WTF

We've decided to head south after two months of grey and rain and now this. Cripes. Of course, the day before our planned departure, a major snowstorm is expected to pummel the Washington and Oregon coasts. Tune in. There may be some posts from our road trip during snow days. First stop: Portland, Oregon (Thursday, we hope).

Then it's on to:

• Ashland, Oregon (to see Patty's Aunt Mary)
• Eureka, California (to visit the Lost Coast Brewery, and drive the Avenue of the Giants through Humbolt Redwoods State Park)
• Felton, California (to see our nieces Teresa and Janice)
• L.A. (to check in on my former students Paul Engler and Sam Pullen, who started the Center for the Working poor)
• Joshua Tree National Park (just because)
• Bisbee, Arizona (to impose on my sister Trish and see all her wonderful friends, and do some desert hiking—yeah!)

Ciao for now.

Hooters

This was a nice big pair.


This week we headed down to the sea dike on Boundary Bay, twenty-five minutes south of Vancouver, to check out the Arctic Snowy Owls. These huge birds live in the Arctic tundra. They occasionally come south, however, when the Arctic lemming population declines.  


Apparently, lemmings are easier to find closer to the States.

Just down the road from the dike is the Owl Rehabilitation Society, for birds who, for whatever reason, no longer give a hoot.

True to their tundra origins, Snowy Owls roost on the ground, not in trees.

They generally tend to sit there like, well, bumps on a log

Males tend to be whiter; females tend toward a mottled, more fashionable coat.

Hootie was a loner after he left the Blowfish.

It takes a bit of patience even to get a walking shot of one of these birds, who rest to store energy for the long flight home. Check out the nice matching spats.

There tended to be groups of at least two. I'm assuming these two were a couple, but they might just be logging time together.

I've run out of stupid owl jokes, so this is the caption you get for this shot.

There was other wildlife on the dike that day. Some bipedal predator  primates.

Apparently, the measures meant to keep this species in check weren't working very well.

Some of these bipeds also had tripods. I can't say I was without telephoto envy, with my teeny weeny point-and-shoot.

Patty, and our friend Alana (fellow primate), who joined us for our second outing.

These salt flats attract a lot of birds, including this bald eagle....

....and this more ordinary barn owl (about a third the size of the Snowy Owl).

Not sure what this bird is, or what kind of apple tree it's perching on. So much for an informative blog, eh? However, I liked the colors.

On our first outing, we followed up with lunch at The Beijing Noodle house. I had soup noodles with veggies (青菜面汤).

Patty had the Dan Dan Noodles (担担面).

Their scallion pancakes (葱油饼) were freshly made and quite delish.

Tiny Bubbles

We were downtown last week, running about, and hoping to try a new restaurant. No, we didn't run into Mike Smith (left), who plays Bubbles (our favorite character on our favorite Canadian sit-com, "The Trailer Park Boys"). But Bubbles did figure heavily in our conversation that day.

We were hoping the line wasn't too long at the Templeton. It's ostensibly an old diner, complete with jukebox full of 1960s-'80s gems. However, the food is definitely from this century, local and free-range, carnivore and vegan.

Even though it was 2 in the pm, there was a bit of a wait as the mainly hipster-youngster clientele probably just rousted themselves from sleep. This is the view from our waiting area, where we scored two of the four chairs.

Luckily, we had access to reading material to while away the twenty or so minute wait. Patty discovered this little nugget in the Vancouver Sun. Apparently, the Sun's journalists really know how to sniff out a story.

Even more remarkable is the fact the story was front page, albeit beneath the fold. Let's just say, the Vancouver Sun is no Guardian or New York Times. In fact, it's not even the Des Moines Register.

I ordered a couple of side items: a well-wrought Caesar side salad, and a fantastic and aromatic carrot and cumin soup.

Patty had the Caesar salad with a local free-range chicken. I think his name was Keith.