Category: Adventure

It wasn’t until my 21st year that I boarded my first commercial flight; yet, during my childhood, I still managed to traverse all over Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada, Arizona, Canada, and Mexico, by car. At 19 I drove with a gaggle of girlfriends to visit another at her college in Utah. At 20 the same gals…

This morning we went on a leisurely hike in the nearby Bangtail Mountains. Husband channeled Bill Hader, calling it a “walkabout” in a rousing Australian accent. In other weekend update news, this coming Monday is the Chinese Moon Festival. Originating during the Zhou (“joe”) Dynasty, it started as a celebration of the harvest during the first…

We spent our holiday weekend in the beautiful Flathead Lake area, which is best described as the stunning love-child of the Willamette[Oregon] and Gallatin[Bozeman] valleys. Though we had more than the usual allotment of laughable Griswold moments, and sadly weren’t able to connect with our dear friends who reside in the area, we count the weekend as another fun adventure. Without…

Yesterday my crazy fam embarked upon yet another great Montana[Wyoming] adventure: The Beartooth Mountain Pass. After an abbreviated jaunt through the northern margins of Jellystone, we pushed on through to the treacherous and terrifying cliff-side highway. Open just a few short months of each year, this long and winding road is an exhilarating experience, to say the…

Cotton fairies dancing on the breeze. The lingering aroma of tomato plants. A rainbow of tanlines atop sunkissed shoulders. Popsicle stick graveyard in the lawn. The rhythmic clank of scooter wheels against sidewalk seams from sun-up to sun-down.

So many loved ones to visit, so little time. It’s a wonderful problem, really. We spent most of the weekend in our hometown. Actually, Salem is no town— it’s a Big Little City. It seemed each place we visited to meet up with friends, we unintentionally ran into others. I forgot what it was like to literally bump…

13 years, 11 jobs, 10 cars, 8 foreign countries, 14 states, 4 houses, 3 children, 5 cats, 1 dog, 2 guinea pigs, four chickens and a day ago I married this guy… … and I’m certain on those stats because we counted today. In the car. As we drove from Montana to Oregon. Father’s Day was spent with…

… the Lord God made them all. Yesterday we ventured into the wilderness, where we lumbered along the rocky banks of a still partially frozen lake and took turns hurling rocks onto the ice. Simple pleasures. Epic day.