Greg Steward’s Miscellanies

FOCUS Associate, Kevin Chan, came up with the excellent idea of offering new international students at PSU a walking tour of Portland.

[Go to Picasa Web for a larger format slideshow.]

Twenty-five new international students headed off from the PSU park blocks, walked down Broadway to Pioneer Square, and took the MAX to PGE Park. From there we walked to Eat Pizza. (Kevin must dine there often.) There was a demonstration of pizza-making and then, courtesy of the owner, we feasted on five pizzas.

We crossed Burnside to the Nob Hill district, walking along NW 23rd to Lovejoy, where we caught a Trimet street car to Jamison Square in the Pearl district.  There we enjoyed some ice cream at Cool Moon Ice Cream.

Then it was on to the first FOCUS Coffee House.

Little Zigzag Falls Trail follows Little Zigzag Creek to Little Zigzag Falls.  The trail is about 1/4 mile long.  The trail is mostly easy, but there are a couple of stretches that are muddy and require you to take a short detour to avoid the mud. To reach Little Zigzag Falls you take 26-39 off of US 26.

See some family shots taken here and at Trillium Lake at Steward Family and Life.

Trillium Lake is on Mt Hood.  You can camp there as well as use the day use area. There is a path around the lake that is approximately two miles in length.  The trail is fairly level and not hard to walk.  There are occasional water faucets, but the toilets are all “pit” toilets (non-flush).  You will have to pay the day use fee.  That fee was $6.00 per car in 2008.  For pictures of the family on this trip, see Steward Family and Life.

After Trillium Lake we made a short stop at Little Zigzag Falls.

The pictures above were taken over three years of camping at Nehalem Bay State Park with our church’s Family Camp.  We would love to have the luxury of RV camping, but don’t have the budget for it.  We didn’t start camping as a family until we purchased our minivan in 1994.  It was at that time that we bought a tent and the Coleman fold-up camp kitchen at Costco.  Each year we add a little (or large) something.

The prospect of camping at a bluegrass festival in Stevenson Washington in the blazing sun with no shade motivated me to build the canopy.  That was back in the late 90s. Whether rain or shine, it has been a great addition.  We bought the connectors at Andy and Bax (army surplus store in SE Portland).  I also bought the tarp and the bungees there.  Then I bought electrical conduit at Home Depot and cut it to length according to the size of the tarp.

Getting our inspiration from others, we began bringing electrical appliances such as fry pans and skillets.  No sense paying for a site with electricty and not using it. Last year we added the mini-fridge to our repertoire.  It is nice not to have to worry about the food going bad. So far we haven’t brought a microwave.  Funny, we bring a mini-fridge, but somehow a microwave just seems wrong.

This year I finally mastered some basic knots which came in very handy when I was putting up some tarps in case there was rain.  None this year.  Thank you, Lord!