Update: Two Plates (one to drive, one to eat)

So in this blog post we have two new plates to show you all in blogland. The first one being our OR driving plates! We decided not to go with the traditional plate shown below. (just too many of them!)

We also decided not to go with this one below. We couldn't tell what it was! The guy at the DMV said he wouldn't be caught with this plate on his car. It is a "cultural" plate, which means no-so-great art, if you ask us. When we saw these around town we thought it might be a picture of a significant fire that happened in Oregon. Ha!

This one hit the spot for us. We have been biking around Eugene (sometimes wishing that we didn't live up a hill), and are glad to "share the road" with fellow bikers when we drive (well, share the road with ones that obey the rules of the road that is)! Donna also thought they were the best-looking in the bunch because they were—well—simple! Here we are showing them off before we placed them on the cars. (the most hilarious thing about this picture, besides the fact that we look pretty ridiculous, is that Feist and Frou-Frou wanted to get in on the action. You can see them at the bottom of the screen door—both of them looking away from the camera!)

So that was the first plate we wanted to show you, the next plate was one that we brought to Corey's architecture potluck. He was assigned the task of creating a dish that described himself—so he chose (with the help of Donna's recipe clippings) an interesting appetizer. We named it Pizza-Peach-Pesto-and-More-Yumminess (well, we couldn't really think of a good name, so this one works). Donna and Corey made their OWN pesto for this (and it actually came out alright). It is an unusual mesh of ingredients but super delicious! More importantly, it looked beautiful (presentation is everything—that is why Donna felt the need to color coordinate with the dish...ok, that was just coincidence). If you come and visit us you just might get to try it out!

The Central Coast Trip

Well the Templetons are finally updating their blog. We left a cliff-hanger... the Central Coast? Some might say, “Did they actually come to the Central Coast in CA without seeing us??!!” The answer is no... but we sure like making people THINK so (we are mean... no, we tease!) We actually headed to the Central Coast of OREGON for a 24 hour fly-by tour before Corey started his architorture (architecture) classes. 

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Right when we got to the campsite (under two hours of driving) we were given some fun stickers. I think they are reserved for kiddos, but hey, we had to make our first Oregon camping experience fun! Though it was our first stay in an Oregon state park, we were already big supporters, as you can see below. 

We have realized that we should probably get a more weatherproof tent than this little tiny summer guy, but it worked for one night! Donna felt like she should give it a kiss and a hug (because it overheard us talking about new tents). 

Now that we were done putting up the tent, Corey was looking off to the trail that leads to the dunes!

...and Donna was ready to go in her ever-so fashionable duds. (sometimes the comfort of warmth outweighs style). 

So, we took a hike, and were able to catch a beautiful sunset! 

We had to hike up some higher dunes to get to a great view. 

Donna found that taking off her boots made for a better solution for getting up the sandy dunes. Cold toes, but better traction. 

Sunsets can never be fully captured by a camera...It is always more beautiful in person. 

The next day, we wanted to celebrate 150 years of Oregon being a state by going to a chainsaw carving competition! Isn’t that everyone’s dream? We knew we were close to the event when we heard the hum that scores of chainsaws produce. The entire weekend, each of the pro and semi-pro carvers take one large piece of tree and carve away toward their sculptural masterpiece. 

The theme for this year’s chainsaw carving competition was Oregon celebrating 150, so we saw a lot of Lewis and Clark, Indians, and Sacagawea (as seen below). 

In this picture below, you can see the row of contestants that come from around the world (Germany, UK, Japan...etc.) for this event in small Reedsport, OR. 

This one below ended up winning 1st place for the pro division. On one side he has a native american with a spear, on the other side there is a pioneer, very detailed!

The highlight to this event was the “quick-carve” contest. The contestants are given 70 minutes to go from tree to sculpture. 

People LOVE bears, almost every contestant had little carved bears for sale! How can you not love them, they wave and are so cuddly! (only when made out of wood or cotton)

So along the way, we always love people-watching. Here we caught an old-fashioned photo-taking carving enthusiast... who was so into taking the picture, that his nose gets squished (maybe we are seeing what Corey will look like later in life?)

Perhaps the oddest couple was a father and daughter doing... well, we aren’t quite sure. It might be practicing for a father-daughter dance? Either way, we decided that it should probably not be done in public. 

Before we left, Donna had to pose with a chainsaw to show off her mad skills. (that is why the chainsaw had a protective cover on it... to protect all around, including her). If you notice, she does not quite know where to place her left hand (but the fierce look makes up for it!).