Ali and I realized recently that this month marks 15 years since we moved aboard Bumfuzzle and kicked off this life. Everything before nomadism now feels like a different life entirely. While we experienced life from the perspective of a steady day-to-day suburban childhood to a never-know-what’s-around-the-next-corner adulthood, our kids … Read More
Back Where We Belong
Well, after a week in the work yard, one of these boats is ready to go back in the water. One of these years, when we’re in a country that doesn’t get paid $85/hr to do basic labor on a boat, we’ll give the bottom a good sanding and skim … Read More
Florida Boat Yard
I’d been promising the kids their first motorcycle rides, so when I was set to leave the next day, there was no more delaying. I remember my first ride as a seventh-grader on the back of a friend’s dad’s motorcycle. He went so far as to pull a wheelie going … Read More
From Sea to Shining Lake
We left Rockaway Beach under a cloudy sky for the ride back to Portland. Stopped off in Garibaldi, just down the road, and managed to sneak some nickels onto the train tracks before the tourists rumbled by. Kelley Point Park in Portland is a fun “in the city” spot to … Read More
Boy, Beach, Birthday
Portland is just a nice ninety minute drive from the coast, but it feels like it’s about 2,000 miles of difference in temperature. Portland, ninety-five degrees, beach, sixty-five. As much as I love the ocean and the beach, and even the beauty of Oregon, this still hardly qualifies for me. … Read More
Rose City Molars
Ouest had a molar loose for a couple weeks. She finally agreed to let me yank it. I put a loop of floss around it, and in doing so realized that the tooth was basically just slightly wedged in between the other two teeth. I gave it a yank without … Read More
Portland Excursions
Despite appearances, Ouest walked out of here with two holes in her ears, and without shedding a tear. She did the same thing a couple years ago, but they kept getting infected that time, so we let them heal and close up. Personally, I would have been happy for her … Read More
Fair Season
You can hardly live in Portland and not have a nose ring, so Ouest made a couple out of paper clips and got Grammy in on the act. Ouest has been taking guitar lessons while we’ve been out here. Amazing what a difference a good teacher makes. We tried this … Read More
Seattle Tourists
We never come to Portland without a trip to Seattle. This time a couple of our plans fell apart, but we headed up anyway, and spent a day being full-on tourists. First, a stop at Kerry Park, overlooking the city. Broke out the selfie-stick for this one. That backstop. When … Read More
King County Fair
On our way up to Seattle we stopped at the King County Fair. We love small county fairs—the down-home redneck-y goodness of them. Part of that, I’m sure, is due to our nostalgia for simpler times. Very little has changed between a fair when I was a kid, and a … Read More
Clutch Hitter
For the past couple of years the Porsche clutch has been slipping. I haven’t been able to really stomp on the gas, and I’ve had to nurse it a bit on steep hills. I was determined on this visit to do something about it, so with a quick road trip … Read More