Road Trip Oregon

Omid and I embarked on a fun filled road trip through Oregon last week. We visited all new places we hadn't been before. The best part was meeting up with dear friends along the way.  

Old school navigation. #ilovemaps #gocougstoo

First 'selfie' stop: Diamond Peak Wilderness

Sprague River #serene

We met up with friends Tom & Katie in Lakeview.

Coolest Safeway sign we ever saw. #cowboycountry

 

Restaurants close early  (8:30 p.m.) in Lakeview and were hungry while waiting for Lin & Ward to join us. We stopped at one restaurant and were turned away. They told us to try Jerry's. Jerry's hours say there closed at 8:30 p.m. too, but we were welcomed with open arms and stayed until almost 10:00 p.m. Thanks Jerry's!

4th of July with the BACs #badasscougs

Festive Friends
 

After spending a lovely 4th of July together, we parted ways with Lin & Ward. They left for the rainy coast and we stayed in sunny central Oregon with Tom & Katie for more adventures.

First stop was Fort Rock. Fort Rock is a volcanic landmark called a tuff ring, located on an ice age lake bed.

We could see for miles: an absolutely beautiful day!
#fortrock #bluesky #lushgreenalfalfa

We brought out our trusty map and looked to see where we should travel next. Katie found a place called 'Hole in the Ground.' Katie and I decided Tom & Omid had to take us there. When you see a name like that on a map, it's a must see!!

 

We drove 6 miles on a severely rutted Forest Service gravel road to see it. Hole in the Ground is actually a large maar (volcanic explosion crater). We heard there was a smaller maar nearby called Crack in the Ground, but decided against visiting as it is apparently hard to see.

Not as impressive as I hoped it would be. The crater is one mile across.

Tom then drove us up to Paulina Peak, near LaPine. From there we could see the Three Sisters, Mt. Washington and Mt. Hood. It was beautiful!

Paulina Lake & East Lake as seen from Paulina Peak.

♥!!!

 

Guess what we saw from Paulina Peak? Fort Rock!!!

Then it was off to see the Big Obsidian Flow.

Wow! So strong!

Paulina Falls

Katie & I found this old log full of Indian gum. We both had fond memories of chewing the stuff as kids, but didn't dare try it now. #kidsofthe70s.

 

It took us all day to stop and travel at these places and we were exhausted. We decided to stop in Bend, OR. We had dinner at the Deschutes Brewery Public House. So good!! Their Inversion IPA Caesar salad was out of this world!

The next morning it was off to see the Painted Hills. They are one of Oregon's 7 wonders!

 

 

From a distance, the hills look soft & velvety, but up close you can see it looks like dried mud. They are so fragile. It was unfortunate to see where tourists had stepped on the hills or had thrown rocks to break the claystone.

All in all, it was another wonderful adventure with our BACs (bad ass Cougs) friends! We are already looking forward to the next adventure!!

Happy 4th of July!!

Have a safe & happy 4th of July!!!

Happy 4th of July!

Fireworks = doggy stress. Poor baby!!

Kim D., Kim G., Colleen & Tammy

Funny story: I had never met Tammy before but asked her if she had a sister named Tiffany who lived in Olympia (as she looked exactly like this woman I met at my sister's last weekend). She said yes. I asked her if her sister happened to be in Westport this 4th. She said, "Yes.....?" I think she thought I was psychic. :) I told her that I thought her sister must be good friends with my sister Cynthia & thought their families were vacationing together this weekend. We both texted our sisters and confirmed it. Such a small world!

Lin, Kelly, Tammy & Denise

Gina, Nas, Amy & Lianna


Pulled pork, tri-tip, brisket, hot dog, potato salad & beans.

Aunt Jemima or Mammy from Gone with the Wind? We had a big discussion on whether this was racist or not. We came to the conclusion that Antiques Roadshow deemed this a collectible item and therefore it was not racist.

