Pancakes, IOAPF Style

     Something in Barcelona must have rubbed off on us.  We have unwittingly taken off the whole month of August, because we've been traveling or without the computer.  Yesterday, Cy and I got back from Camp Namanu, and Mom promptly put on a big load of laundry.  Unlike last year, when the dining hall served up a few things neither Cy or I had ever had before, this year it was more about the way we ate.  We co-invented Airplane Lunch, in which one eats lunch standing up (it tastes better), and I joined the ranks of the International Order of Associated Pancake Flippers, the IOAPF (ah, summer camp).  Now that I know the basics of flipping a pancake without utensils, I wanted to give it a try at home, for the blog of course.

     But let's cut to the chase.  You just want to see me flip a pancake.  Well, here it is.

Next Week...

     Sadly, we won't be able to cook dinner this week either. A quick visit to tsa.gov confirmed that we can't  cook dinner on the plane.  Not surprisingly, cooking fuels are strictly prohibited in checked and carry-on baggage.  Kentucky will be fun though.  I should finally be able to cook next Sunday, even though Mom and Dad will be at their friend Delida's wedding in New York.  Speaking of weddings, tomorrow is Mom and Dad's 17th wedding anniversary.

Skibowl, Timberline Lodge, and Snow

Timberline Lodge and the summit of Mount Hood

     Yesterday was awesome.  We went to Skibowl (on Mount Hood) with Mustafa and the other Iraqi's.  We went down the alpine slides, and bungee-jumped (100 feet!) and zip-lined.  We ran around in these human sized hamster balls, took the Go-carts around the track (I spun-out a few times) and bungee-trampolined (every time you jump you get slingshotted 15-20 feet higher, meaning enough hang time for back- and front-flips).  Then we drove up to Timberline Lodge.  If you haven't been to Timberline, you need to go, it's a beautiful WPA project with spectacular views of the top of Mount Hood.  We walked a little ways up the mountain, built a "snowman", had a snowball fight, and watched snowboarders and skiers screaming downhill.  For most of the Iraqi's, it was the first time they had seen snow.
     On the way back, our bus driver told us how one of his buddies had driven a bunch of Iraqi diplomats up to Timberline Lodge.  One of the diplomats was the Minister of Security, it was the first time he had seen snow and he was wearing a really fancy Italian suit.  The driver walked up to the diplomat, and told him there was an "American tradition" that he wanted to introduce the diplomat to.  He picked up a handful of snow and hit the Minister in the gut.  His bodyguards freaked out, but the Minister of Security fired back, pretty soon there had been an international snow ball incident in the Timberline parking lot.
     By the time we got back it was too late to make dinner.  I don't think I'll be able to make dinner next week either because Cy and I are headed to Kentucky, and the TSA would prefer we didn't cook dinner over a Bunsen burner at 30,000 feet.