Hub's Coastal Hike

Last week hub, his buddy, and our two lady dogs started out on their 90 mile hike. I dropped them off at Ft Stevens where they set up camp for the night.

They covered 26 miles the next day, including ship wreck remains, an eagle sighting, and miles of enjoying the dogs running like crazies along the shores.

Camp spot #2 was a preconstructed shelter with log bunks inside and canvas door closures.

And shortly after this the trail ended up primarily being on Hwy 101 (which can have a very narrow shoulder---no good with two dogs), the guys had incredibly sore feet, and there were strong winds and side driving rains, so they bunked down after 45 miles in a pretty basic hotel and I went and got them the next day.

We spent two days, one night at Granny's beach cabin relaxing, stoking fires, taking strolls on the beach, playing games of Uno, reading, and the like. It was a great time for them to relax and restore before bringing them back to the city. Am sure they will head out for another long hike within the next few months with even more entertaining tales and smiles to share. Glad they had a great time (and I didn't mind a few days of peaceful solitude either)! ;)

A Summit Day

I'm almost beginning to think I should rewrite the purpose of this blog to be: Hiking. ;) Seems like we're doing a lot of it, but its so enjoyable, it burns a ton of calories, and we're trying to soak up as much of the beautiful Oregon outdoors as possible now that we're back!

Yesterday was intended to be a long hike day, but instead we did one of the jaunts we've done before through Forest Park--which was 8.5 miles and we ran the last mile decline back to the car. We then had enough time to get home, shower, and grab some grub to run over to my aunt's for a BBQ with my extended family since Granny's been up here in town for the weekend!

So today we got up, grabbed our bags and headed out to Elk Creek Campground, which was where we'd intended to go yesterday. The guidebook (60 Hikes within 60 Miles of Portland) that I recently got the hub had said that Elk Mountain Summit was difficult, but since we've been doing some inclines and other "moderate" hikes, we thought it might be do-able. Ha! It was like a deer trail straight up--gorgeous views, but after 1/2 mile and with encroaching rain clouds hub decided it might be too dangerous for us today. (He might go back to do it again later, but I'm passing...)

These pictures are from the first part of today's hike, attempting Elk Mtn.

Since we still wanted a decent hike, we decided to hike along the Wilson River Trail (20.8 miles in length total, but just 3.5 miles to where the Kings Mtn Summit trail met it). Along the way it started raining and hub dug a poncho out of his pack for me and a coat for him. We crossed mini-waterfalls, bouncy log bridges, and enjoyed the scenery.

Wilson River Trail from Elks Creek Campground to Kings Mtn Summit trail:

This was a large meadow/clearing in the middle of the forest. It appeared to have a natural spring and some ponds--the type of site where you usually find old homesteads, but we didn't see any indications of any here at all.

Once we made it to the Kings Mtn Summit Trail hub decided we should go up it a bit to get in some extra mileage.....and between the two of us encouraging each other on, up was what we ended up doing for the next 2.5 miles. Luckily hub and I make great hiking partners, when one of us wants to quit the other encourages and we make sure to look out for each other on the trail. At one point, I definitely had to encourage myself to keep going as I have a partial fear of heights that seems to hit most frequently on rocky areas, but I'd seen some kids and older couples coming down the trail so I pulled together my stubborn nature and told myself that I could make it too. With hub's encouragement and just focusing on my feet, we kept going until we made it to the top where we signed the summit registry (approx 3300 ft).

Kings Mtn Summit Trail:

Then we got to turn around and head back down both the summit and the Wilson River Trail, although we ran about 2 miles total of this today. Altogether we made it 13.9 miles and the views were gorgeous! We're hoping to eventually go back to overnight backpack the entire 20 miles of the Wilson River Trail.

Not too bad for two days on a long weekend together. Hope each one of you had a great weekend too!

Oregon Showers Finally Bring May Flowers!

The lined up pink & white azaleas in back.

Front courtyard-left view from door.

Filled-in hanging basket.

Rest of courtyard view.

Fuschia w/ my ol' weathered chime---that sucker has moved from Portland to the coast to the valley to the coast to Portland to Louisiana and back to Portland---8 years, snow, perpetual rain, coastal wind gusts, and humid 100 degree days---a bit of tape and floss holds one chime on but it's still holding strong!

Purple lilac.

Pink rhodies.

Red azaleas surrounded by iris yet to bloom.

And purple iris under the front windows.

Spring has finally officially sprung!

Fort Stevens State Park

A few shots from a Sunday afternoon walk on the shores of the Columbia River right where it meets the Pacific Ocean---Oregon's most northwestern point on the coast. The dogs were reminded of how much they love the river and we were reminded of how much we love watching the dogs love their rivers....

