Date Day :: The Shooting Range

I haven't held a gun since the day my grampa snatched a rifle out of my hands. I forgot I was holding it and turned around...and may have pointed it at someone. I forgot I had it, honest. But for the last twenty-five or so years, I haven't even thought about shooting one.

Hubba Bubba has been thinking about buying a gun. I blame American Guns and Sons of Guns. He loves those shows. However, I see no reason why he should buy one if he's never even shot a pistol before. Call me crazy.

So, when LivingSocial had an offer at Beavercreek Armory, the local shooting range, I snapped it up. I'll try anything once.

Guns make me nervous. Not other people with guns, but me with a gun. I'm distracted by just about anything, and just might turn around while holding a gun without thinking. Hey, it's happened before.

We were walked through the basics of gun safety - there was even a video where some idiot shot himself in the leg because he was a bonehead - and practiced on unloaded guns.

I wish I could say my anxiety had eased by the time we put on our saftey galsses and headphones, but these were still guns and live amuntion we were shooting. Heightened awareness is a good thing. We went back to our lanes and hung up our targets, sending them to the back wall. I have no idea what they had piled back there to absorb the fore of the bullets. It looked like ground up tires, but it is probably some hi-tech ballistics something.

Then it was time to load the gun. Oh my. Bullets, in my hand. I had this ridiculous fear one would explode as I loaded it into the magazine. But this was real life, not a cartoon, so all was well. The magazine slipped into the gun, I cocked it to load the first round into the chamber, and aimed.

And kind of stood there. Good thing, because Hubba Bubba let off his first shot and I jumped! Even with the headphones, it was loud. The plume of smoke faded and he let off the rest of his rounds. Not to be outdone, I readjusted my hands and aimed. My gun had an electronic site, for all the good it did me. I figured out how to see the red dot and pulled the trigger.

My arms lifted slightly, the casing jumping out of the gun and against the lane barrier, coming to land on the bench in front of me. I have no idea if that bullet hit the target, but I'd done it. I'd shot a gun.

The rest of my fifty rounds went much the same. A deep breath of gunsmoke laced air, steadying my hands, finding my target, and feeling the bang race from the tips of my fingers to my shoulders.

We left wanting to go back and try it again. Hubba to hone is skils, me because they have zombie targets and that just sounds like a great idea.

Cocktail Camp

Hubba Bubba and I escaped downtown for our monthly date day. Up this time? Cocktail Camp! It was fascinating, and not just because they had us sipping cocktails all day long!

We arrived for the morning social hour for some fun drinks to start the day. My favorite was a champagne cocktail with quince liqueur and vermouth. The man prefered one with white dog rye, coffee liqueur and cream.
The first presentation was The Art of Tasting. Such a great way to begin the day. Tasting spirits is similar to wine, and yet completely different. It is so much stronger, so you have to take a gentler approach to it. When tasting, wearing perfume can fatigue your olfactory senses, even music can alter your perception.

They gave us three points to keep in mind when tasting spirits ::

Appearance : A white background highlights color, showing the quality of the spirit and guides the taste. View the edge of the spirit for color, brightness. That shows what the spirit has gotten from the barrel.

Nosing : Be in the conversation with the spirit and go with first impression, not expectation. Different volatiles, high alatides can overwhelm your nose so start with small sniffs.

Tasting : Small sip under the tongue to activate salivary gland and aromatize. Move up to pool on the tongue, breathe in, wash over tongue. Notice where on the tongue the flavors hit.

When designing a cocktail, do this homework first. You can adjust what you mix with the spirit as either a point or a counterpoint to make your creating more bold or mellow.

Scotch (it's easier than you think) was the most fascinating part for us both. We tasted Scotch from all over Scotland as we learned about the history and geography that creates the differences and the similarities.
There is a correlation between craft beer and single malt scotch; basically you don't add hops and distill it. The original whiskey in the highland was single malt and distilled very slowly. The growing middle class in the cities needed something less rough. They put it in the oak casks of sherry or port to age to make it more palatable. 

A decent blend will have held grain whiskey and half single-malt. Peated malt is when the add water to sprout the barley and then dry it out over a peat fire which created the toasted, smoky flavor. The oak cask gives sixty percent of the flavor. American oak creates a spicy, butterscotch finish. Spanish oak is deeper, more almond, raisin or nutmeg.

