Our annual holiday hike this year was at Silver Falls State Park. An area we haven't taken advantage of which isn't that far from Portland. This time of year the falls were very thick and very impressive. The picture above is us behind Middle North Falls.
More from Middle North Falls
South Falls
We finally used my birthday present for Julia, which was a gift card for the Portland Rock Gym. It was my first time and I felt weak, but am now hooked.
As most of you probably know, we had multiple snowy days in Portland. We enjoyed it more than others because we didn't have full-time jobs, but Julia did miss a day of work and we did have to postpone the Smetana family Christmas celebration a couple times. Otherwise we walked the dogs around in it and had a good time during these rare occurrences.
We joined in the Portland Women's March with over 100,000 other people around the downtown streets. It was very positive and powerful to be a part of. We didn't make the sign we are holding above but actually found it on the street. It sums the whole event up fairly well.
One late January sunny day, we played some disc golf down at Milo McIver State Park.
View of Mt. Hood and the Clackamas River from Milo McIver.
We dressed up for a 40's themed party (I am supposed to be Humphrey Bogart from Casablanca)
For the past few years, our Christmas gift for the niece and nephews has been an experience instead of toys that would just take up space in their closet. This year we joined with Lucas and Tarah and took the kids out to Seaside for a night. The weather was perfect and we had a blast chasing the kids around as they ran into the very cold Pacific Ocean.
at Ecola State Park
That brings me to where we are now. About 30 min south of Seattle, the area is mostly strip-malls and chain restaurants. We did find a good Ramen place just up the road but had to travel up to Woodinville for wine tasting at an industrial office park. The scenery wasn't as nice as a vineyard but the convenience of walking to about 20 different tasting rooms is an advantage.
Julia is enjoying her lighter work schedule and the ability to come home for lunch. We found an apartment 5 minutes away from the clinic which wasn't furnished, but this has given us the opportunity to go through all of our kitchen items. We moved it all up here in a U-haul and are now able to appreciate our things we haven't seen in over 2 yrs. I have been using the small gym attached to our apartment complex a few times a week to train for the Shamrock run. During the 2 days that the weather has been good, I played some disc golf and walked to the nearby stores.
We will move back down to Portland in mid-April when Julia's assignment ends. What is next after that, we don't really know. Please check back here regularly to stay informed.
