Top 5 picks for getting away from your desk this summer

Every once in a while, you need a little escape. Many people find that taking even a short break from their projects helps renew their motivation and inspiration. Here are our top five picks for getting away from your desk:

5. Food cart lunch (and other perks) at Alumni Reunion Weekend

Lewis & Clark will welcome more than 900 alumni Thursday, June 21, through Monday, June 25. The Office of Alumni and Parent Programs, working with nearly 50 alumni, student, and staff volunteers, will offer a full schedule of activities and events for overseas and off-campus programs and the Classes of 1952, 1962, 1972, 1982, 1987, 1992, 2002, and 2007.

Faculty and staff are welcome to enjoy the following reunion festivities:

Food cart lunch: June 22, noon to 2 p.m.

Five food carts—Al Forno Ferruzza, Saucy’s BBQ, Koi Fusion, PDX Pies, and Nong’s Khao Man Gai—will be in the Templeton parking lot. Get an all-you-can eat lunch pass for $10. (You may purchase a pass at the event.) Menus available here. Vegetarian options.

Maggie’s Café: June 22, 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Espresso, coffee, and light food. Beer and wine will be available in the evenings.

Alumni Colleges: June 22-23

Faculty emeriti, current faculty and staff, and alumni will offer presentations on their areas of interest or expertise. Consult the schedule online or just drop by J.R. Howard, where a schedule with classroom locations will be available by the double doors at the south entrance.

Salmon bake and BBQ: June 23, 6 p.m.

Join faculty, staff, and alumni for a traditional salmon bake prepared by the Charley family of the Warm Springs Tribe. The family will build a fire pit on campus and bake the salmon over cedar logs. Delicious Pacific Northwest BBQ staples—burgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, and sides—as well as gourmet additions will also be available. Beer provided by Alaska Brewing Company. Live performances from Portland Taiko and Freddy Vilches’ Latin American band. Please register here.

Parking Alert: Please consider using alternate transportation to work on Friday, June 22, as the Akin lot will be reserved for short-term check-in parking and alumni with mobility challenges. In addition, the lower Templeton lot will be closed for the food cart event. (Cars left overnight in the lower Templeton lot will be towed at 6 a.m. on Friday, June 22.)

Learn more about Reunion Weekend online.

4. Let’s go! Let’s go! L-E-T-S-G-O

Thinking of taking a walk across campus? Take some time to visit with our guests! Beginning this week and continuing through the first week of August, more than 1,200 summer conference and youth camp participants will visit Lewis & Clark.

“One day you may hear a medley of languages being spoken, and the next day observe a devoted group of meditators gathering on the grass,” said Caroline Brown, assistant director of conferences and events. There will even be large groups of rousing cheerleaders.

The number of participants in each conference or camp group will range from 30 to 200. (To help visitors navigate the campus with ease, please remember to wear your Lewis & Clark name tag and be available to answer questions.)

3. Grab-and-go ice cream treats

Food for Thought Café, located in the newly named York Graduate Center, offers a small freezer full of ice cream treats. Click here for hours of operation.

2. All-you-can-eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert all summer long

Fields Dining Hall, located in the Templeton Campus Center, serves three meals a day and then some.

Breakfast:  7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. ($3.75 )

Lunch: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. ($6.75)

Dinner: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. ($8)

Dessert: Scoop your own ice cream sundae (comes with meal purchase)

Note: Fields will be unavailable to faculty and staff during Reunion Weekend (June 21-25), but will offer dining for the 120 alumni who plan to stay overnight in apartments on campus.

1. CARE committee hosts summer events series

Take a half-hour break to explore campus and meet Lewis & Clark colleagues. The summer 2012 CARE event series includes three half-hour events: a law school scavenger hunt, a native plants walking tour, and a campus art walk. Click here for more information.