Where's Abby (+ Dylan and dogs)

We have done a lot of bike rides since moving to Portland, but this one 100% deserves its own write up. It started out with such vigor and excitement. I got home from work and we made our plan for our night ride with our fancy new bike lights. Around 4:30, we saddle up and head north to the St. Johns neighborhood, blasting some Leon Redbone Christmas music, admiring the lights along the ride. Legs feeling great like we could ride all night. A pit stop to pee in Mcmenamins in St. Johns turned into a perfect treat of some tots and a beer.  Then it was time. Time to go the reverse way on the Leif Erickson trail in the dark! Ready to fly down the mostly downhill trail for like 7 miles, then exit the trail into downtown in search of our tasty Indian dinner that would be so perfect and warm and well deserved.  The initial hill to get onto the trail from this direction was a bear. We shamefully dismounted and walked our bikes most of the way up until finally getting to the entrance. ...

Carla came to visit! I learned that it just takes a Carla and a few randomized cocktails to get me dancing at a dragshow. We did a daytrip to the coast,  Not as many pedalpaloozas happened this year, but we did make it to the kick off ride and the goth ride. One highlight of the goth ride was having a friend from Florida actually get to join. We never made it to hang out with him and his family while in Florida, but on his quick trip to Portland for an event, he couldn't say no to the idea of this ride.  The Krupkas came to visit! This was their 3rd visit out to see us (including 2 visits when we were on the coast), so they are currently in the lead of visitors, so catch up friends and family! As usual, it was jam packed with their family, even with the addition of their fireball 2year old, they had more stamina than we did! Togther, we did 2 hikes in the city (Forest Park and Council Crest), had two spaghetti dinners in our backyard! (Extra thanks to the Mom and Pops for our ...

May 24th, 2025 marked a whole year since booking it from San Francisco all the way to our new Portland apartment! We have been so happy with this move to Portland. We were really quickly reassured that it was the right choice and found our spot to settle down for a bit. These tired tumbleweeds are setting down some roots. We found a great friend group right away, some through mutual collie love, some through my gym, some through pedalpalooza rides... i In this year, we saw at least 11 concerts, which was honestly way more than I expected we'd seen. I'd kind of imagined we wouldn't actually wind up going to too many. I was super surprised with just how much there is too. I think that was part of the overwhelm when we first got here, trying to figure out who to see because there were constant options.  We saw more movies in the theater (and ate the most popcorn) than maybe ever. The Hollywood Theater is a really cozy one that shows a lot of old films and often has little even...

We survived the winter! It was not nearly as bad as I expected this year. Apparently this is not the norm though, so we'll see what we get in future winters. We did our best to prepare ourselves, mostly by convincing ourselves that just because the sun set early didn’t mean the day was over. The biggest game-changer- Not immediately swapping into cozy clothes after work so we'd be ready to head back out with ease..  We kept biking, even when rain seemed inevitable. Some of our usual long cross-town grocery hauls turned into quicker trips to closer stores, but we still got out there. One particularly memorable ride was up to Council Crest, Portland’s highest spot. The trek up? Warm, sunny and lovely. The way down? A full-on downpour. We made it to get my tire fixed, though, and rewarded ourselves with some delicious  No Name Pho —a perfectly warm treat after an unexpected soaking. Dylan reports No Name Pho is closest authenticity to Vietnam and I'll attest that it was delici...

We packed up our bikes in the car for our first ride out of the city. From Hood River, we rode along the Historic Columbia River Highway-- no cars allowed! The trail was fantastic with fall colors and the always striking views of the Gorge. After about 8 miles, Dylan was ready to give up. But we pulled over, ate our PB&Js next to some vineyard and I convinced him to "go at least 2 more miles." The old highway turned into road, but there were only a few cars. Through Mosier we rode and then up around a little loop to make our way back. As we came down one hill with beautiful open views ahead, we saw a winery overlooking these hills, so we had to stop there. A glass of wine in their lawn was such a nice treat. Back at Hood River, we filled our bellies with some tasty tacos. A much enjoyed birthday indeed. Birthday vids I had way more pictures than this but had to get them off my phone for more space and now I just can't be bothered with searching on the actual computer ...

Cheers to the start of a series to share about the things that make me say "that's so perfectly Portland." Because it is certainly a unique place with some interesting quirks. This will be the Perfectly Portland events or activities segment highlighting all the fun and quirky things this town is up to. Exhibit A: The Portland Plage Over the summer, my friends and I hopped on our bikes and landed in a more industrial district with warehouses and such around. But there, right in the middle of the buildings, was a manmade beach that they brought in for us to enjoy. Sand, beach chairs, umbrellas, and cabanas set up with little pools... So we sat there in our swimsuits and sunny-gees, drinking our piña coladas with the city sounds and sights nearby. The train was the icing on the cake. Exhibit B: Secret Roller Derbies One day Dylan and I were walking around the neighborhood and out of nowhere, in a school parking lot, was a surprise roller disco. Skate rentals and food carts a...

In pure Dylabby fashion, we had a very informal plan to head east to see the Painted Hills, John Day Fossil Beds, John Day River, and desert time, but then as we were packing up the car that morning, we changed our plans and decided to head north to Colchuck Lake in Washington. More chance for seeing the Northern Lights? Autumn colors? Less chance of rattlesnakes biting our dogs? Those were a few of the random reasons that were thrown out there.  We booked a hotel on the drive up for Wenatchee, WA near Leavenworth-- Leavenworth was crazy expensive, later to find out the Oktoberfest reason why. And booking camping in Washington is not fun. If anyone has tips that don’t involve having to book 6months (or even a month) in advance or having to do a whole lottery to get a permit, please let us last-minute travelers know. We did get a good stop in Leavenworth for some German beers, people watching, and a beautiful river walk right in town, and a lovely sunset dinner view.  The next ...