These signs abound in the countryside of Oregon, promoting a yes vote on proposition 49, which will keep developers from running rampant in the rural areas of this state.

As we drove home today and I began to see the signs, it made me realize how much I love my adopted home state. The northern California landscape was so bleak compared to what awaited us in Oregon. I managed to get some drive-by photos. They are all clickable or you can see them all at my Flickr site. Having grown up in upstate New York, I have always missed the colors of fall when I lived in California and North Carolina.

Back to our trip to San Francisco — on Friday morning, we went to the SFMOMA, to see the current exhibits. I enjoyed seeing the assemblages and collages of Joseph Cornell. We were also blown away by the life size photos of Jeff Walls of Vancouver, Canada.

Friday night we had dinner with the SF core family — Mark and Jayme and Lisa. We went to a new restaurant in Mark’s neighborhood with a very eclectic and unusual menu. One of the desserts was chocolate cake with a blue cheese filling. Since I didn’t get back to Lisa’s shop for another photo, I stole this one from her so that you can see the interior. They have been doing great sales since they opened, so we are all very happy. Thank you all, from Lisa, for the best wishes. We are really proud of her. In the midst of all this, she is still working 20 hours a week at her old job (which she is leaving at the end of December) and producing work for a show in Venice, CA, opening next week. What a girl!

Saturday, we had the pleasure of attending our great niece, Viola’s, first birthday party. It had a Halloween theme. Viola was dressed as Princess Leah or Princess Violeah, as I called her. That is her beautiful Mom, Jessie.

Here she is with her dad, blowing out the cupcake candle.

The place was filled with young couples and their babies and toddlers, making the grandparents and the great aunt and uncle feel quite old.

My favorite party attendee was their French Bulldog, Lola.

Here are two more of my favorite people, Mark and Jayme!

OK, that is enough family stuff. We drove as far as Vacaville last night so we could get a head start on our drive home. It was nice to drive in to Portland at the end of October and find sunshine. I went out for a half hour walk after we arrived home. We found some soup in the freezer, and it felt good to eat my own food again. Tomorrow, I have to get back to counting WW points. Oh, one great thing that happened at the party, Steve’s brother looked at me and said, “You’ve lost weight, you look great!” Yeah, somebody noticed.