Not too much new and exciting news to post today. It's been a couple of really beautiful days weatherwise. We've been out and about around the town, buying some plants for our patio, checking out some local restaurants and trying to get to know the city as well as we can.

Diesel ended up with an injured paw somehow. He skinned the bottom of his paw and was licking it nonstop so I bandaged it up for him. It never bled and I'm hoping with some creative nursing care we can avoid a costly trip to the vet. His new nickname is tenderfoot, or maybe gimpy, depending on who's calling him!



Today Brian and I went to the Pratt and Larson tile warehouse sale. (Oh mom, you know you're jealous!) Pratt and Larson makes some of the most beautiful tile I've ever seen. The selection at the sale was pretty good, thankfully Brian and I don't have anything to tile so we were able to avoid spending several hundred dollars on tile. We did get some really pretty tiles to use as trivets and coasters. (Grand total, $6) Or maybe just to look at... Anyway, if you're ever in Portland it's worth a trip just to check out the amazing showroom.

Yesterday Brian and I took advantage of a non-rainy Portland day and went to the Rose Garden at Washington Park. The garden is very pretty and is terraced so that no matter where you are you're both surrounded by beautiful roses and you have a view of the hills around the city.



The roses were in full bloom and smelled amazing. This particular rose was pretty because each blooming rose was surrounded by several buds.



These roses all seemed to have something to turn and pay attention to. It must have been the sun, but I sure didn't see it!



Tonight we went to a local gelato store. It was pretty good, but no Jeni's. We'll keep trying though!

After a couple great days with our Spearfish relatives we contiued our journey west. We came across the small town of Aladdin, population 15.



It was essentially a general store, a very small post office and a couple houses. I asked to use the bathroom at the general store and they kindly referred me to their outhouse.

In the pretty town of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho we ate at a restaurant that clearly knows about our cat Tito. (Sorry about the sideways picture!)



Soon enough we arrived at our new Portland home. We're really happy with our apartment. It's got plenty of room for us, a huge walk in closet, it's clean and the location is great. We're just 2 block from the train which we can take anywhere downtown for free. Diesel wasted no time rolling around on the carpet like a madman.




Lily quickly climbed as high as she could and took a nap.



After her nap she was ready for some exploring, including the dryer.



Our apartment also has a fantastic large balcony. I'm looking forward sitting out there with a cup of coffee in the morning!



We've spent the past week eagerly exploring Portland and trying to learn our way around. We arrived right in the middle of the 100th Rose Festival. So there have been all sorts of great activities to check out. Our realtor gave us tickets to a local battle of the bands competition. My favorite was the Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers. They were awesome.

We also went to the Grand Floral Parade which is HUGE here. It was cold and rainy but we still enjoyed all action! This is a picture of the Sherriff's Posse. Yeah, I said posse, make the picture big, it's right there on the horses rump.



After all the horses were the pooper scooper teams. My favorite were the ones dressed as nurses with gloves to their elbows and a giant fleets enema on the back of their cart. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of them so here is a different clean up crew.



The floats in the parade were really beautiful. They were all decorated with organic materials only, flowers, petals, leaves, seeds, and hay. There was a great dragon with a flaming hoop:



A yellow submarine with the Beatles on board:



And a breast cancer awareness ribbon...




with a trout? Only in the Northwest!

All in all, we're settling in pretty well, and we're looking forward to visitors!