Portland

This last weekend, Ryan and I had the opportunity to fly to Portland for a second time this year, this time so Ryan could be a groomsman for one of the men who stood up for Ryan in our wedding. The weather the whole weekend was terrific. It was sunny and about 85 the whole weekend. After having temps near 100 with high humidity for several months, it was a welcome change.

On Saturday, we got to visit our friends Jessica and John Bandstra, with their daughter Kate, in Eugene, OR. Jessica was a roommate of mine my senior year of college, as well as the following year. It just turns out that another roommate of our from our senior year of college, Trish, was there that same weekend so her husband Yanni could compete in a bike race. It was a nice surprise to be able to have three of us, with our spouses, all together in one place. (And very unusual, indeed, to find 6 Calvin grads in one place on the west coast!)

Ryan and I stayed at the house of Jim and Mary, some friends of Ryan who moved out to Portland 6 months ago from Chicago. They have a beautiful house that sits on the outskirts of Portland (in Beaverton), and is right on the edge of the a wine trail through the Willamette Valley. (Which, as I was taught, is not pronounced WILL-a-mette, as I would have though, but will-AM-ette. Those crazy Oregonians.) We spent our last day in Portland visiting about 3 different wineries, and finishing up our day at the McMenamins Grand Lodge hotel for dinner.


View of Mt. Hood from the plane.


The Calvin grads at Perugino Cafe in Eugene.


Jim and Mary in front of the Cooper Mountain Winery.


An alpaca at an alpaca farm we discovered in wine country.


Ryan holding Maui, Jim and Mary's adorable cat.