them. Sadly they only had a chance to come out for a day and a half or so. They both arrived on Friday evening and after grabbing some dinner we headed downtown to a favorite bar of ours, Kells, an Irish Pub. Before we parked the car, either Chris or Mariko asked J and I an interested question -- "Are we dressed okay?". Now this may not seem like a strage question to you -- but for Oregonians it is a bit amusing. Apparently at many places on the east coast you can't get into any bar, even an Irish Pub, unless you have the right kind of shoes on (etc). That is not the way it works in Oregon. I wear sandles all summer long (except when they get a bit stinky) no matter where I go. Jeans are the defacto type of pants for just about everywhere. Don't get me wrong ... we are not all running around like animals out here ... but the concept of style out here seems to be a bit more laid back compared to a lot of other places :).


Anyway ... Kell's was decent. They had a Irish/Bluegrass-ish band playing. I was kinda hoping for bagpipes ... but to no avail. We headed on home relatively early so that we could get an early-ish start Saturday morning.


Saturday we decided to do the full Columbia River Gorge tour. We were hoping for good weather so that we could also hit up Mt. Hood ... but it did not cooperate and we were met with rain. Oh well ... no big deal for the gorge. We went on two of my favorite waterfall hikes and saw all the near-the-road waterfalls along the way.








Saturday evening we grabbed some dinner at one of the McMinnemins nearby -- the Rock Creek Tavern. McMinnemins is a micro-brewery out here in the northwest that also operates a chain of pubs, movie theaters, and hotels. If you are ever thinking of coming out here ... I would suggest staying in one of the hotels for a night or two ... they are supposed to be a good time. After filling up on food ... we headed downtown to Henry's, a bar that has a crapload of beer on tap (100 taps to be exact) (mostly from the NW ... but also a sprinkling from elsewhere as well).


Sunday we drove them to the airport :(. It was really good seeing Chris again and getting to spend some time getting to know Mariko. Janel and I would like to make a trip out to get a nice East Coast tour from them ... but it is probably going to have to wait a bit. This summer is already totally packed and next summer already has four weddings in store for us :).