Eugene Celebration Parade w/Bike Friday

Every year Eugene puts on a weekend festival called Eugene Celebration, and part of that is a Saturday morning parade.  This isn't your normal parade, though, because let's face it - it's Eugene!  It's an opportunity for people and companies to express themselves in whatever quirky, off-beat, politically charged-or-not, just for fun kind of way they want.  

Our friends, Michael & Damon work for Bike Friday, and Michael was in charge of creating Bike Friday's spot in the parade.  Michael is not only a great bike builder, but he's also very musically talented, and so are his co-workers as it turns out!  He arranged a song for he and his co-workers to play while riding on the back of Bike Friday tandem bikes.  He did an amazing job, actually, and the group received a lot of recognition and even won a few awards!  

Brian's part in all this was to captain the tandem with the oh so important (and oh so loud!) snare drummer, Bethany.  Bethany also happens to be a mascot for one of the local roller derby teams, if that gives you any inkling about her personality...Brian was fully expecting her to stick her drumstick somewhere it shouldn't go, but thankfully she was well-behaved and only banged around on his helmet a little bit, but mostly kept to her drums :) 

Each tandem bicycle had a Bike Friday employee on the back, playing some sort of musical instrument, reading music that was taped to the driver's back.

And here he is, sporting the Bike Friday jersey, with marching band suspender set and plume (which was a little droopy, I might add)!

That's Michael with his accordion!

Bethany helps Brian fix his suspenders.

This was another group's "vehicle" in the parade...pretty cool, huh?  They actually maneuvered it really well together.

And there they are, the whole Bike Friday gang, quirks and all!  Oh the Tandemonium!

Bethany's getting warmed up.

Michael's leads the way with his stellar rhythm and enthusiasm :)

Don't mess with Bike Friday.

Brian, Damon (on the sousaphone) and Michael

All Good Things Must Come To An End...

I know I've inundated this blog with vacation photos, and there are lots more I could post, but I think I'll leave it with this wrap-up group of pics.  As if you couldn't tell, we had a blast and it was a wonderful time together.  Brian and I are thankful that we live so close to such a beautiful part of the country, and that we got to enjoy the beautiful northwest with BOTH of our families this summer.  

Thank you so much for that gift! 

Cooper likes the northwest, for sure!

Oma and Ella

How cute is this??

Laura & Cooper

Do I even need to say it?  Adorable!

Anne, Dad, Tom (w/Ella) & Brian....this is before Tom dipped Ella's feet in the water and she screamed because it was so cold :)

See?  She's running to Mama on dry sand!

Anne's attempt at being artsy.

Oma & Opa...aka Mom & Dad

This is at Heceta Head Lighthouse

Beautiful.

Thanks for a great trip!  Goodbye A Lul Quoy!

Devil's Churn & A Really Big Tree

Another day, we drove up the coast to see some sights like Devil's Churn which is a popular spot to watch, especially when the water is in a feisty mood.  We also stopped at a hiking trail with a really large Cedar (I think?) tree.  Tom, Laura, Brian and Anne went for a jog on the trail while Mom & Dad watched a seal video in the ranger station and walked along the trail with the kiddos. 

The cool girl in pink is ready to go!

With a dad like Tom, Ella isn't going to miss out on any adventure...including walking out onto the rocks at Devil's Churn!

 

When the water is really active and stormy, it's so fun to watch it (at a distance) pound these rocks.  It makes this thunderous crashing sound and is a sight to see.

Strike a pose.

I love this picture!  

Any tree you can climb through is cool on Ella's list.  

Oregon Coast Aquarium & Rogue Brewery

For one of our days on the coast, we drove to Newport (about an hour away) to see the Oregon Coast Aquarium and to go to the Rogue Brewery.  Probably Ella's favorite part of this day was the aquarium, and for the rest of us, it was more likely the brewery :)

The fish were cool, and what was even cooler is that there was a cafe...with coffee to drink while looking at the fish!

That's Ella in the pink...checking out some funky birds somewhere, I think.

After getting the scenic view of downtown Newport thanks to some faulty mapquest directions, we finally found our the Rogue Brewery, where we enjoyed some lunch and some tasty chocolate stout :)

We each got one of these taster trays, thankfully with labels so we could remember what we ordered...

Pete the home brewer extraordinaire!

Nice lineup there, Tom.