weekend whimsy: lolo pass / ramona falls

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

(exact same photo as above, but the fog was so thick this morning that you couldn't see the mountain at all)

there is no such thing as a dumb question....

there is no such thing as a dumb question... unless, of course, that question is "why did you move to oregon??" although i still hear this all the time, i have to just assume it is rhetorical. the natural beauty here is unimaginable. the moss, the ferns, the rivers, the firs, the wildlife. it is all perfect.

i got off work last night at 6:30pm. i knew i had a little over an hour of sunlight left, so i rushed home, picked up the pups, and headed straight to the old salmon river trail that is less than a mile from my house. hikes at dusk are my favorite thing in the world (& they're my dogs' favorite, too). summer is just around the corner, and i'm wondering if i'll spend a single second of it indoors? .....hopefully not.

that's a technical foul

we couldn't have had more fun this past weekend in portland. the only downside to the trip was that i happened to have two major technical difficulties: my iphone fell in water and is dead to the world (despite putting it in rice & despite the fact that i had 3000+ UNSAVED photos on it), and my laptop charger broke as well. therefore, i haven't been able to post any photos from the last few days. alas, here is an update. 

1&2. a sunset of mt. hood from timberline lodge/ 3. breakfast at heart coffee & roasting in portland/ 4. kava, pretending he is bored, at linzy's/ 5. food truck fun with friends/ 6&7. pioneer bridle trail hike with my 3 favorite creatures/ 8.puppy party in portland/ 9. we are happily babysitting a retro 50-game arcade machine/ 10. spring @ new seasons market, porland/ 11. a friend moved from mt. hood to portland- so i made a home-warming gift/ 12. he is living proof of the evolutionary theory/ 13&14. new salmon river trail hike at dusk with josh & jon/ 15. staring contest, everytime i pass by.

TGIF

SO GLAD IT'S FRIDAY. 

we're spending the weekend in portland with some friends. i'm especially excited about the comedy show we have planned for tonight. have a wonderful weekend, y'all.

signs of spring

the plants are budding, the deer are grazing, the sunrise is early & the sunsets are late. spring is in full bloom here in oregon, & there is nothing more beautiful. to me, spring means fresh. fresh air, fresh flowers, & a fresh start. there is something cleansing about this time of year, and i'm ready for it. 

bring on the rain. bring on the change. 

friday flashback: summer roadtrip 2012

this view. there have been a few periods in my life where this is the majestic view i wake up to every morning, & it is my favorite view in the world. when traveling to a new destination every day or two, unzipping the tent in the morning is one of my favorite moments. on road trips, many times we arrive at the campsite in the middle of the night, so opening up the tent the next morning is like unwrapping a beautiful, unknown gift.  it is amazing how safe and secure you feel inside the shelter of a tent; sometimes forgetting that a thin layer of fabric is all that separates you from every element in the wild.  in the past, sometimes there would be elk grazing right outside of our little shell. other times we would be woken up by the sounds of a rushing stream. i can replay countless memories of this short moment in my head so vividly: i feel the sun beating against my little home and i rise up from my sleeping bag. the air feels so calm. i hope everyone else is still asleep. i usually love being the first one awake when traveling. i slowly unzip the mesh and push open the rain-fly. and that's when it hits me; the rush of fresh air and the reminder that i am somewhere unfamiliar and far away from 'home.' i scramble to find my boots that were kicked off somewhere outside the tent the night before, probably after a long night spent around a warm campfire with friends. as i stand up and stretch, i welcome the day, because with a morning like this, it is guaranteed to be a good one. 

last summer, several friends and i spent about three weeks traveling all around the country with no other plan but to see some of the most beautiful places in the united states. for the majority of the trip, there were: 6 humans, 3 dogs, & 2 vehicles (we met up with different friends along the way as well). we left memphis, tennessee one night with some tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, and not much else. a few of us had done road trips like this in the past, but even we had no idea what to expect for this adventure. some of the national parks that we ended up visiting included: rocky mountain (CO), grand teton (WY), yellowstone (MT), glacier (MT), olympic (WA), redwoods (CA), lassen (CA), yosemite (CA), arches (UT), and others. if you have ever done a long road trip, you know that every day spent traveling feels like a week; therefore our three weeks on the road felt like a lifetime of exploration. everywhere you look, there is something new and fresh to see, & it is therapy for the soul. we all grew so much on this trip, individually and within our friendships. the feeling of not knowing where you'll sleep the next day, what beauty you'll see, who you'll encounter, is a rush like no other. the united states is a majestic place, filled with some beautiful people.

get out there & explore!