Rambling Adventures: Portland - California (Friday

Anderson, California here we come!

We made it out of Portland before the rain came. Matt was happier than any man could be as he got his final Portland wish, breakfast at Pine State Biscuits (<-- click here for the video from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives). I couldn't take this challenge on. I left Matt to wait in the biscuit line with all of the other biscuit heads and hoofed it down to a local market to find my morning provisions.

Finally on the road we decided to bypass all previously discussed points of interest (Crater Lake, Redwood Forests) so we could see my brother and family sooner! All points of interest were a bit too far from the main drag and would have added too much time on to our 8 hour drive. Another "next time".

Arrival to Anderson!!

DISCLAIMER!!

If you bore easily when looking at lots of

random kids pictures (aka .. the coolest boys in the world)

then just bypass this post completely!

Bradley & Taylor with their voodoo donuts.

Nana Fredi said no visit was complete without giving the kids peanut M&M's. Mission Accomplished!

After dinner (pizza and salad of course!) and a round of brainstorming over what events we should take on the next day it was time for Bradley's Read-for-20-minutes-before-bed ritual.

Taylor is an excellent reading partner ... as long as he gets to see the pictures!

Saturday was Salmon Fest day!
We backed out of the 5k run because ~~I'm lazy~~ we missed pre-registration, it was a good distance away and we had to be there at 8am, and we wanted to make it to Salmon Fest (excuses, excuses).

Silly fish.

Ashley proved an excellent Salmon run tour guide explaining that the salmon spend a brief time growing in the river, swim to the ocean for the majority of their adult lives then return to their native birthplace to spawn, die and continue the cycle. Apparently these fish are not fit for eating. By the time they reach their birthplace they are too tough and sinewy from their travels. They get "bopped", more like CLUBBED, in the processing factory. Both barbaric and comical to see first hand.

Great picture Matt snapped of this salmon in action.

Fishy Fishy movie
I forgot to upload the edited version instead of the whole thing. Just go with it.

Taylor getting fish-i-fied

Bradley eyeing up this tattoo novice.
It just doesn't take that long to apply a tattoo. gosh!

Ughhh ... creepy lil beasts.

Off to the gorge to see more Salmon in their splendor. Or, maybe just to rock hop in sketchy shoes so I can fall on my butt and twist my ankle. NICE! So much for my "mountain goat" title.

A quick trip to Costco to shop for dinner items and a quick lunch. I have never seen kids so successfully fill up on free food samples. These little Ninjas disappeared every 2 minutes only to return with new food cups and full cheeks.