Marriage, Cottage Cheese, & 2 Years in the Making

So....how do you eat your cottage cheese?

You might think this question to be somewhat strange, but until I got married I was 100% sure that people always ate cottage cheese with sliced fruit. (I mean the cottage cheese and fruit are both served near each other in salad bars and MY family always ate it that way anyway.... ;)). So imagine my surprise when hub thought it (and several of my other food tendencies passed on via my fam's norms) were totally and completely strange. (He eats it plain or with honey---just in case you were wondering.)

So I thought of this again when I had a craving for cottage cheese yesterday and I ate it with cranberries, walnuts, & agave syrup---something that was even strange for me but I wanted to try something even more different and outside my norm....

Where is this going you might ask?! ;) Well this post is somewhat overdue...because really it's been on my mind since before we moved back, ever since we moved back, and oh many times in between. Its something I've discussed with some of my closest friends and its something I tried to touch on to others since returning in order to explain that two years has the ability to change individuals. And it also has to do with someone awesome in our lives coming over to our house last week---who mentioned that she and her husband have been married for 30-40 years but the first year was just royally horrible (aka they almost divorced).....and my husband and I chuckled and thought to ourselves "Thank God for honesty...."

Because, honestly, (here goes....) I think we sorta love hearing other people talk about how hard it was to start out....because for us, it was INCREDIBLY hard starting out. (In all honesty, it was harder than my dad having cancer, my favorite grandfather's death, and all my years of undergrad & grad school). .....And this means, that I probably wasn't overly "authentic" on this blog (nor with many people in my life) for my first 1.5 years of my time in Louisiana......because, well, really you don't want people back at home (or across the world) to know just how hard, how lonely, and how lost you (aka me) feel....and because the last thing you want to do is make anyone worry (because, I mean, that would just make it way worse ;)). (Throw in there the fact that I was raised and generally believe that one should not "air their dirty laundry"....) Now many factors come into play beyond JUST the marriage that made it hard: lack of social support/community, my lack of employment/purpose for six months, limited outdoor pursuits, lots of red tape and social expectations, social age differences, ....and I could go on. But honestly, as much as we knew marriage would be hard....neither of us expected it to take the path that it did for the first 6-12 months of our time together...and that is one thing that I won't necessarily explain or go into on this blog.

So why am I sharing this now? Maybe it's to clear the air. Maybe it's to try to regain authenticity. But maybe it's also slightly because I feel it's important to discuss that I am a changed person because of marriage itself but even more so because of the last two years. Do I still have MOST the same values? Sure thing, but I can also tell you that I care less about many things than I used to, I can cuss like the best of the soldiers, it feels incredibly weird to have everyone around me want to hug me, my mouth has learned to shut on some political and social topics, for better or worse I'm more blunt to most people, and for the last year I haven't been constantly thinking introspectively or even very deeply at all. I also don't cringe anymore when I throw away a plastic lid or a pair of ratty underwear, but I will still dig used batteries out of the trash. I don't like looking people in the eyes when I talk to them anymore, I'm far more impatient (which was something I always struggled with anyway), and for the first month of our return it was incredibly difficult for me to even really talk in depth about any of the big issues of the time or answer too many questions about myself.

And maybe I'm sharing this now....because I truthfully feel that that particular round of tumultuous times and rough start has passed (although I definitely expect others in the future at some point--we're human after all), and now an incredibly enjoyable period of our life has arrived. It's my belief 100% that a large part of it has to do with leaving the Army/infantry environment and returning to an environment that has many of the things that we love. I do feel it's important to state that we did have good times down there, but the last three months of our pre and post transition have honestly been some of the happiest and most blessed of our marriage. These three months have made me firmly believe that we truly did know what we were doing when we ran off and got married and re-solidified the fact that I married a man who is so different from me yet so similar to my core. For the first time since my initial leave from Oregon, I realize that my husband is truly my best and most consistent friend.

....even if he does think I'm a weird-o for eating cottage cheese with fruit, but at least he introduced me to something 100x better and created my love affair with.....The vegetarian breakfast burrito....:)

Amazingly delicious!

The additional irony is that I am actually surprised to admit that while I don't miss much from our Louisiana life, I do really miss my job & working with soldiers....and the constant sunshine......and my old running trails straight out my door. But I also have come to realize that there are some things that will forever bind me to my Army wife friends who ended up winding themselves into my hardened heart, as there is often an ability to understand that which cannot be explained to others. So to them I offer my love and happy vibes to bolster them through all the beautiful and difficult moments of being an infantry unit Army wife.