The Perfect Host gave us the basics for deciding what to serve at a cocktail party. Have four basic drinks : Manhattan, Martini, a basic sour & Nagroni. (We had to Google Nagroni...it's an aperitif which we learned about in the final session)
Manhattan = Whiskey, vermouth, bitters
Martini = Gin, dry vermouth
Negroni = Gin, sweet vermouth, campari (We had to Google Campari too. We felt like such noobs!)
Sour =  2 spirit 3/4 citrus 3/4 sweet

Stir the first three shake the sour. If it all booze you stir. If you put juice in it you shake it. You want to have a shaken, a stirred, a tall drink with soda.
Themes - usually comes down to naming and it is half the fun.

Don't stand behind your bar the whole time. Make a punch  
Punch = One is sour, two of sweet, thee of strong, and four of weak (example : lemon juice, simple syrup,  rum and brandy,  soda and black tea)

Introduction to Aperitifs was completely new to us, and we felt marginally better when they explained most American's haven't embraced it. It's never been part of our culture the way it is in teh rest of the world.

Herbal infused brandy/ fortified wine (aka vermouth) began the apertivo hour. Many aperitifs have medicinal origins. Many contain quinine like cocchi. These bitters herbs create a biochemical reaction in the body increasing salivation and speeding digestion. They are lower octane cocktails (except the martini).

Date Day :: DIY Pub Crawl

This month's date brought to you by...BEER! It's HubbaBubba's favorite thing, and since it is his birthday month he got to choose our outing. Which meant it needed to be scheduled around college football game times. Nice.

We've always wanted to do a pub crawl of brewery tour...but timing never jives for us. And the cost. Some of them want a hundred bucks just to walk you around...you still have to pay for beer! After much Googling, we found a map that navigates local breweries using the Portland Street Car. We're serious about our beer in these parts!!

Our first stop...was for me. Cupcake Jones = YUM! If you have to pick just one, get the red velvet. But with the minis, why stop at one?

After a short hop on the streetcar, it was off to Rogue Public House. We love Rogue. We even named our dog Rogue. Though, if you ask, we'll tell you we got it from the river. Our next dog will probably be names Dechutes. Again, friends will think it's the brewery, I'll tell the PTA moms it's the river. That's how we roll.


The selection is amazing at Rogue. Toasted hazelnut, double chocolate, Irish cream, honey orange....those aren't desserts, they're beer! We were event tempted to try the Bleu Balls on the menu for a laugh. HubbaBubba wants me to make them at home.

He prefers the stronger, hoppy beers. Brutal, Triple Jump, Dead Guy, and a chipotle flavored beer were his suggestions. Soon, they'll be offering a Voodoo Doughnut inspired bacon Maple...not sure about that one. Good thing they have tasting trays!

Next stop -- Bridgeport. They did a Summer Squeeze beer that I really like. It has a lemony yuzu thing going on. The man is all about the Hops Czar.


We like Bridgeport because you can bring the kids if you want. They're not the kind of place that caters to families, but they don't eschew them either. Ours love the fat pretzels, and the kids menu has real pizza (not frozen) and natural hot dogs. Their salads and sandwiches are great too.

 We took the streetcar back towards Burnside to find Tugboat Brewery, but it was closed. As was Bailey's Taproom. After that disappointment, we opted for a sure thing -- Henry's.

In the building of the famed Henry Weinhard's Brewery now sits Henry's Tavern. A modern industrial vibe pulls together the bar, restaurant and upstairs billiard room. The Happy Hour menu is fun (gorgonzola waffle fries anyone?), the dinner choices are surprisngly varied, and there are over a hundred beers on tap! Sea Dog's Blueberry Ale smells like a muffin and the Apricot Cream is delicious. To me. Hubba was on the opposite side of the menu with Amnesia's Desolation and Ninkasi Tricerahops.

He's already planning our next DIY beer tour...

DIY Portland Chocolate Tour

I'm a big fan of spending my afternoon noshing and laughing with Portland Walking Tours (hence why I've taken the same tour twice) and really wanted to spend some time with Chocolate Decadence...but we couldn't get the timing to work out right. So, we decided to make our own tour.

With a hotel right in the heart of Portland's chocolate district, we barely had to walk! We started a bit east of downtown with chain-store chocolate from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. When we were teens, Jeff & I loved treking down to Ashland for their truffles and carmel apples. Our tastes have grown up, because we didn't really like the truffles we tried. The chocolate was grainy and the fillings were kind of oily. They looked fantastic.

Once we got downtown, we went to Leonadis chocolates, a favorite of my friend Kris. Living in Europe ruined her for American chocolate, so when she needs a fix, this is where she goes. Now I know why.

This isn't a place to go when you're on a budget, but if you just want a truffle or two to calm your chocolate jones, go here. Like woah. The flavor combinations are amazing, and the chocolate is so fresh it tastes, well, better. Belgians know chocolate. 

