Farm Chores

Ah yes...home again and vacation is DEFINITELY over!  True, we don't have school and soccer practice and homework and music lessons, but there is work to do aplenty around here!

JP & I caught up with the mowing over the weekend. 

While we were away, the garden went berserk, and things are growing like crazy!  A pumpkin has escaped the garden and is climbing up the fence.  The green beans are producing out the wazoo.  There are dozens of green tomatoes hanging on, and the first planting of corn is almost ready to tassel.  So, I spent some time in the garden this week, picking beans and blueberries, and thinning the carrots and beets.  Just look what I brought in on Wednesday, (along with a small bowl of blueberries!)

I walked around the periphery of the ridge on Monday, looking for black raspberries.  They are tiny this year, and sparse.  I went again today, in the cool of the morning.  This time I rode the ATV half way down the hill, and hunted along the spring road and driveway.  I got about 2 cups, pretty lame for an hours worth of hunting!

Yesterday morning, after a short primer from Dad on correct weedeater use, I spent 2 hours cutting down the 4-5 foot tall weeds, bushes and small trees that have grown up around the drainage ditch over the last 2.5 years.  Dad and I hope to FINALLY install the drain pipes and close in the ditch in the next week or two, and we needed room to work!

 

My arms and low back are complaining today, but I'm pretty proud of what I accomplished!

 

I also spent time tearing down the old, dilapidated deer netting from around the orchard, and installing the better quality netting that we took down from around the garden.  At some point I plan to go back around with a second course that will take it up to 6 feet.  It's just too hot to do it today.



Pretty sad, right?  Not keeping deer out either!
It's getting better!

Today, after all this work this week, I plan to take a break and take the kids to the pool.  I'm a little annoyed that I have to pay to use a pool when there is a perfectly good (albeit non-functioning) pool in our back yard!

The pool pump installation is on the docket for this weekend.  And the work continues...

Cheese, Rocks & Fish

We stayed overnight in a little town on the Oregon coast, where we slept well after a full day of hiking at Crater Lake the day before. 

We got back on the road in the morning, and drove up the coast to Tillamook, where we visited the Cheese Factory for samples of cheese (the fresh cheese curds - "squeaky cheese" was our fave) and ice cream.

 

The road along the coast was beautiful and winding.  We stopped at Ecola State Park to run on the beach, climb the rocks, and look into the tide pools.  The girls first impression of the Pacific Ocean?  "It's COLD!"

 

 

A sea star in a tide pool

 

We reached the home of our friends in Vancouver, WA just in time for dinner (we timed it exactly right every time!)  The girls discovered the trampoline, and the raspberry bushes, which kept them occupied until bedtime.

 

The following day, we drove on Historic Route 30, and stopped to visit Multnomah Falls (both JP and I have memories of this place.)

 

We also visited Bonneville Dam and Fish Hatcheries (which we also remember.)

 

A fish going through the fish counter
portion of the fish ladder.



Lamprey stuck all over the observation windows of the fish ladder.

These tiny frye...



...grow into these huge Rainbow Trout!



Herman the Sturgeon, age 80, approx 7-8 feet long!

We stopped for ice cream (are you sensing a recurring theme here?), and then stopped at Crown Point on our way home for a wonderful view of the Columbia River Gorge.



The Vista House at Crown Point

 

That evening, JP and his friends (who all went to school together) tried to catch up on news of everyone in their small, Christian High School.  The conversation went something like this:

 

JP - "Where is Franky Sommers?"

 

Buddy 1 - "Oh, I think he's in Colorado."

 

JP - "Who did he marry?"

 

Buddy 2 - "Jessica Cross.  They have triplets."

 

JP - "Jessica Cross?  No way!  Jessica Cross?  What about Evan Newman?"

 

Buddy 1 - "Evan Newman...I haven't heard anything about him in a REALLY long time."

 

Buddy 2 (searching Facebook for pics) - "Here's Laura Fredrick."

 

JP - "Oh yeah, I TOTALLY see Laura!"

 

The next day JP drove us into Portland, where we rode by his old house, and those of several of his friends.  He showed us where he used to work (Elmer's Pancake House - now a Chinese Restaurant), and drove by his High School.  We ended up on top of a hill, where we could see the city of Portland below.

