Yokohama - 4/21-4/25

I went on a brief trip to Yokohama for a Conference this April - my very first time to Japan!

The experience was rather brief and I didn't catch much outside of the conference center. But I did check into a genuine Japanese Hotel (with a German motto about hospitality no less!) versus the standard international Conference hotel. And that indeed gave me a different perspective on space - here is my hotel room:

These are the two views: from the entrance door and from the window: enough space to sleep and store your carry-on, but anything more would have been a stretch...

Toilets are a little different, too. And you are provided with slippers so that you don't have to walk barefoot or with the same shoes that you use in your hotel room in your bathroom, which is considered fundamentally 'unclean'.

People dress VERY sharply - both men and women. I was noticeably one of the poorest dressed people in my 'west coast business casual' attire walking Yokohama's streets...also, I didn't wear a surgical face mask, which is quite a common sight for various reasons (people are sick, don't want to get sick or have allergies).

One more picture to share: I encountered this sight several times, particularly at the airport. Restaurants showing off their various offerings:

(believe it or not - it's all plastic!)

Dog Mountain - April 12th

As we plan to go backpacking in late May, we figured it worthwhile to have a little practice hike upfront. Dog Mountain is great for that: not too far away and a straight up (elevation gain of ~2800') and down 7 mile trip. It's been 2 years since we hiked there the last time- time flies when you are having fun!

It was quite windy on the final stretch and correspondingly cold. But the view makes up for that.
Pepper got a bit tired on the way back down - so did we...

Let it snow, let it snow,...

Instead of the rain that we usually get this time of year, we got a good 7 inches of snow! It started falling on Thursday afternoon, and by Friday we had probably 4-5 inches of nice powder. 

Willamette was closed on Friday, and Jan returned from a conference Friday at around noon, so we got to spend some quality time outside. And Pepper LOVED it! He went nuts in the fresh snow. I think it was the first time that he saw that much snow!

He also had a nice wrestling match with Gibson, our neighbor's Golden/Lab mix. Which made me particularly happy since Gibson didn't really like Pepper when they met the first time,... or the second,... or the third. Guess "Pepper" is an acquired taste!

We also let Abby and George out for a brief moment since they were complaining loudly when I let Pepper out in the yard (Why does the dog get to have all that fun?!). They were interested but not too thrilled about that cold, wet stuff on their paws :). After just a few minutes they were very happy to be back inside, cuddling up on a warm blanket.

 

While Friday was all fun and games, we must have gotten some rain over night. When I let Pepper out Saturday morning to do his business he was in for a nasty surprise: He learned that he really, REALLY hated the feeling of a thin layer of ice on top of his beautiful snow. To the point where he didn't even want to go potty anymore! Poor thing. So what did I do? At 4 am, might I add? Grabbed a shovel and dug through the ice to the nearest tree, where Pepper happily lifted his leg. Talk about spoiling the dog :P.

It's Sunday evening now, and most of the snow has melted. There is more rain in the forecast, and together with the rising temperatures that's probably that. Goodbye snow 2014. Welcome rain. We've missed you.

More moody Molalla pho... err... movies

Molalla, the second

No news, just a few impressions of of Molalla River State Park this morning.

Chilly

Pepper has been a bit chilly these last few weeks. He really likes to snuggle on the couch (or office chair for that matter, he's not picky!), and when the fire place is on, he's not far away. So, I took this old sweater of mine and put it on him. Pepper is usually not happy with anything that's around his body (harness, rain coat, dog coat, you name it!), but he *loves* this sweater. Plus, he looks super-cute in it! Reminds me a bit of Yoda :).

Happy New Year!

As usual, we partied long and hard on new years eve, seeking out big crowds and celebrated into the wee hours of the morning of the new year ... kidding, of course. We went to bed before 9 pm, woke up briefly at midnight from the firecrackers outside and then greeted the new year a few hours later after a good night's sleep.

While Michaela started the new year industriously working on her upcoming lectures, I joined Rob and Kristen for a trip to the Mt. Meadows ski resort on Mt. Hood for some skiing. The snow pack is rather thin this year, but groomed well enough to still provide a lot of fun. Plus: it was sunny and warm!

The following day we were invited to visit Corie and Jody on their new farm! Michaela rode on a horse for the first time in a very long time! (Pictures are fuzzy, took it with a cell phone and it was rather dark.)

And no, I did not join Michaela to take a horse for a spin...

The next day we were off to Molalla State Park for a walk in the woods with Billie and Pepper's best friend Maggie.

The weather was fabulous for this time of year - lot's of sunshine!

The only downside for Pepper: he had to take a bath afterwards...

Tomorrow: boardgames! (Most likely 'Arkham Horror'.) And after that vacation will sadly have come to an end - but it has been a lot of fun while it lasted.