We found Portland's own Moonstruck Chocolates next. I love Moonstruck so much, I wrote it into Compromising Positions (the chocolate they gift one another, and what he finally shares with her). They're very thoughtful in their chocolate, creating blends and flavor pairings that just make everything better. Plus, their caramels are divine.

Next, we tried Swiss chocolatier Teuscher. The store is very kitschy and smells...like Willy Wonka's chocolate river. They had some unique flavor combinations. Everything we tried as delicious and very creamy. 

My favorite stop of the trip had to be at Cacao for drinking chocolate. Walking Tours start at the Heathman, where the chocolate mecca is tucked into a corner, and begin with a shot of chocolate goodness. Jeff tried the cinnamon milk chocolate and it was just as delightful as my dark chocolate drink. You haven't experienced chocolate until you've sipped at Cacao.

Chocolate Decadence does more than just the chocolate shops -- there are rumors of cupcakes, cookies, gelato, and tips on how to pair chocolate with wine. But we did manage to find the best chocolate croissant outside of France at Pazzoria.

As much as I loved our DIY tour (and the cheap date price) I still want to do Chocolate Decadence. I love chocolate!

Ridin' The Riverboat

I'm not sure what I expected from a dinner cruise aboard the Columbia Gorge sternwheeler. I think of river boats and my mind either goes to the swanky casino boats on the Travel Channel, or Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.

This was definitely a middle ground - a much used space with two dining levels and an observation top deck. Most of the passengers were outside of our demographic, but there was one family celebrating a 50th anniversary that had a few people I might find at a PTA meeting.

The dinner cruise was a great way to see the gorge and learn a little about the area. The Seattle harbor cruise we did during Spring Broke was much more informative, as was the drive through the gorge during our snowshoe adventure.

Dinner was okay, you can't really expect much from a galley kitchen. I did think the cheesecake shouldn't be frozen, but what can you do?

 

I had fun taking pictures and watching the sternwheel spin. Things didn't really line up for the sunset shot I'd hoped for, but that didn't stop me from taking pictures until the memory card filled up!

Down a River With a Paddle

I have the strange notion that if something shows up on Groupon, it must be a good idea. Hence the snowshoeing, ziplining, rafting, etc. that I've tried out this year. Today was date day (brought to us in part by Uncle Dan, who watched over our minions while were were out).

Hubba Bubba loves how I am taking him on dates this year. I mean, why wouldn't he? Little does he know, 2012 is his turn. He's claiming our Evergreen Escapes snowshoe trip was the best ever, and while I kind of agree, I need to keep trying. And how does a girl compete with a snowshoe date?

Willamette Falls

Kayaking. The idea of climing into a plastic boat and having to fend for myself on the wide Willamette river terrified me. Which was why I did it.

Our guides were young, fun, and completely confident that we'd all make the trip without incident. The dozen or so of us - from teens to grandparents - were shown how to get into the kayak, how to hold the paddle, and the basic strokes. The guides stayed with us, offering guidance and instruction, but I was the only one who seemed incapable of keeping my kayak straight. I think I bumped into all of my tripmates at least once.

Paddling itself wasn't a struggle, but you had to twist your wrist to get the blades of the kayak to hit right, and my wrist doesn't twist. I've decided to blame the titanium, instead of my own dexterity and skill. Because titanium is strong stuff. It can handle it.

Hubba Bubba? Loved every minute of the excursion I wasn't bumping into him with my kayak. I told him we should have gone tandem, but I think he knew I'd wind up being a mess on the water, and wanted distance from my chaos. I wanted distance too, but since I am me, I was stuck with it.

I think we'll kayak again. They do naturalist tours that I think would be fun (and easier to keep the raft straight since there won't be as much of a current). eNRG runs excursions to lakes, islands and even Nehalem bay on the coast. I know we'll do at least one of those!

Distillery Tour...in a Pedicab!

Since we've committed to taking time for a date once a month, I find myself looking for new things to try. When we saw that Distillery Row was throwing a party with PDX Pedicab to celebrate their Distillery Row Passport, we signed up immediately. I mean, doesn't it just sound like fun? To make it even better, the coy Oregon sun decided to show up.

We met up at the Jupiter Hotel, which has a funky rock-n-roll vibe. Plenty of seats in the courtyard and a DJ spinning, plus a bartender using the spirits we'd be sampling later to mix up some signature cocktails. Delish!

Once enough of us showed up, they started running the pedicabs to the distilleries. First up was  Integrity Spirits where we got to try absinthe for the first time! I've always been curious, and though it takes some effort to prepare it, I can see why so many are in love with the stuff. YUM! 

 New Deal Distillery had the most amazing coffee liquers -- they even had two different brews! They also have a chocolate one called Mud Puddle...I mixed my coffee and Mud Puddle...and had to buy both bottles!