Denise, Scott, Tammy & Jeff
This is where we were debating to go 'caroling' around the neighborhood. Look at Denise's face - she voted for NOT going. In the end we decided not to go because we could only come up with 4 or 5 songs to sing on the 4th. Neil Diamond's song America was one of them, but as a group, we only knew some of the stanzas & the chorus. That was going to be our 'finale' & we decided we just couldn't pull it off. It was a hilarious conversation.

Here are the songs we thought we'd carol throughout the neighborhood: My Country tis of Thee, America the Beautiful, The Star Spangled Banner, This Land is Your Land, Born in the USA & America by Neil Diamond. The first two songs we thought we sing in 'rounds.'
Tammy, Denise & I

Giant sparklers

Happy Birthday America!!

Today is America's 234th birthday. When I was in 2nd grade, we learned all about the 'bicentennial.' Inside our Weekly Reader magazines, there was a free iron-on commemorating America's 200th birthday. I remember going to the store with my mom, purchasing a 3 pack of boy's undershirts & waiting (impatiently) for my mom to iron on the decal. It said, "Happy 200th birthday, America!" & was surrounded by red & blue stars. I loved that tshirt.

Happy 4th of July!

Celebrate your freedom! Your right to practice any religion you choose, your right to vote, your right to criticize our president, your right to make choices, your right to wear lipstick, nail polish, shorts, tank tops, & bathing suits in public, your right to drink alcohol (or not) in public & in your home, your right to show off your crowning glory, your right to vote for whomever you want to in an election, & any other freedoms we take for granted. Celebrate your right to be free!

...the following quotes are from two different friends on Facebook. Too good NOT to share. Enjoy!

"You have to love a nation that celebrates it's independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks & soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength & muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but that is patriotism." - Erma Bombeck

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected & handed on to them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children & our children's children what it was once like in the United States...where men were free. - Ronald Reagan

Cold Coast!

We spent the last three days in Newport, Oregon with our friends the Stevens & Kelloggs. We left the beautiful 92* heat and didn't much enjoy the cold 55*-62* weather much (or at least I didn't). I checked on http://www.weather.com/ before we left and the site said it would be around 70+* the entire time we would be there. So...I packed shorts, shorts, shorts and one pair of jean capris. Guess what!? I wore the same pair of capris everday....those jeans practically walked back themselves they were so dirty. Other than being cold, we had a pretty decent time.

This was Remy's first trip to the coast. He LOVED it! He ran and ran and ran. It was just great for him. One of about 50 holes Remy dug on the beach. He even dug up a crab.

I only packed a sweatshirt. Next time...a winter jacket!

Remy in action.

Omid, Remy & Amy

Tammie & Zinzi

(Tammie was also freezing. After this photo, Jeff ran into town and bought her a sweatshirt).

This photo of the dads & dogs was taken at about 4:00 p.m. It makes me cold just to look at it.

On Saturday, we went to the Hatfield Marine Science Center and then some of the group went to the Oregon Aquarium. The rest of us went to the Rogue Brewery.

Beautiful Girl!!!

Omid, Jeff, Nas & I took a stroll on the docks to see what the fishermen were offering.

Yummy!

At Rogue Brewery.

I got a Taster Tray. Only one of the beers was any good. That was Sig's Northwestern. Very good!

Omid, Nas, & Jeff at Rogue.

Remy, Gabi & Jack

Did I mention there were two German Shepherds on the trip? I don't claim to be a clean freak, but when I saw the carpet in our rental house COVERED in G.S. hair - I couldn't stand it anymore and vacuumed the carpet. I had to do it over and over to get all the hair. You wouldn't believe it but less than an hour later....it was covered again. I LOVE Remy's short, virtually non-shedding hair!!

Matty on a hillside. Can you guess what I was saying? "Be careful!" and "Please come down from there!"

Saturday night, we walked to the Newport bridge to watch fireworks. It was a good show. Some of the highflying fireworks we couldn't see because of the fog, but we could sure hear them!

Here is a video of the dogs the first day we got to Newport. They are having the time of their life.