Free Coffee and a Trip to Scappoose

Our Banking Center had a heated competition with the Hawthorne branch on Friday. The manager there, Doug, challenged our manager that his team could open up three checking accounts and file 2 credit card applications before we could. Being naturally competitive, our manager accepted the terms of the bet. The losing team had to call the winning team's branch on Monday (tomorrow) and formally apologize to the team for "accepting a challenge they knew they couldn't win." To top it off, the losing team's manager had to hand-deliver coffee for the entire winning team. Pressure was on.

Within 20 minutes of opening, we had one credit card application and one new checking account. Lombard-Greeley: 1, Hawthorne: 0.

By 4:00pm, we were up to 3 credit cards and 3 checking accounts. Hawthorne had a respectable 2 of each.

By 6:00pm, we had 4 credit card apps and 5 checking accounts. Luck was on our side today as our average day barely yields two checking accounts and maybe one credit card app if we're lucky. We are at a big disadvantage with being in a less affluent area with minimal foot traffic (they are in a major metro area). Silly goals, but it won us coffee and bragging rights! The underdog prevails.

After a long week at work, Katie and I decided to head out to Scappoose for a little redneck fun. In case you're wondering, Scappoose is a quiet, rural town North West of us. See the map below for a general idea--we are at "A" and Scappoose is at "B."

It is amazing to think this place exists less than 20 miles from bustling downtown Portland. It feels like Eugene but with even less people and more hills.

I'm not sure why the font just turned blue... Anyways, technical difficulties aside, we found a nice little spot off a dirt road. We hiked in a few dozen yards and found a decent clearing that reminded me of the redwoods we used to visit in Moraga.

While we were there, we thought a little target practicing might be fun! After all, Katie has never shot a handgun before, and it had been a long time for me.

As it turns out she is a great shot. :)

We also brought the 9mm.

We had some extra ammo in the end, so I tried to shoot a can filled with dirt as fast as possible.

I'm pretty sure I missed the can 8 of 10 times. It's not easy!

After a couple of hours out there, we decided to pack it in and head home. It was a fun and rewarding time out--the ammo was cheap, the drive was short, and the weather was perfect!