Here's the thing...

I have been super busy. Thus the lack of blog. Work is mostly to blame...but whatcha gonna do. Gotta pay for crap. Anyway...

The Count and I still have gotten out a bit. Mostly really, really local. Our hang has become Signal Stop. They have really good pizza and Trumer on tap. We are also known to be found at Cathedral Park Kitchen and Occidental Brewing Co. I enjoy living in a small bubble. Btw, Occidental has a wonderful beer I have become quite fond of. It is their Cloudy Summer Koelsch. Oh, and if you find yourself at Cathedral Park Kitchen, ask for a Lily...*grinz

Speaking of fine beverages(this is quickly becoming the adult beverage blog!), the Count has become a fan of Asai. (Yes, before you get all protective, I held his hat while he prayed to the porcelain god.)
I have always wanted to go to a vineyard. Finally, we went. Oak Knoll Winery was fun. Oh, the wine sampling...yeah...go to a winery one day. That is all.

~Aitch~

Learning the Lay of the Land

Why the lack of blog, one might ask. Sorry if anyone was concerned for my safety after the last entry. I suppose it was inconsiderate of me to leave you hanging like that. I am fine and so is our beloved little friend. But I have been settling in and acclimating. Ok, here's the thing...I can't force the Count to come out all the time. He's still a bit peeved about all the sunny pics and the fact that I never am subjected to being photoed. So, this one's for the Count:

No. This is not cheating, it is a self portrait...very artistic. What? Anyway, I was attempting to photograph Mt. Hood, but apparently, it doesn't show up in photos. Yet the Count does...hmmm. Strange, no? The elusive mountain in question is always snow capped, even in August. Pretty dang cool. That's probably why you are not allowed to pump your own gas in Oregon. No, really, I'm not kidding. They have no self service option at all. The way I see it, if the general public spills gasoline all over, it may melt the snow...in true global warming fashion. Fine by me, been losing sleep in fear of my cell phone igniting the fumes anyway.

You can also purchase very large cowboy boots in Oregon. Not really sure why they fascinated me so, but then again I still laugh at potty humor...nuff said.

Here's the count at Portland Meadows Horse Track. He talked me into tossing $2 out on my old crap number, 127. Did it win you ask? Nah, of course not. The race came in 3172. Jerks. I want my $2! (Hehehe What movie was that with the paper boy chasing down the main character...Better Off Dead? Say Anything? I forget.)

Portland has a soccer team and very, very loyal fans. They are called the Timbers. I'm pretty excited about this development having been a loyal Man Utd fan...until all my players started retiring. At some point, you just can't take anymore loss and just give up. Ok, moving on before I tear up...A friend of my Dister, who will be known as Red, invited me to go watch the game at Slims. It's a bar on the main drag in St. John's. They have PBR on tap ;p The Count came out for pics, but I have nothing to show for it...lighting was a bit of an issue. Besides, I think the Count may have been a bit googly eyed over Red and if he saw the shameless way he was drooling over her, he probably wouldn't have let me post them anyway.

I will be stuck doing more growd up stuff this week but will try to take the Count out a bit. Can't have his fans missing him and sad :)

~Aitch~

Trip to Cathedral Park

Better late than never, right? Ok, here's the thing...sometimes responsibility takes priority. Like Daddio says, "It's hell being a grown-up." But enough about the more boring portion of my life.

You probably notice the smug look on the Counts face...Oh trust me, I see it. My sunburn (Yes, I am the only documented case of sunburn in Portland...ever...yeah, yuk it up) like I was saying, my sunburn has given the Count a sick sense of satisfaction. For all those photos he's endured the sun, in his mind justice has been served. I'll bet you can even pick out the actual photo the molten devil ball in the sky singed my ghastly pale skin. If you guessed the pic with the ducks, pat yourself on the back. I told you they had really good fish n chips ;p

 This trip is the day after my solar overexposure. We went to Cathedral Park and had a lovely stroll attempting to stick to the more shady areas.

