Bettes-

Ok, so there's lots of great things about Hood River, but probably nothing more "Hood Rivery" than Bette's, the town restaurant. (Turkey and avacado Eggs benedict)

Yes, there is a Bette, but she's been gone for awhile, Her daughter, Gae, runs the show these days. Gaes' husband when he's not working construction, manages the cash register, and they have a crew of some of the best waitstaff anywhere. (Did I mention Eggs benedict with Turkey and avacado?)

It's so rare these days to find people who are working a career in the hospitality business. In America, we treat those who serve us so poorly. We pay them terribly, and we look down on them, and make what is a honorable job, serving people, being of service to people, into some menial task that can only garner minimum wage and some tips.

Ok so Bette's......is........well, just real. Genuine.


This is Bev, guess how old she is? 60? 65? try 74. Waiting tables three days a week.


This is Sherri. Everyone things she's Gae's daughter. She isn't, and she's sick of people asking if she is or not, but she handles it pretty well. I've met alot of people with more "status" who can't handle what Sheri does in your average shift.

This is Gae- It's a terrible photo, I'll admit. Gae threatened to get back at me if I published this photo by "feeding my kid a whole plate of candy!"

This is Drea. She's new to the team, and a hell of a waitstaff person.

One more of Bev.......

More on Bette's later......

Johnson Dunn...........

Back a bunch of years ago, whe I was the bartender in my restaurant, Hood River was a bit more colorful. The town had it's legions of fun characters, and one of them is Johnson Dunn.

Johnson was (is) from Georgia, It think. He's got that great southern Lawyer thing going on, Accent, cherubic/bookish/boyish southern, under-the-oak-lets-have-a-whiskey-while-we-talk-about-the-war-and-daddy's-exploits kind of guy.

I mean really, honestly. I think he even wore a bow tie for a bit.

My favorite Johnson story (other than the one I'm going to relate now) Is when, during a Hurricane in the South, oh about 15 years ago, Johnson burst into my bar, and demanded to see the news. "Is it true?!" he shouted, way too loud for the bar......"did it hit Avery Island?! oh god I hope that's not true!"

Avery Island is the home of tabasco sauce, and our county prosecuting Attorney was deathly afraid of what a future without McIlhenny might bring.

What a relief when he found out they made th sauce in other parts of the country. "I was sweating it there for a moment...." he later said.......

Johnson left us for a bunch of years, but now he's back, and he and his new wife, are expecting a baby. He still makes the news every once in awhile........ Here's an excerpt from the current Hood River news.....

(Johnson has spent over a year trying to get this kid into court. The Kid has refused counsel and is trying to defend himself, and in the process has made a bunch of accusations questioning Johnson's professionalism.......After what appeared to be a listing of complaints, Johnson replied to the Jury......)

"....With God as my witness I say to you now, sue me, just sue me,” “I’d be happy to stand in front of a jury and answer every charge made by this gentleman.”

Gotta love that testimonial flair he's got.

Gooooo Johnson! Welcome Home.


Johnson, later that evening, having dinner at Abruzzo's

More Buildings and Hood River stuff.......

The Skin on the Yasui building is done. Here's what it's going to look like! Yippee....



We kanoodled with the colors some more today. Windows are going in next week and sheetrock (actually shearwall assembly) begins on monday. It's not that far until we can start our finish of the building. I'm very happy.

I'm also working on another project, as the owner's rep. This one has a nice view too. Somehow, I'm blessed with working with nice views.



This one was for three lawyers. It's been tough, and it has the entire crew nervous. On top of that, it's a infill project, which is just asking for trouble. Try slipping a new building into a hillside in an old town with three lawyers looking over your shoulder........

But the weather is great and we are out of the ground on both projects. Better lucky than good!

On Nathaniel.

My Son's name is Nathaniel. Family name from my wife's side.

Nathaniel for Nathaniel Bowditch, my wife's mother's greatx5 Grandfather. It was a maternal line down to her.

Besides that, I like the name. Nathaniel. Not Nat, Not Nathan.

His middle name is Kepoikai. Family name on my side.

Means "power of the crashing wave" or power of the ocean swell" There was some discord among my family when we named him this. The second choice was Maniakalani which means "The Fishook of Mau'i"

....and while that is eloquent, somehow, inexplicably, Kepoikai would not go away from our minds.

Nathaniel Kepoikai Meyer.

A name made up of one of the great captains of american seafaring history, Nathaniel Bowditch, and combined with the ocean lineage of one of the great ancient navigating peoples. Of which we are part.

For a reason.

Someday we'll get back to the ocean. Someday.

Things we built for Christmas

You know............

They say all that stuff about Christmas isn't about the gifts and all that, but you know it is. Jan and I somehow got into making things this Christmas, and here's what we came up with........



Some scrap beadboard, scrap upholstery pieces and an old floor grate.......Couple of some door hinges and some paint......and we've got a castle! (It fits in front of a closet, making a small room....)



