Getting outdoors and seeing the world around you is a fantastic excuse to use your Saturday.  Once a month on the second Saturday Penny and Phil schedule a walk/hike and lunch to somewhere interesting.  You may find yourself walking about the streets of the Portland/Vancouver metro area or climbing to a vista overlooking the Columbia River Gorge.  Read articles about the walks here.  Once a year the walk also incorporates a photo scavenger hunt where you experience small points of interest on your way while striving to compete against other teams.  We enjoy these chances to get out and do something thanks to the organizational skills of Penny and Phil.  It is all about experiencing and enjoying the world around you with friends.

See slideshows of the walks and hikes here!

Click here if you are interested in being on a email list about upcoming walks/hikes.

Over a dozen Cascade Zydeco members made the trek Mothers' Day Weekend to San Diego, CA for the 8th Annual Gator By The Bay Zydeco, Blues and Crawfish Festival. This festival is a must for those who want to relax in the sun and enjoy the sounds of the south.  Not only can you dance and enjoy the music, but there are great opportunities to sample Cajun cooking, learn how to cook Cajun foods, take dance lessons, and participate in informal workshops related to Cajun and Zydeco music.

Beausoleil has won the 2009 Grammy in the Zydeco/Cajun category. Michael Doucet famous lead fiddler admits he has never heard the album for which they were nominated as it was recorded live at the New Orleans Jazz Fest.

http://caterwauled.blogspot.com/2009/02/beausoleil-wins-cajunzydeco-grammy.html

Maybe it should have been two long days on the road, but really it was three. We left on a Saturday morning from Portland headed for Winter Park, CO. I am sure some of you reading this have ridden in a Jeep before, so perhaps you can relate to the noise and comfort level you need to endure to drive all day in one. I joke that the Wrangler is very much like an old Birtish sports car except it doesn't handle that well. It is noisy, full of air and water leaks, uncomfortable to sit in, harsh riding, has poor visibility, but hey once we get to living at 9000' in the Rocky Mountains it will be right at home. I should also say that we were loaded for a six week skiing stay in Winter Park, so the Jeep was full and the gear flowed out the back onto a trailer hitch mounted rack. I did manage to avoid packing more onto the roof rack which would have raised our aerodynamic quotient to a level which  could have pushed us back west every time I pushed in the clutch to shift gears.

Cascade-Zydeco (CZ) dance camp at the Mt. Hood Kiwanis Camp finished Sunday September 14, 2008. This year the headliner band was Brian Jack and the Zydeco Gamblers from Houston, Texas.