But as you can see, not many good photo ops in the shadows. You can see the interesting bit of huge sculpture behind the Count...no, to the left of the blue thing. We shall have to investigate it closer next time and see if is actually...something. Or say screw it and try to hot wire the blue thing - his idea of course.

Well that pic didn't quite work out, except maybe to demonstrate the fact that I have a much paler complexion than the Count. Hummm, interesting...moving on.

Ah, much better. That's what I was trying to get last pic, the famous bridge and the Count. This shot gives me my own smug sense of revenge. Notice how I posed him inches from bird excrement? I did! Touche you ungrateful bastard ;p Tonight I will sleep well with that image seared into my brain (and, perhaps, with one eye open?).


~Aitch~

Getting to know you...

So the past few days have been filled with getting out and about town. My wonderful hosts have seen to it that I have little idle time. Hummmm...I have failed to give them a nickname. Oh! I got it! After yesterday's outing, they shall be dubbed Lewis & Clark (tho one is a female but I have a feeling she'll enjoy the label ;p ). More on the reason for this later.
The Count and I have spent the majority of our time exploring the St. John's area. It is a wonderful area, very easy to become accustomed to its browse friendly streets and gobs of things to do. The people are friendly and very outdoorsy. Everybody walks and bikes there. In fact, the Count and I plan to get a bike...something a bit old school with a basket (for the Count, of course!). Speaking of bikes...

After having a delicious dinner with Lewis & Clark, my attention was drawn to the street by the sound of 70's rock drawing near. A man on a bike had rigged his pull behind to play music, which he controlled via remote :) He was kind enough to stop for a photo with the Count. If you look close, you will see my buddy perched on the top of his mobile DJ unit =D Gotta love it!

Lewis & Clark introduced me to a friend of theirs, who shall be called Monty (Gotta be able to appreciate anyone who adores Monty Python!). How thrilled was I to find Monty had an adventure buddy as well? The Count was happy to make a new friend in Boris the beetle ;p

Ok, now for the Lewis & Clark story. Yesterday, my lovely hosts took me on a small road trip to the Columbia River Gorge. It was amazing. However, it did put my crippling fear of heights to the test.

As you can see, it is pretty awe inspiring!

 Besides the incredible views, the draw to the area is the breath taking waterfalls...

All that hiking about was capped off with a relaxing meal of fish and chips. Oh crap! I forgot the name of the place, but the food was great! I will have to get back to you on that. The ducks and other feathered friends helped me with my chips ;p

 As for today, the Count and I are going to take a stroll in Cathedral Park...off we go :)

~Aitch~

The Adventure Begins

You can call me Aitch and this is my new friend the Count. He came into my life about a week before I would board a plane and begin a completely new chapter in my life. So to me, it almost seemed natural to include him in my attempt to document my new venture. Besides, he is way more photogenic than I am...as you can see.

 Four days ago, I packed him away in his travel coffin and headed to the Atlanta airport. The adventure had begun. We were making our way to Portland, Oregon for a fresh start. However, the first part of our adventure would take place in Scottsdale. Normally I would curse a long layover, but this one actually worked to our advantage. I have two family members that reside in the toasty area.

 My father picked us up from the airport and took us to lunch. Dad being the first family member to meet the Count, I was a bit nervous. After all, he is an unusual companion. However, my Daddio (as I call him) thought he was great and would even suggest photo ops ;p BTW, we ended up eating at Greasewood Flat. If you ever find yourself in Scottsdale, I highly recommend it. Having been there before a few times, I requested it for our lunchy spot. Last time I went, they had cooked a whole pig in the ground...yummmmm.

 Anyway, Daddio dropped me back off at the airport for cocktails with my sister (or Dister as I call her...you will see a lot of nicknames from me ;p). Do I even need to say she is smitten with the Count? We had a few glasses of wine at Chili's while enjoying silly banter with our fantastic waiter Matt. If you go to the Phoenix airport and discover your self in Chili's...tell him the Count says, "Hi."

So now we are here in our new home base and the adventures have begun. I'll keep you posted ;p

~Aitch~