Bavarian Beer Stein

This year, like every year, I went to Oktoberfest. Only difference is this year I had a beer stein. Tracey picked them up when she was in Florida.

The Bayern coat of arms. And the details are nice.


The top is there to keep flies out. I didn't see any flies at oktoberfest.



The beer steins in action!

City Lights Booksellers & Publishers

On the way back from Oregon, we stopped in San Fransisco for the night, we stayed with some friends. We were pretty tired so we mostly just slept, but we did visit a very cool Bookstore.



It had 3 stories of books. The upstairs was the Poetry room.



Downstairs was everything non-fiction.

I'm a sucker for exposed brick.



Tracey excited about finding some hard to find books on Mayans.

Pickled Noms!

I actually don't like pickles at all. I love how they smell, and I always want to think they are delicious. But once I bite into them...gross.


That was until I had Uncle Don's pickled foods. He had Pickled Green Beans.



Pickled okra.


Pickled peppers.


And pickled...pickles!


And they were Delicious!

Trip to Oregon

So Tracey, Kristen, and I decided to go to Portland last weekend. But then discovered we would have to spend the entire time driving if we were going to do it in 4 days. So instead we drove to Medford, Oregon and visited Tracey's uncle Don.
The next few posts will be able the trip.
On the road again heading up the 5. We have hit the stench of cow country yet.


The house was out in the middle of no where Literally a "Turn off the paved road" place. It was a pretty self sufficient farm, he even had grapes growing on the porch.


The view from the house overlooked a field, a pond, and his apple orchard.


Exploring the house revealed some pretty cool things. Like an abandoned hornets nest.


The hornets create this material that is like paper to make their next.


I swear there were antlers everywhere.


Fruit seemed to be growing everywhere too.


We also discovered an old Porsche 914. I think we could have spent weeks at this place always finding something new.


I just like how this image turned out :)


Next we went to the Butte Falls river.


And we watched Salmon swim up the river.


Further down the river was the Salmon control facility. Where they breed and control the salmon population. It looks kinda like a prison.


I felt like every time we went driving we encountered a narrow unkept dirt road.


We ate delicious fresh picked foods right from Uncle Don's garden.




And in typically Tracey fashion. She caught herself a snake.


At sunset, we took the canoe out on the pond.


We drove ATVs and the dirt bike down to the Blackberry patch.


And picked Blackberrys for a cobbler.


Then we went to Crater Lake. It was beautiful. and big!


And we saw some cute woodland creatures.


Next we went on a hike through the woods.


And soaked in a natural hotspring with naked Hippies (not seen here)