Beautiful Oregon

I may post more details later, but for now, here are some of my favorite things from our week in Oregon.


Favorite place we stayed:
Two nights in this lovely tiny house in the Boise neighborhood of Portland. We enjoyed the restaurants and shopping within walking distance.

Favorite drive:
The drive out past Mt. Bachelor here, with the top off the rental Jeep.

Bonus: Fall Creek, which comes from snow melting from the South Sister mountain (seen here) was so cold that even our "polar bear" daughter couldn't keep her feet in for more than five minutes. It took her a while to get the feeling back to her toes so we could take a hike.

Favorite hike:
The hike in the Three Sisters Wilderness, next to Fall Creek was a marvelous one. We didn't make the whole 11 mile trek, but we plan to make it happen next time!

Favorite overall place:
Smith Rock State Park

Each turn revealed something new and beautiful. Crooked River is something special.

It was actually quite a warm day. I could have kept going and going. As it was, my hiking partners were troopers and we all had fun!

Every time I thought it couldn't get better.

Each time I was impressed.

This one, though. Just pure showing off. Okay. Smith Rock clearly won my heart.

Favorite river:
The Deschutes
We floated it.

In various states of togetherness in our individual tubes.

We rode through Class 2 rapids. On my first trip down, I banged my right knee. On the second trip down, I scraped my right shin. On the third (pictured) trip down, I flipped the tube and lost my hat and glasses.

Sophia flipped, too, but came out happy and whole. The adventure was worth it.

Favorite locals:
Erick's uncle Bill & Cheryl

Favorite Beer:
the Wit from pFriem Family Brewing in Hood River

Favorite sunset:
In the Hood River Park across from pFriem

Favorite activity:
Trail ride over the Columbia River Gorge

Favorite story:
We topped out here, and I'll let Sophia tell the tale of our narrow trail

We had more adventures and lots more views, but these were my favorites. I'll tell you the stories when I see you next!

The Vacation Post

I truly intend to post more than once a month, but the summer has been so full and fun, partially full of couch laying and snuggling, that a blog post seems like way too much work. This does not bode well for my or Sophia's productivity in a few weeks, but I guess we'll deal with that when it comes.

We have been back for almost a week from our vacation to Portland and Seattle. That was one of the best trips we've had yet, and we've had a bunch of good ones.

We had a couple great beach days in Seattle. Erick and I got a little sunburnt. I always forget that the Seattle sun packs a little extra punch. It was worth it, though. I had my face sunscreened up, but my arms were sorely lacking. So at least I hope I didn't add any new cancer cells to my face. Downer.

One evening, we left our totally responsible and always surprisingly older kids (15, 12 and 9) at home to play video games while we headed out for some live music with our friends. Oh, did I mention that for our week in Seattle, we were staying in our friends' home? Because we did. And we still didn't tire of one another. Always amazing. But look at these faces! How could you lose?

Before we did Seattle, we did a bit of Oregon, and we loved it. In this picture, Sophia is actually quite congested, but she was a good sport. The higher we went (up Mt. Hood in the background), the more stuffy she got. But it was so beautiful!

This was a really strange landscape and riverbed called the White River. It's so interesting because the rocks here are different than they are anywhere nearby. We were fascinated. And Mt. Hood is hidden in the cloud behind us. Tricky guy.

All along the drive, we stopped at many picturesque locations just to see what they were all about. Water is always Sophia's favorite, and she can probably tell you about each water source we found and compare the temperature and speed to all the others. We saw all three of these and many more in our one drive through Oregon. There is so much exploring to do out there!

And now we're home and getting ready to start getting ready to start getting school supplies. Sophia is not looking forward to going back. This is the typical dread that settles in and dissipates on the first morning of school, kind of like the cloud over Mount Hood. That morning, she'll remember at the last moment to look back and say, "See ya!" 

Northwest Vacation

We have been back from Seattle for a couple of days. I, for one, am still exhausted. I don't know what it is about this trip, but I can't seem to recover as quickly. Too close to school, maybe.

Anyway, we had a marvelous time. I'm about to share a bunch of pictures. So I hope you're ready to take a visual journey.

We arrived in Seattle and picked up where we left off. Plus, feeding chickens...

Sophia loved the chickens. Any time she has a chance to care for a creature, she's a happy kiddo.

After a couple of days in Seattle, we headed down the road to the Oregon Beach.

It was beautiful. Picturesque. Moving. I highly recommend visiting the Pacific in Oregon.

We spent lots of time at the water. The sand was perfect for building. Mostly free of rocks. Just a few sand fleas.

This was our first sunset from our back porch.

The next day, Erick and I left the beach to head halfway across Oregon to see some of Erick's family. Beautiful countryside. Lots of beautiful streams and mountains.

Erick's uncle Bill lives in Bend, which is high desert. We were surprised to get through all those mountains and streams to arrive in an arrid, hot climate.

It was great to see the family, though. Well worth the day in the car.

We did, however, get a little bit punchy on our drive.

Then we took a night walk on the beach. So peaceful and refreshing.

Then we headed back out for a long walk in the morning. Lots of exploration.

Did I mention picturesque?

Once we passed through those rocks, we were very surprised to find the rocks on the other side covered in star fish and mussels. Pretty cool. Kind of creepy.

Our last evening in Oregon was perfect. We made a fire while the kids played in the sand and ran along the beach. Then we just relaxed. And danced a little.

This was the closest I could get to a smile from Sophia. It's a smile, for sure, but maybe a little nutsy.

Once we were back in Seattle the next day, we did more relaxing. Hanging out. Watching movies. General merriment. We also went to the Seattle Science Center, which happens to be right by the Space Needle. It was a great Science Center. We spent several long and full hours hanging out there.

Anyway, glad to be home. But our trip was magnificent, as always. The northwest is lots of fun. Tons of things to see and do or a great climate for just hanging around. Love it.