Hiking In The Dark

During Labor Day weekend, we decided that instead of spending our three day weekend sleeping in, we would get up before the crack of dawn and go on a hike! That Sunday we set the alarm for 3:15 AM, finished packing snacks and water and hit the road. By 4:30 we were at the trail head for Angel's Rest in the Columbia River Gorge.

We started up the mountain with headlamps shining. I had never done a hike in the dark and was a bit apprehensive to say the least. I quickly discovered that bugs like light. The light they seemed to prefer was the one on my head. Thus I was constantly flailing my arms around so they wouldn't land on my face. I was not going to be able to take 2.5 miles of this up to the top!! The headlamp was then converted to a wrist lamp which was much better. After a while I got used to the dark and was enjoying the hike. Thankfully we did not come across any wildlife, though we did spot a few scorpions in the scree fields we had to cross. We finally made it to the top, though we hiked faster than anticipated so we had to wait around a bit for the sun to come up. But once it did, it was totally worth it...

 

After soaking up the view for a bit longer we started the 2.5 miles back down the mountain. We got home and promptly went back to bed. It was a great feeling to wake up at 9:30 and know we had already put in a 5 mile hike and had the rest of the day ahead of us.

On the Water

In August we were invited to join some friends for a day of rafting on the Rogue River. After spending the night in Roseburg we got up and hit the river the next morning. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for being on the water. We paddled down river for a while until we came to a spot to pull over and eat lunch. A couple more hours of lounging in the raft, enjoying the sun and braving the "rapids" we arrived back at the pickup spot. We had worked up an appetite and stopped at a Mexican restaurant before heading back to Roseburg. The next day the guys went fishing while Sandy and I headed back to Portland. It was a fun weekend spent on the water.

Homemade Always Wins

It has been a whole month since we went to CA, but I am finally posting about it. It had been a few months since our last visit, so we made the journey south. After spending the night in Alturas, everybody (Jake, Kari, Ethan, LaDel, Jerry, Zeke, Catherine, Cooper and Tristan!), piled into cars to go down to Susanville. It is always nice to be able to visit with all the grandparents, but this time there was the added bonus of homemade ice cream! This was not the modern version of add the ingredients to the KitchenAid and wait. This was soaking the barrels the night before, mixing the ingredients in a bowl and putting it into the tub, adding ice and salt and cranking!   

 

Ethan and Jerry did a fantastic job while Cooper and Tristan supervised.  The final product was so good! One batch of vanilla and one batch of pink lemonade. It definitely made it feel like summer. After we had all cooled off with a treat Jake took me on a tour of the property. Since he spent many years living there, he was an excellent tour guide. The little ones decided to come along as well. 

I love this picture because Tristan looks like a tiny version of Grandpa Jack, always with rolled up jeans, plaid shirt and a blue hat. 

 

 Grandpa Jack, Jerry and Jake

It was a gorgeous day to be outside enjoying time with the family and a cold treat. A little more visiting and then it was back in the car to head north. One more night in Alturas and it was time to go home.