 

We tried to turn in early that night, as we needed to leave for the airport at 4 AM.  However, this was the night that Kali had her emergency surgery, and I stayed up until 1 waiting to hear back from the Vet.  Our flights home were uneventful, unless you count the fact that we flew coach from Portland to Chicago with the Portland Thunder arena football team!

 

I have sifted through hundreds of photos of our vacation in order to represent our travels here.   Now that we are home and settled, the girls and I plan to put together a photo book of our West Coast adventures.

Volcanoes

Last Friday, we drove South on I-5, through Washington and into Oregon, past the sleeping volcanoes of the Cascade Range - Mt. Ranier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood.  It was cloudy, with torrents of rain at times, so we only caught glimpses of them here and there.  We stopped at a Mt. St. Helens Information Center so that the girls could learn something about the volcanic eruption that JP and I experienced first hand in 1980.  We decided to forgo the 1.5 mile hike to the scenic outlook because of the cloud cover and impending rain.

We arrived in Albany at the home of our friends from our WV days at dinner time, and the girls immediately found the swings in their backyard. 

While in Albany, we visited the Historic Carousel and Museum.  The community has formed a design studio to create 52 new carousel pieces to be placed on an antique mechanism that has been restored.  These pieces are not just ponies either, we saw a salmon, a frog, an elephant, a couple of bears, a fox, and a poodle...just to name a few.

Next we visited the Monteith House, a restored Pioneer-Era home.  All 4 of the girls attempted to carry water in two buckets on a yoke.  Then they played in the river.

Our next adventure included driving on winding roads through evergreen forests to Diamond Lake.  The girls rode paddle boats way out into the lake, and played at the shore.

The following morning, after a sustaining breakfast at the Lodge, we drove about 15 miles to Crater Lake.  We hiked down to the lake, and took a 2 hour boat tour.  The hike back up to the rim was a killer!

The "Old Man", a tree that has been floating in the lake
for over a century!

Both J & L say that it was one of the highlights of our entire vacation...

...especially the snow ball fight!

We said farewell to our friends at the rim of Crater Lake, and turned our Subaru towards the Oregon coast.  We arrived there just as the sun was setting.

 

...To Be Continued...

No Place Like Home!

I'm back!  We returned from a FABULOUS vacation on the West Coast on Friday evening.  I have spent the time since then unpacking, doing laundry, mowing 2 week high grass and watering plants.  Oh yeah, we also had to spend 2 hours yesterday morning retreiving Kali from the Emergency Veterinary Clinic an hour away, where she underwent emergency life-saving surgery in the wee hours of the morning that we travelled home.  She is home and doing well now - doing a lot of sleeping and very little eating or moving around.  All of us are glad to be home.

JP and I both grew up on the West Coast - he in Oregon, and myself in Idaho and Washington.  We have been wanting to show the girls what the Pacific Ocean looks like, and we also have several dear families in the region that we wanted to catch up with.  So we booked an (almost) two week vacation to the West Coast, and we packed every day full of exciting things to see and do.  I am still trying to round up all of our pictures from various cameras and cell phones, so I will post about our trip in several sections.



Our new suitcases - all lined up and ready to roll!

We left Poplar Ridge early on a Sunday morning to head for the airport.  We had about an hour flight to Chicago, where we changed planes, and then a 4 1/2 hour flight to Portland Oregon, where we arrived at 3 in the afternoon.  We picked up our perky little rental Subaru, and headed North toward the Puget Sound. 


Waiting at the airport - we did this a lot!

We reached our destination of Poulsbo after dinner, and had a great time relaxing with our friends there.  The following day, we headed to the harbor in Poulsbo, puttered around the shops in town, ate lunch by the bay, took the kids to the playground, and went out for ice cream.

At this stop, we also:

- Spent the day at Fay Bainbridge Beach on Bainbridge Island.

 

- Took the ferry to Seattle for the day to ride the Monorail, visit the Space Needle, and shop at Pike Place Market.


Seattle from the ferry

 

- Hiked through the gorgeous Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island.

 

 

- Chatted, watched "Bones" or played Rook after the kids went to bed, ate ice cream, and (adults only) visited a local brewery.

 

On Friday, we piled our stuff back into the car and drove South to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. 

...To Be Continued...