Our next chapter - part 1

 It's been a while since our last post. For good reason: we have been very, very busy!

We had been eyeing to make a change to how we live our lives for quite a few years now and asked ourselves:  if we could live anywhere, where would that be? It turns out we both really enjoy living in Oregon, which made this question more tractable. 

Maybe the coast? Neskowin, our mainstay when it comes to going to the coast was clearly too small and out of the way to live permanently. How about Florence? A little bigger (and windsurfing compatible 😁), but maybe not our crowd. Newport and Lincoln City, while great places, never really captured us.

Bend and Sisters turned out to be really nice, great climate and great views and we gave them serious consideration, but it felt a bit too far out of the way - it's a long drive to Portland, the coast, even the Gorge. 

Speaking of the Gorge: the first time Michaela and I went deeper in the Gorge was probably our first big EV roadtrip. And that's what we ultimately got most excited about: the Gorge has it all. Big views, mountains, water, all kinds of outdoor activities while still not THAT far away from Portland (and its airport). After looking at a bunch of little towns dotting the Columbia river, from Cascade Locks and Stevenson on the western side, Carson, White Salmon, Bingen, and Lyle on the Washington side, and Mosier, and The Dalles a bit more eastern on the Oregon side, it became clear to us that Hood River is going to be our happy place. Clearly, that's not terribly surprising or original, given its fame and popularity, but we found it fully justified. Perfectly situated just north of Mt. Hood, still on the wet side of the Gorge, but not as rainy as Cascade Locks, close enough to Portland, and just big enough to have all the amenities we'd want in our home town. 

With that key decision settled, we started to look for a suitable place in Hood River in the fall of last year and started attending open houses. And early this year we got serious, retained a realtor and pretty quickly selected our future home - which actually was the very first open house we had attended. Here it is:

Happy New Year!

What noteworthy things have happened in the last ~ 4 months? Too much time spent on medical issues, for sure, some plumbing issues to boot on top of those. But it wasn't all bad, of course:

We had a fun walk on Mt. Tabor with
Corie and Jody in a downpour.

Met some of the famous Portland frogs at a 'No Kings' protest in Wilsonville.

Coffee was a recurring theme, as it has been all year:

And then Christmas happened! 

The Portland International Race Track

Rayne kept us great company
throughout as well, of course.

The weather - on balance - was pretty dry, which was great for lot's of little day hikes in our local parks, though the flip side has been low snow conditions on Mt. Hood, so no skiing on New Years Day this time - can't have everything.

Summer time

It's Labor day already - summer is progressing towards its final showing for the year. It's been a few very pleasant weeks.  

We enjoyed daytrips to Neskowin,

Mt. Tabor,

and Viento State Park, one of the surfing beaches in the Gorge: first time with Michaela & Skittles. We all fit into the ID.4 including all the windsurfing gear - who would have thought?!? I believe this may have been the first time that Michaela saw me windsurfing since our trip to Hurghada in 2002(!).

We spent a nice weekend in Newport. On our way we stopped in Depoe Bay for lunch and were treated to a whale showing up surprisingly close to the beach - very cool. Newport followed up with a couple of seals the next morning (sadly, didn't get a good snapshot of either.)

And, most recently, we headed to Mirror Lake on Mt. Hood for an enjoyable hike through the woods: 

And finally, we sold our Honda Fit, which served us well for the last 14 years, and Michaela got an e-bike with a trailer for Skittles! We are now all electric for our transportation needs.

Europe 2025

 It had been six(!) year since I crossed the pond to visit Laser Munich! As it happened, I was invited to attend ASML's technology conference this year, scheduled the week prior to Laser Munich: two birds, one stone. 

Unlike my last two transatlantic trips, this time the luggage arrived with me - I was pleasantly surprised! 

The morning commute to the conference in den'Bosch was as Dutch as one could imagine: by bike!

The foundational equation of lithography. 

On my way to Gruenstadt - didn't get to take THAT train, though...

The subsequent weekend was - as always - reserved for catching up with family and friends.

Friday evening: 'Alte Pfarrey' with my parents in Neuleiningen.

Saturday afternoon: 'Cafe Flo' with Christian & Markus in Mannheim

Saturday evening: 'Akropolis' with my parents in Gruenstadt.

Sunday: Reunion after 25 years! Coffee with Daniel - we are both still active windsurfers!

As the weekend came to a close, it was time to make my way to Munich, where Chris picked me up and showed off his skills as cook - his new hobby:

Yum!

The next few days would be consumed with talks and walking the exhibition floor - a great chance to catch up with folks I hadn't seen in a while!

Chris continued to surprise me with his new cooking skills.

And as that second week drew to a close, I squeezed in two more visits before my flight back on Sunday morning - a bit tight, but well worth it:

A quick stop in Bebra with Anita, touring her new apartment, and the healthiest meal (thank you!) of the trip.

A quick dinner with Jule, Juri, Zoe, & Phryne in Berlin-Tegel.

Happy to be home again!