Funny Old Weather

Spring seems to be on hiatus here in Corvallis - it's cold and rainy again. We're driving through the mountains this afternoon to see Bright Eyes, Death Cab, and Jenny & Johnny play in an outdoor amphitheatre in Bend, OR. The forecast is grim, but I am optimistic that the great lineup will keep the temperatures from dwindling.

Dream House

My current favourite house in Corvallis, on the corner of NW 21st St and Jackson Ave.

Sunday Lunch

After our leisurely garden-seeking meander, we arrived downtown for a late lunch at around 3pm.

SW 2nd Street

We'd been meaning to check out the Old World Deli for a while - they get rave reviews for their sandwiches and also claim to have the World's Greatest Brownies.

 Of course, I was completely charmed by the set up - big communal tables, weird murals on the walls and ceilings, and a window into their in-house brewing operation? Yes please!

 Also a big yes please to the sandwiches - these were excellent. Above we have a classic vegetarian on sourdough, and below...

 ... the Nutty Vegetarian on marbled rye - this one, with cheddar, alfalfa, apple, sunflower seeds, mayo and mustard, was my favourite. You just can't go wrong with apple, cheddar and mustard - a dynamite combination!

 Heading back out into the sunshine...

... to share a takeaway brownie by the riverfront. The Old World Deli is covered in signs about their "World's Greatest Brownies". Of course, I could only interpret that as a challenge! Having not yet sampled all the competition (despite my best efforts) I can't weigh in on the World's Greatest tag, but I will say that this brownie was perfectly delicious.

Sunday Strolls

A lovely Spring day here, perfect for a stroll downtown and some snaps of one of my favourite features of Corvallis - gardens. I took so many photos today that I'm going to split them into a few posts to save your attention spans (you can take a break in between to check for the latest Osama v Obama news). First, the walk downtown. We live about 15 blocks west of the downtown area, and I love it how those 15 blocks pretty much all look like this:

One of my favourite Corvallis houses 

Gardening on the nature strip seems to be the done thing here - most nature strips around here are planted with flowers, or raised beds filled with herbs or vegetables.  

Once again, I love it that you can walk down streets like this and suddenly see train tracks in amongst all the greenery. Also, look at that freaking blue sky!

HELLO FRIEND!!! 

Instagrammed Afternoon Wanderings

Although Corvallis is not a big place, we tend to spend most of our time around our apartment and the uni, rarely venturing outside that 5 or 10 block radius on normal weekdays. Some errands took me downtown today, for the first time in a week or two, and fortunately the rain and miserable weather took a break for the few hours I was out walking. I love the walk from our apartment downtown - one of the great things about this place is the way the landscape moves seamlessly from low density business areas around the uni or downtown to beautifully maintained, green and quiet residential streets. I think I'll need to do a "Front Gardens of Corvallis" post before we go, so you know what I'm talking about!

The cherry blossoms have turned from pale to rich pink in the past couple of weeks, and are already starting to drop. There is a fabulous and huge pink house on the corner of Jackson Ave and NW 8th St, and today the rest of the block had very obligingly coordinated: 

 

I did cheat and Instagram these pictures, but the fake Lomo candy colours above are actually much closer to the real thing than the original washed out iPhone snaps.

Another thing I love about Corvallis is the way the freight train tracks run right down the middle of a leafy residential street. There are only a couple of trains a day, and today I was on the right corner at the right time.

Saturday Morning Perambulations

It's a beautiful Saturday here in Corvallis, and a perfect day for a morning run. Back in my old Brooks trainers today - I got a pair of these when we first got here, and I like them for the gym and cross training but the jury's still out on whether they're too bone-crunching for running on the pavement. They seem to be everywhere at the moment, so it will be amusing/awkward to see if an entire generation has the same plantar fascia injuries in 20 years time as a result!

Paul left early to get some study in before picking up our rental car (more on that later), so I decided to plan out a route that would deposit me at the Hertz office in time for a ride home. I managed to run all the way this time (just over 4k I think), apart from a brief stop to check the map when I took a wrong turn.

 

I'm sure I've said it before, but it's just so goshdarn nice here. Everyone seems to have lovingly tended gardens that are starting to bloom, and apart from a few people out tending said gardens, the only company I had on my run through the 'burbs were the many postmen (postpeople?) out on their routes. I don't think I've mentioned our postman, but suffice it to say, he is dedicated. Takes my appreciation of The Mail to a whole new level (and I don't mean for that to sound like I'm having an affair with him, which it unavoidably does. He's just a really good mail man!). Anyway, I digress. It was warm, sunny and green out on my run this morning, and for want of a better way of putting it, it just felt like a great day to have legs.

Thursday

Spring is very much underway in Corvallis. I feel like we've cheated a bit, coming here as the weather is warming up. We weren't here for the snow and cold and seasonal affective disorder, so we haven't earned Spring! We are enjoying it anyway, however.

Some iphone snaps from our walk around town yesterday afternoon:

The court house - amazing how American public buildings all look so... American.

Cherry blossoms - plentiful and lovely!

Other highlights from the day include getting an apartment right near the uni (phew!) and seeing a guy walking around with a cat on his back. I was too slow with the camera, but we saw him with his feline friend again this morning so I'm sure there will be other photo opportunities.