More scrap cloth..(Ok, Jan kinda went overboard on the surplus material) and some curtain rods....and we've got a teepee...

Crazy eh?

On Food and Hawaii

This winter we took a trip to Hawaii. Here's some food photos. Food in Hawaii can be totally over the top, and I always appreciate some good fusion food. Alot of it is simple and really good. (Like anything off a Kenny's menu) And lots of it can Suck. We got winners across the board this time...............

This is from L'Uraku



Nice app. Good combinations on the plate. They had some wierd inconsistencies (Talking up the local nature of their fish, an environmentally raised fish called Moi, which was very subtle and tasty, but then actually saying, when I asked about the pork, "I don't know where is comes from, Colorado, I think")But overall, pretty good.

They had a sub zero cellar out front.



Always nice! We are putting something like it in our new place, but a bit less "standing out in the middle of the room" ish

But the real thriller was Alan Wong's



Great looking local greens and a tight presentation. Loved it.


Sea Urchin Maki, I think. Nice, sweet with a touch of chipolte....I can't really remember exactly. It was very good.



Creme Brulee in won ton soup spoons was the best part of the presentation. Dug it. There were five types of creme brulee' Liilikoi, chocolate, vanilla, orange.....

Other things from Hawaii


Go figure! Same presentation on a shrimp app the next evening at my uncle Phillip's (Actually Aunt Gerry's) birthday party. This one was whith strimp, and a chinese style sauce with some daikon on top.....


We had a super premium rose vodka. Acquired taste, but really fascinating drink! Strong kind of bergamot aftertase. Great product that I would highly reccommend.


Here's uncle Phillip with Ahi Tartare Nachos. OK, fusion can sometimes go wrong. Horribly wrong. (But that didn't stop me from eating about fifty of 'em)


Later, the next day, we stumbled across a store called "SOHA" which is like pottery barn for asian people. Except better! Here's a couple of things you'll be seeing in pottery barn next season.....



Stunning plates. With crackle finish, no less!

What's Happenin on a Sunny Friday.

This morning, over coffee, we picked paint colors for the new building. These are some of the partners on the New Yasui building.




Thats pat in front, mark in gthe back and our designer, Gretchen. We're all a pretty close knit bunch of friends. Ben, my business partner, was at home watching his kid, Josephine. This is Jojo.



(sitting amongst a bag full of crushed grahm crackers looking sufficiently sheepish......)

So, lots of running around today. Talking to an investor, dealing with Google-hype, keeping up with buyers and sellers. Not a bad day for the middle of winter!

Rodger bursts into the 21st century!

The man who runs our county is named Rodger Schock. He's a welder. Spent a bunch of years welding barges on the Columbia river once the freeways came in, barges on the columbia were pretty much doomed.

We got him into the 21st century in fine style. Rim Blackberry. Can't keep him off the thing now............



Now if only we can get him to stop smoking.

Masuo Yasui's New Building

Ok. To start, this is the big (Real Estate) Project in my life at the moment

The New Yasui Building. It's a LEED Silver building in Rural Oregon, where I live. We mostly built it because we couldn't find another place to grow our businesses into, but it's become a focal project in the town. I get a bit strung out when I'm around it, mostly because I've never built anything like this before, mostly just townhouses and homes and such......

Anyway, Check it out.

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Hood River is growing fast. Google just announced they were opening a technology center near here. 200 new jobs. That's a pretty big deal in "depressed", Rural Oregon. It may be tough economically, but it sure is beautiful........
Want to hear something interesting about the building? It is being built on the site of one of Hood River's great entrpreneurs, a Japanese man named Masuo Yasui. He arrived in Hood River, and pretty much put it on the map by organizing and expanding the Hood River fruit trade. You know what Hood River did to thank him for his effort? They ran him out of town and took his property during World War Two.

We bought the property a bunch of years ago and wanted to build something nice, something that would keep his name alive. They may have stolen Masuo's land from him, but when I'm dead and gone, the Yasui building will still bear his name.

The point of the spear in the middle of nowhere

Let's go back a bit eh? Like to here.


This is where I'm from. A small couple of bays in Hawaii. I've got a pretty large family in Hawaii, I'm sure I'll get to photos of them over time....Here's a couple rhight now.

Cousin Emma:


Cousin Noah:


And one of my sisters, Luana. (I've got Six of them)



I grew up eating Hawaiian Food, Kinda Like this:



Why Share all of this you may ask? Well, It makes up alot of who I am today. Food, Family, small town bucolic life.

Today, I live in Hood River, Oregon, and I create things. Restaurant. Real Estate Agency. Development Company. It wouldn't be much different from many people except that I'm trying to fuse the old with the new. Growth with Tradition, Synergy with Stasis.

So, Come on along and I'll give you a tour of my life, Our lives, at the point of the spear in the middle of nowhere.