A log cabin out on the lone prairie. Fort Rock, Oregon; June, 2012.

The art nouveau feel outside Le Train Bleu restaurant inside Gare Du Lyon seems to take one back to the Belle Epoch. (Click on the photo for more deatil) Paris, France; Septembrer, 2013.

The Space Needle rises high over the Experience Music Project and the rest of the city. Seattle, Washington; January, 2014.

Now don't get your feathers ruffled! A couple of denizens of the Oregon Country Fair. Elmira, Oregon; July, 2013.

We don't know about you, be we here at The Grind are rather tired of wintery ole weather and are eager for Spring to bring color and warmth. So we decided to bring some colorful flowers into The Grind. Clackamas, Oregon June, 2013.

Without a doubt, our favorite restaurant in town here at The Grind is Nuestra Cocina. To say it is a Mexican restaurant is to say Paris is another French city. It's a very good place to eat, serving not your average Mexican plates. In any case, owners Ben and Shannon just celebrated the restaurant's 10th anniversary, and since we've been going there for 8 of those 10 years, we couldn't miss the celebration. To mark the occasion, there was even a Mariachi band on hand. (Click the photo for more detail) Portland, Oregon; March, 2014.

You typically modest palace room. (Click the photo for better detail) Palace at Versailles, France; September, 2013.

Puppy posers on a sunny day. Portland, Oregon; March, 2014.

A long-serving cemetery in Old Town. The graves here show people buried in the 1700s (old by US standards, anyway). Alexandria, Virginia; March, 2014.

This pelican has been posted. Pensacola, Florida; August, 2013.

I ran across this fellow at the Saturday Market this past weekend. I gave him $1. Keep Portland weird. Portland, Oregon; March, 2014.

Somewhere along the Rue de la Grange Bateliére in the 9th arrondissement. (Click the photo for more detail) Paris, France; September, 2013.

Bread and baguette offerings at Le Pain Quotidien Bakery and Communal Table. (Click the photos to check the prices) Alexandria, Virginia; March, 2014.

The Torpedo Factory Art Gallery sits on the Potomac waterfront. Guess what it use to be...Alexandria, Virginia; March, 2014.

A Colonial house turned into an Old Town restaurant. Alexandria, Virginia; March, 2014.

Last week, we here at the Grind spent several days working in Alexandria, Virginia, and did manage to take some photos despite the Polar Vortex that hit while we were there. So we're going to inflict Alexandria on you Grinders here this week. This one is a snag of the US Capitol building across the Potomac River. Alexandria, Virginia; March, 2014.

There's still lots to do on a rainy day; like visiting the Centre Pompidou! Paris, France; September. 2013.

Here's another one from our last trip across the high Cascades range. Rural Clackamas County, Oregon; February, 2014.

Little house on the high desert. Fort Rock, Oregon; June, 2012.

A popcorn umbrella. Granville Island Market, Vancouver, BC, Canada; April, 2013.

We here at The Grind are waiting patiently for Spring, but it can't come too soon. So for now, we'll just have to be content to look at photos such as the one of these sunflowers. Terrebonne, Oregon; October, 2013.