 Deco Distilling did the tasting a little different - more how to have fun with spirits than how spirits are made. They even sell 'bartender in a box' to make mixed drinks easy.

 

The best tour was at  House Spirits Distillery. We got to go back and learn the different kinds of stills, and how the different spirits are made. FASCINATING! I had no idea the artistry and mechanics that went into distilling -- or how the clean Oregon water is probably why Oregon has more distilleries than any other state.

We were able to see everything from the stills to the bottling and labeling. In the tasting room there was a display that showed the blend that goes into making Aviation Gin so delicious. They also mixed the whiskeys with Mexi-Coke. YUM!

Then it was on to  Stone Barn Brandyworks where they do small batch brewing. We were able to see the latest oatmeal whiskey as it went through the process. They have a very eco-friendly philosophy there that I really liked.

The pedicabs took us between each stop with ease. We loved the light breeze, sunshine, and easy pace of it all. We never had the same driver twice, and they were all having fun along with us.

I think if anyone comes to visit, I'll take them on this tour. They'll think it's cool, and some of that might rub off on their impression on me!

Las Vegas

I love Las Vegas the way some people love Disneyland. I'd spend a weekend there every month if I had the time, and the money. It brings back childhood memories of swimming pools, buffets with exotic foods (like pineapple and shrimp, ooh-la-la), and arcades. Now, there are the actually exotic restaurants, shows and attractions.

Of course, when most people think of Vegas, they think of gambling. And I spent a fair amount of time hunting for my favorite slot machine - Invaders From The Planet Moolah! You can play it for pennies, and I always make money. But, since I play pennies, I win pennies.

We did a Craps lesson...and were utterly confused. We did a blackjack lesson...and I quickly learned that I need to practice on the machines before I start betting $5 a hand! Jeff did a poker tournament, but I think we're both more comfortable betting change than dollars.

All of the shows don't allow cameras...but we really loved O and Phantom of the Opera.

We treked to the end of the strip to check out the last day of the Sahara, which closed while we were at Stratosphere...a big problem, since we needed to go through Sahara to get to the monorail back down the strip!

At Stratosphere, Jeff had to try the rides he'd seen on TV. I hadn't seen the program, so I said I would do the one that looked like a roller coaster. Little did I know...it launches you off the side of the building and dangles you there!! Jeff did the one that twirls you beside the building, and the one that blasts to the top of the tower. Can't say I'll be trying either!

 

One of the attractions on my to-do list for this trip was Sigfried & Roy's Secret Garden @ The Mirage. I wanted to take pictures of the animals, plus the weather was so gorgeous I wanted to be outside!

We could get amazingly close to the dolphins. They don't have show times, but interact with the trainers and the 'trainer for the day' participants often. Some day, I want to get in teh water with dolpins. But...not in a tank. Maybe in the ocean.

 

The big cats rotate through viewing exhibits, spending most of their time in their own lair. The white lions were gorgeous, and the white tiger cubs (born at the facility) were quite playful.

Any city with  dozens of posh restaurants is bound to have some haute cuisine (natch). We had a great time tasting as much as we could. We learned the pre-show pice fixe meals are a great deal, and a wonderful way to see what a reataurant is all about. With just a few options for apps, entree and desert chosen to expedite your meal so you don't miss your show, you can get in, get out, and probably come back later for more!

When we saw Phantom of the Opera, we went to  Pinot Brasserie @ The Venetian. The pre-show menu was very limited so we ordered the same thing - salad, filet, and croissant chocolate pudding...wait, Jeff opted for ice cream over the pudding. Shocker.

When we saw O, we went to Fix @ Bellagio. This was our favorite restaurant of the entire trip! We decided to order different things from the menu and share. For starters, we had the creamy tomato soup with goat cheese grilled cheese and the Fix version of a Caesar salad. Delish. Next came truffle penne and filet mignon. Amaze. We finished up with cake and shake (chocolate cake & an espresso milkshake) and banana doughnuts with chocolate and peanut butter dipping sauces. Bliss!

Another favorite was Spago @ the Forum Shops. We went for lunch, but instead of getting lunch, we opted for 3 appetisers instead so we could try more things. The quesadilla was our favorite, though both the calamari & chicken sausage pizza were great.

 

 We also made quite the breakfast find in The Sugar Factory @ Paris. Red Velvet pancakes anyone? What about french toast with carmelized bananas and two kinds of chocolate sauce? A brie and ham crepe topped with apples and toasted almonds? Eggs Benedict on scalloped potatoes instead of a soggy English muffin? Next time we're in Vegas, we'll be there every day before noon!