I Love It When A Plan Comes Together

Installment two of my long overdue blogging brings happy news! Jana Elizabeth Faust was born on Thursday, July 13 at 3:29 a.m. She weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces. My sister-in-law, Sara, is doing well and after a few weeks at home, my brother, Jeff, has returned to work.  I can't wait to see my new baby neice when I return home for Christmas!

Here are some new pictures just sent to me by Sara.

This post is waaaaay overdue, but Portland summers tend to get busy.  How come no one wants to visit when it's 45 degrees and raining every day?

My last post was just before 4th of July weekend. Marnie and I were very excited because Matt and Joy were coming up for a visit from San Francisco and Joe flew in from Minneapolis. Our weekend began with the annual Portland Waterfront Blues Festival. Matt and Joy arrived Saturday evening around 6pm and we headed straight to the Blues Festival. The Flynns and friends partied a little too late at Daynia's house, so they missed the show (on land). Matt, Joy, Marnie and I found a cozy spot amongst the throngs of concert-goers and enjoyed sets by the Rebirth Brass Brand and North Mississippi All Stars.

It was nice to have some time to catch up with Matt and Joy before the Main Event. The four of us, along with the Flynns and countless other Portland friends hopped on to the Portland Spirit for the Midnight Mambo Cruise. Rebirth's earlier set was pretty rockin' so we made sure that everyone headed down to the second deck for their seagoing set. Rebirth did not disappoint and we all had a great time. Matt wrote a few lines about the cruise on his blog.

The next day, after considerable recovery time and at least one Proud Mary (best bloody mary in Portland), Mandy Hurley joined Matt, Joy, Marnie and me for a trip to see some waterfalls. We stopped by four falls and then headed to Hood River to have dinner at the Full Sail Brewing Company

The weekend wasn't over yet as we headed to Manzanita on Sunday for the 4th itself. Both nights were filled with fun at the beach, although it got a bit chilly at night. As usual, we had a great time and the fireworks were spectacular.

There's much more to catch up on, so I'll write again soon.  Hope all are doing well!

It's over 80 degrees on Monday night around midnight as I type these words. The past few days have been the hottest since I've been in Portland, with temperatures frequently topping 100. Luckily, a group of us had made plans to escape the heat over the weekend. Andy Sweany organized our first backpacking trip of the summer, which also happened to be our first camping trip of the summer. On Saturday morning, Marnie, Tamara, Andy, Brian, Jason, Buddy (Andy's dog) and I drove about 1.5 hours southeast into Mt. Hood National Forest.  Our destination was Dickey Creek, a tributary of the Clackamas River. The hike was listed as a medium-level, three-mile hike in our hiking guide. We were all looking forward to escaping the heat.

The hike turned out to be slightly more difficult than expected. Some steep declines made the beginning of the hike a bit tricky and the hike out a bit strenuous. However, we made it to our destination with no major mishaps and took full advantage of the cool water of the creek and the shade provided by the forest. We even managed to pack in a few beers which were a great reward for our vigorous hike. Here are a few pictures.

It looks like the 4th of July weekend will be in the 80s and sunny. We are looking forward to seeing Matt, Joy and Joe Schwei. We will probably spend the weekend on the Riverfront watching the annual Portland Blues Festival. We have tickets for the Midnight Mambo Cruise on the Willamette River for Saturday night.  I'm looking forward to seeing the Rebirth Brass Band as the were lots o' fun the last time I saw them. Monday we will head to the coast for our third straight 4th of July on the beach. I'll post some thoughts and photos from that adventure next week.

The last few weeks have been pretty busy between work, fixing up the house, going to shows and getting some much needed exercise. Two weeks ago, Marnie, Tam, Brendan and I and a slew of other folks saw the Drive-By Truckers, Robert Randolph and the Family Band and Black Crowes at the Clark County Amphitheater. Unfortunately, circumstances out of our control resulted in us missing the Truckers. I was bummed to miss them, but Robert Randolph and the Crowes were pretty rockin'. The Crowes were a bit surprising, playing only a few of their classics (She Talks to Angels and Remedy) and steering away from the style of southern rock they're known for.

On Wednesday night, Marnie, Tam and I are going to see Amadou and Mariam at the Oregon Zoo. We're all looking forward to relaxing at the zoo with a picnic and a few bottles of wine.

My softball team, Rogue 10, got blown out in the game that decided the first half title of the Men's Slow Pitch F League. We were missing a few of our better players and lost 15-3 to a team of chiropractors. On the bright side, I went two for two with a double and looked damn fine in my trademark black socks, rugby boots and Moondogs cap.

On Sunday, Marnie and I went on a six-mile hike to Pittock Mansion nesteld in Portland's Forest Park. It was our first outdoor activity since her arrival. The skies were overcast, so we weren't able to see any of the four mountains visible from the mansion, but had a great time anyway. We're looking forward to backpacking this weekend with our friends, the Sweanys.

Thanks to Joy, I have finally set up my very own blog. Life has been busy over the past few months, so I haven't had much time to get this site up and running or post to a shared blog dedicated to Minnesota sports among other things. I hope to write something once a week about what's going on here in P-Town, since I don't always do a great job of keeping in touch by phone. I'll also write about issues and events in the field of urban planning from time to time.

Since I don't have a suitable photo of myself right now, I thought I would share a photo of my and Marnie's new house. It was taken with a phone, so it's not the best photo. We were lucky enough to find a house to rent in a great neighborhood for a reasonable price. We have a lot of restaurants and bars within walking distance, a grocery store across the street, and we're within a block of two bus lines. Marnie's move went pretty smoothly and now we're just trying to organize things in the house and work on the yard a little bit.

That's all for now. Drop me a note and let me know what you're up to.