A year of adventures

 Just one bingo, but I'll take it! What did I add?  Non-fiction book: The In-Between. Reading it for book group - it was a very fast read. When I initially added this item to my bingo options, I was thinking of reading The Ball is Round - a Global History of Soccer; then I realized it was 900+ pages and my enthusiasm cooled.  PBS show or series: Magpie Murders - which was quite fun! I'd it recommended a few times, and had a few other positive reviews of the author's novels, so I'm glad I finally tried it out. I'll keep an eye out for more of his (Anthony Horowitz) books.  Movie in theater: Let's Get Lost - an arty documentary about Chet Baker, from 1988. It was beautiful, and left me with a million questions, and seeing it in a sold-out theater was fun. Pro tip: apparently heroin messes a person up. Definitely plan to avoid that.  Zoom call with a friend: I'm part of a small group of 7 who get together when we can; 4 of us were in-person and one joined onsc...

 So far, so good, and I see a couple possible bingos forming.  Culture I went to a new-to-me museum: The Oregon Historical Society . I'm certain I've been there before, but I don't remember it, or spending any time with the exhibits, so I'm counting it as new. I learned it's free to people in my county, and it was a very enjoyable way to spend some time!  No place on this card, but related: I also went to a historical architecture presentation at a different museum, and it was so good I've now become a member. I'd been there before so it didn't qualify for a bingo square. Live music: I went to see The Sextones at the Jack London Revue. I saw them one other time - they're kind of retro R&B (their wikipedia page says soul & funk - sure) and are a lot of fun.  I have a ticket to see a documentary on Friday about Chet Baker at my favorite non-profit indie theater, The Hollywood Theatre  - so unless something happens, I can check this off soon.  ...

I haven't made resolutions the last few years, but I wanted a way to be mindful and stay engaged with doing new/meaningful things this coming year. Someone mentioned they'd heard about people making bingo cards and that really took off for me. I did some brainstorming and brought my idea to fb, and in the end I generated a series of cards:  My intent is to go for one bingo (5 cells in a row, any direction) per month, but hey, maybe I'll get motivated to do more!  A couple people asked how to do this so I figured it's better to write it up where I can find & share it!  Here's how I made the cards.  Made a list of activities that I might want to do or be reminded/prompted to do. Grouped them into five categories Dug around til I found a site that would let me generate free bingo cards and would respect the category concept (rather than fully randomizing my items across the whole card). Do you want to play? Here are my categories/activities; feel free to change the...

My first week in Mexico used La Paz as a starting point, but during my second week I got to know it much better.  As the kayak/camping friends returned home, another friend from Portland joined me for a week of exploring La Paz and the region.  The weather was sunny but rather cooler than we’d hoped - many days got into the low 70s but started and ended much cooler. Given that Portland had just had a historic snowfall, we didn’t complain too loudly! We had lots of good food and several adventures. We drove a half-hour north to explore Playa El Tocolote - windy and chilly in the shade, but the water was gorgeous and the ceviche we had was amazing.  We did a day trip - a 90-minute drive each way to the west side of the peninsula, to the town Todos Santos. It felt much more compact than La Paz, and had a more touristed vibe with a number of shops and restaurants. It’s also the location of the Hotel California, as made famous by the Eagles song, so it draws a lot of people ju...

Whales, kayaking, and snorkeling - oh my!  About 10 months ago I heard that a friend of a friend was planning a group trip to La Paz, Mexico. We’d contract with a local company to spend two days whale watching and then four days sea kayaking, snorkeling, hiking, & camping on an island. That seemed like a good start to a trip so I signed up! Flash forward to last week, when I realized that I had put ZERO thought into how effortful the trip might be. It was a lot, but it was great. I even got good at properly rolling & packing my tent by the third day! It was not quite as warm as I’d have liked, and the kayaking was pretty tough, but it was so beautiful out there. Our guides were super knowledgeable and everyone got along really well. And they made us incredible meals!  I was super happy to get back to running water - and a mattress! - but the week was really special. 

 At some point in January I realized I had time for a small adventure before my next big one! I contacted friends to ask for lodging tips for the Olympic National Park, and was surprised & pleased to be invited to join a friend in a cottage he’d rented. Talk about serendipity!  I drove up the 4+ hours, stopping randomly at what turned out to be a fantastic lunch spot.  The cottage was adorable, and I got there in time to head out for a quick hike.  The next two days I did two longer hikes - amazingly I had zero rain any of the days! There was almost no one out there - on the first short hike I saw zero people; on the second I saw about 4; on the third hike I saw no one again. It was magical, and nice knowing that my host was aware of where I was going, just in case.  My impromptu idea for a quick getaway turned out better than I hoped, and I understand those who’ve fallen in love with that part of the world. But I’m still glad it didn’t rain.