Like everyone, we'll continue to change both individually and as a couple and life here won't always be all sunshine and roses, but its incredibly fun to feel that we're somewhere in a honeymoon stage that we never had....

....and it's great to feel that all the heartbreak, anger, and sadness actually feels it was worth it based on the reality of what we truly DO have together..and which is evidenced every day in our current existence.

So take it with a grain of salt...I just broke every rule in the book and aired some half-dirty laundry.....but the truth of the matter is, at least its all come clean.... ;)

A Wonderful End to the Week!

An incredibly fulfilling end to the week! On Thursday we took hub's friend (who is going with hub on a 90 mile hike here soon....) on a reverse route of our Multnomah Falls hike and we added another incline---ended up doing 9 miles of a 2100 ft elevation gain in about 4 hours. We've actually had about a week of sunshine (gasp!) and Thursday was a 70 degree day!

Friday was another gorgeous one and I was able to get a four mile run in again finally. Then we got to work outside---

Hub had purchased lumber and coated them with linseed oil, as his research had found that linseed oil is a great protectant and would keep the lumber for 5-6 years. On Friday he was able to put together the first of the beds. I was pleasantly surprised to find he'd widened them and intends to build another.

Anna is going to be disappointed to have her dirt pile disappear back into the re-done raised beds. Although...I found her laying IN the finished raised bed this morning, so we're going to have to work on some training obviously! :)

Friday was also spent at a great sale at REI to get hub stocked up for the week long hike him and a buddy will be headed on down part of the coast. After we finished our one raised bed, we headed over to my aunt & uncle's a few streets away and hub helped till up their large garden. He also got to have a tour of their awesome property and learn his way around their tools in case we want to borrow something. We then spent the rest of the evening sharing stories with both of them--it was great!

Saturday---we headed out for the BIG farmer's market! It was absolutely incredible: all sorts of people, beautiful hanging baskets, delicious food, and wonderful goods. We walked away with a handful of pears, free dog treats, the most amazingly delicious caramel apple bread (for great french toast tomorrow!), and full bellies! We played with the adoptable puppies, people watched, and listened to great music. It was SUCH a good time!

My corn masa quesadilla stuffed with veggies and a bit of cheese and topped with salsa and sour cream---DELISH!

AWESOME live band!

After the farmer's market we went to cash in on our plant coupons! We headed to The Garden Center---it was A-MA-ZING! Decent prices, fabulous lay-out, and we got to use our coupon for a free one-gallon blueberry and reduced prices on any other. We picked up a few other starts: zucchini, acorn squash, and pumpkins.

We enjoyed watching the chickens run around the place!

And we picked up some great freebie literature: native plant suggestions and natural repellents.

Why I love my state.....on the drive over to the other nursery!

Larsen Farms: we had a groupon---hub paid $25 to receive a $50 coupon to use at the nursery. We'd made one trip before during our cleanse that ended in a squabble and no purchases, so today we headed back with a "no squabble" mandate and picked up an Asian pear and lettuce and another tomato start.

The fruit tree rows!

Hub wheeling out our asian pear.

Neat herb displays.

Dropped off our goods. Met my brother at our house and went with him to return the other family tiller to the aunt & uncle's. Offered our truck to a & u while hub's gone if they want to get mulch and then my awesome aunt had transplanted some of the seeded parsnips into pots for me to put in our boxes.

So now we've got quite the selection:

Might not look like much but I think we've got: 3 tomatoes, 3 strawberries, bush beans, yellow squash, 6 parsnips, zucchini, pumpkins, acorn squash, 2 bell peppers, various lettuce, cucumber, and an artichoke. We also have seed packets: corn, snap peas, carrots, and others. With the blueberries we got today, we're up to 6 smallish bushes and the new asian pear. Plus the rhubarb, leeks, mint, raspberries, rosemary, kiwi, cherry, and asparagus that were already here, planted, and many are producing. There is an old apple that didn't even blossom so it will come down for firewood and the asian pear will be planted in its place. (Dad's letting us borrow the chain saw for that and we've got an itty bitty tiller on loan to soften up the dirt in our raised beds a bit....thankful for all these goodies and loaners!!)

My brother's wife couldn't accompany him tonight to use their season Timbers (MLS soccer) tickets so hub is joining him at the evening game. I got to indulge in a great dinner and watch my Netflix DVD Dharma & Greg reruns---yippee! ;)

Local cheese & bread for open face cheese sandwiches. Amy's organic lentil soup and amazing California wine that it took me 3 years to find another of this particular bottle!

One more shot of the beautiful Oregon countryside!

Hope y'all had a wonderful last few days to boot!