A week filled with new friends, new experiences and some not so great news about Bailey.

Bailey

A second visit to the vet with Bailey revealed that what he thought was a swollen lymph node was actually a mast cell tumor which is cancerous – the growth we originally took her in for was benign, just ugly. Further diagnostics determined that the tumor is, most likely, solitary and has not spread to nearby lymph nodes or elsewhere in her body. If this is true, and they get all the cancer during surgery, most dogs only have a 5% to 11% chance of recurrence. Boxers are very prone to cancer so that may not be accurate but we can hope. She has surgery this coming week and we’re coming back to have it done at the Selah Veterinary Hospital. Their estimate was almost $500 cheaper than the place that did all the diagnosis in Portland!

New friends

We were lucky to be introduced to some great new friends who live in Portland this weekend! Thanks Dee for hooking us up with Tracy and Kimber. They took us out for the day and gave us some great insights in to things to do in town – thanks a lot girls!

Biscuits Café

We met our new friends at Biscuits Café for some delicious breakfast – awesome biscuits which I’m sure you can predict by the name. We had a great time getting to know each other and chow down!

Pittock Mansion

I’m no history buff but here’s a background of what this is from their web site:

Henry Pittock was an entrapeneur who took ownership of the Weekly Oregonian in 1860. He went on to build an empire incorporating real estate, banking, railroads, steamboats, sheep ranching, silver mining, and the pulp and paper industry. He and his wife began planning and designing their new home in 1909. The mansion was completed in 1914, replete with stunningly progressive features including a central vacuum system, intercoms, and indirect lighting. The house also creatively incorporated Turkish, English, and French designs. In keeping with their loyalty to their home state, the Pittocks hired Oregon craftsmen and artisans, and used Northwest materials to build the house. The final estate included the mansion, a three-car garage, a greenhouse, and the Italianate gate lodge servants’ residence, all situated on 46 acres of land almost 1,000 feet above downtown Portland.

It was pretty impressive that at that time they had central vaccuum, multi-head showers, and intercom systems. Those are the things that we found the most interesting since we’re not especially interested in antique furniture. We also loved the yard/gardens and the awesome view!

Audubon Society Wildlife Care Center

We went to the Audubon Society’s Wildlife Care Center to check out the birds they are rehabilitating. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see a lot of the birds because they were at an event but we did see some and took a short hike on the trails nearby. We also picked up their schedule of events and have decided to sign up for an intro to birding class that is upcoming.

Salt & Straw

We tried an ice cream shop called Salt & Straw that uses local, all-natural creams to create the most interesting ice cream flavors I’ve heard of. Portland grown ice-cream shop called Salt & Straw. I didn’t have the nerve to try the one with blood pudding (with actual blood) but Tracy did and said it was pretty good. I played it safer and had Honey Balsamic Strawberry with Black Pepper along with a seasonal flavor, Witch’s Brew Potion, containing rosemary, candied ruby reds, oils of nutmeg and mint, and Oregon Spruce caramel newt-guts (nougat). Ice cream is my favorite thing EVER so this was the highlight of my day.

This coming weekend we’ll be back in the Yak for Bailey’s surgery and my Dad’s Birthday!