Mt. Tabor

The weather has been gorgeous lately. Yesterday, it was sunny and 60. We spent much of the day hiking around Mt Tabor. It is a phenomenal park, and also an old volcano! Portland is one of only two cities with a volcano in it's city limits, the other is Bend, OR. The dog park was huge, had hiking trails throughout it, and a big open play area. Bruce was one happy canine! We had a picnic on the playground's old school merry go round. We then walked to the top and hung out in the sun some more, admiring the endless views offered in every direction. Mt. Tabor also has history for me. Many years ago, when I rode my bike across the country, I started in Portland. The night before I left, I was hanging out with all the local bike couriers. They were planning a 'Critical Ass' ride that night, a naked full moon version of critical mass. I thought it would be a good memorable thing to do before my big ride. We rode up to the top of Mt. Tabor, stripped down, put our clothes in our bags, and rode down the mountain and beyond into the surrounding neighborhood, cruising by all the bars. We got quite a wave of cheers.
When we got home from the park, I had to motor to make a golden bowl casserole (yummy tofu, rice, and nutritional yeast vegan cheese gravy) for the NW Veg monthly potluck. I recently joined a vegan meetup group. They were meeting at this potluck. I was excited to go because there were several families with kids that were members of this group. Dan ended up not being able to go because of homework obligations. I swallowed my nervous social skills problems and went without him. It turned out better than I had hoped. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. I had a baby strapped to me, two casserole dishes in one hand, and Halen's hand in the other hand, so I kinda needed the help. There were tons of people there, of all ages and scenes. All but two dishes (and there were alot of dishes) were vegan. There was a play room next to the dining room. All the kids, 10 total, went in there to play after we were done eating. I went in there and conversed with other parents, all vegan, while the kids all played. Once again, Portland proves to be the best city on earth, for our family at least!
I'm having trouble with blogger and pics right now, so pics from this endeavor will have to come later.