Pausing under a towering old juniper, I watched as birds floated along the slow moving Crooked River. A breeze rippled through the tall grass around me, and I found myself wishing I had the time to spend hours in this peaceful spot, perhaps with a picnic blanket and a good book. Not exactly the rugged athletic experience nearly everyone else in this small park is here for, but Andy and I had found our own little haven. After hearing about Smith Rock State Park from multiple friends, I'd been itching to visit, and staying only an hour away in Sunriver for a family vacation, I finally had the perfect opportunity. I'd had a cold since the day before we left home for a our week-long vacation, so we decided to avoid the popular Misery Ridge trail and instead opted for an easier loop hike along the river. As we watching the crowds across the river snaking up the Misery Ridge trail, for a while we were the only hikers on our stretch of trail.
Read moreLife: Week 29
After the stress and excitement of last week, Andy and I took it easy, spending a quiet week at home. The hot weather we've had recently has turned me into a homebody, but over the weekend I did manage to get out of the apartment a few times. Ever since getting hooked on my cousins new plant blog, I've been itching to make a trip to my local nursery for a few houseplants. With a quiet weekend close to home, I finally had the opportunity to pick up a few new bits of greenery, including a curly spider plant (already safely stowed out of the reach of my cat, who mowed the last one down to a nub) a prayer plant and a beautifully variegated pothos. Now to see if I can manage to keep them alive despite my previous less than exemplary record with houseplants. Over the weekend, I also made a stop at my favorite knitting store to pick up yarn for a new sweater, because what sounds better in 90 degree weather than sitting under a pile of wool. Mistakes were made, but I'll definitely be happy when I have a new sweater just in time for cool fall weather!
Read moreLife: Week 28
This week had some ups and downs. In the middle of the week, our kitty wound up spending a few days at the emergency vet with a bladder blockage. He's doing great now, but we had a stressful (and expensive) couple of days that almost led to me cancelling plans for a weekend camping at Mt Rainier for the Alpine Trails Book Club adventure. Thankfully Andy convinced me that a weekend away was just what I needed, and I'm so grateful he did. Instead of sulking at home, I spent a weekend in Paradise in the company of the most wonderful group of women. It's amazing to me that the combination of books and hiking seems to draw in such a diverse group of like-minded people. Over the weekend, I discovered many other passions I share with some or all of the ladies, and while discussing tea over breakfast, one woman mentioned she packs china teacups with her on hikes to up her backcountry tea drinking experience - something I'm totally going to copy! Somehow, we also managed to squeeze in three hikes over the course of our two days in the park, all of which were spectacular in their own unique way. I'll write more about the weekend soon, but it's certainly safe to say that Andy was right - the weekend was the perfect cure for several stressful days spent worrying about a sick pet!
Read moreLife: Week 27
Summer has officially arrived in Seattle! While we've had a few hot summery days already, it never quite feels like summer here until the 4th of July. This year, the 4th fell on a Wednesday, making for a strange work week. Since Andy decided to work for part of the day on the 4th, we had a low-key holiday, and with the heat I was pretty happy to spend the day inside in the comparative cool. Our official 4th of July celebration wasn't until Saturday, when we spent the day on Whidbey Island. Even on the hottest days, the deck at the cabin on Whidbey is a wonderful spot, with a cool breeze coming off Puget Sound. We only stayed for the day, and our short visit had Andy and I itching to get back for a longer stay. Every summer, we talk about how nice it would be to spend a full week on Whidbey Island, but we can never seem to find the time. Somehow there's never enough time in the summer!
Read moreLife: Week 26
On vacation in Oregon, Andy and I decided to start the week off with a hike, so we headed an hour north for Smith Rock State Park, which came highly recommended by several of my friends. After a lovely hike through what felt like a tiny piece of Utah transplanted to Oregon (I'll be writing more about it soon!), we stopped in Bend for beer and lunch. Sadly, since I'd left my wallet back at the rental house I had to make do with iced tea, but according to Andy I wasn't missing much. While their food was smoky and delicious, Goodlife turned out to be his least favorite brewery of the trip. On our last day in Sunriver, we decided to make a trip to the nearby High Desert Museum which turned out to be much larger than we'd expected - almost like a hybrid museum and zoo. Their wildlife exhibits were everyone's favorite, and I was especially excited to see an adorable burrowing owl and an stunning golden eagle. Soon it was time to pack up the car and head home, and after a short work week, Andy and I were signed up for a full weekend of trailwork. After our lovely day spent working with Alpine Trails Book Club (read about that here!), we returned for a second day of trail maintenance in considerably wetter weather. As usual, even with the rain we still had a fantastic time!
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