Your Tetons are showing

July 17, 2021July 17, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / 1 Comment

We started in Yellowstone so here are the west thumb pics before our ynp departure… And after our Ringo 2 hour squirt timer. If we look exhausted in these pics, well, we are.

The tetons are just amazing. Dogs can’t go on the trails so we just took a scenic drive and took lots of pictures. I’m just going to put lots of pictures up probably without a lot of description because #pictureWorth1000words

I’ve been told Ringo pics are a good sell.

Then from the campsite we went to see the sunset over Mt. Moran.

Sawtooth mnts

July 14, 2021July 14, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / 1 Comment

Woke up to gorgeous views and got good intel from a native in hikers. Woke up in sunny gulch with this cute t@g view. Then we drove to redfish Sandy Beach to catch the shuttle. Pics of lots of pointing.

We walked up the valley a ways before turning back to bench lakes. The hike was great but we probably all over heated a bit. Here are some of those amazing Sawtooth pics.

The Trail to bench lakes was super dusty with that fine grain dust. I tried to catch it in a picture. The horse flies were an added nuisance but we made it to the beach and even had a pretty amazing sunset at the campsite. All on all a fantastic day even though Ringo found a dead fish at the salmon River and decided to roll around on it. So, we had to wash him under the water pump. We’ve probably scarred him for life. Oh well.

Sawtooth Mtns Campground: Sunny Gulch

July 12, 2021July 12, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / 2 Comments

Drove through the Redfish lake campgrounds even though they all said full… After striking out there, we moseyed over to sunny gulch campground and got a primo spot with a view.

The campground host laughed at us that we thought we would grab a spot in one of the 6 redfish campgrounds… Oh well. We are 2 miles from there. We Plopped our bums in the river and George worked since we have connectivity. We hit their laundry and showers. It was almost like we were there. Admin day. No pictures of our laundry but I assure you that we got everything done. Tomorrow we hike.

Sunny Gulch Campground fast fact: Sunny Gulch Campground has the nicest pit toilet you can hope to have. Leah, I have now experienced your pit toilet happiness experience.

John Day Painted Fossil Beds

July 10, 2021July 11, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

Left Tumalo Falls heading east towards the Clyde Holiday campground. Hit the John Day Fossil Beds on the way. Really enjoyed the painted hills, but since it was 100 degrees, we waited to go to Sheep Rock for an early morning hike.

The Austin girls will be happy to note that we did make it inside to see the visitor center video, but we had to do it in shifts since we had Ringo. This shows our dedication to both Ringo and the movie. And as George observed probably because one of us can’t have more facts than the other person…

We got a nice camp spot with great connectivity so George got a few hours of shady work. I tested the ac which works fantastic!

Heres the inside of the T@g. It’s much bigger than it looks on the video. The bed appears to be a king.

Bird & bees, Smith Rock, Bend

July 9, 2021July 9, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / 2 Comments

We stayed the day at the Sister’s municipal park campground. I was throwing the ball for Ringo in the park while George was working. I looked up to see a deer about the same time that Ringo saw the deer and he proceeded to chase the deer across the road and get lost. I was frantically searching along the creek and George got in the Taco (Tacoma) and went searching in the neighborhood. This went on for about an hour. I thought the little asshole was a goner forever. George finally went back to the camp ground to put away any valuables and found Ringo humping the neighbors dog. That’s the one thing I wasn’t expecting to be happy seeing Ringo doing.

Next stop petsmart for a dog tag. George asked the clerk if we needed to stick under Ringo’s skin so he would be microchipped? The clerk thought George was a dumbass & George thought the joke was really funny (typical).

Getting on with our day… We knew that we’d see a big rock but had no idea we would get these views of the volcanos. These pictures don’t do it justice.

This picture of beer and the tag is for Joe & Merrydeath. We also liked vicious mosquito. Other than a great name, the beer was delicious.

Detroit Lake, Cascades

July 7, 2021July 7, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

We had false start in the Willamette wine country. We made an effort but at 25 bucks a tasting,I wasn’t up for the effort and moved on…

Lovely evening. We took several walks about the lake. Played several songs at the campground and Ringo was a dog.

Ringo jumping waves. This was pretty funny. I missed the initial spasm which was funnier.

Roll on Columbia

July 5, 2021July 5, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

We stayed at Ainsworth state park and stop, drop and rolled to the Bridge of the Gods. Then we headed down Scenic Hwy 30 through the Columbia River Gorge towards Mcmenamins Edgefield in Troutdale.

We tried to go to Multnomah Falls but it was July 4th and it was an absolute madhouse parking anywhere, so we figured we would catch it on the way home (Feel the suspense? You’ll just have to wait for it.) There were plenty of other waterfalls to see. Saw another old building (Vista house) but they wouldn’t let us inside.

We ended up at the Edgefield where a Grateful Dead cover band turned into a blues band with this guy. So this is how sasquatch like to spend their Independence Day.

Height: 620′, upper falls 542′ single drop.

Mt. Hood!

July 4, 2021July 5, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / 2 Comments

What a glorious day. We started at trillium lake where we had to pay a day use fee to have a picnic, but we got to see how Portlanders beach. It’s funny. Their coasts are cloudy so they beach at the lakes at the base of Mt. Hood. I think there were 200 floatation devices out there.

After the nature walks, we headed up to the Timberland Lodge to take in the historic building. So funny story: Helen Abbott (one of Sadira’s friends) was describing a family vacay. We asked were she went? What she remembers: apparently the Abbott family visits museums on vacay. So we asked the Austin girls, what do we do on Vacation? That isn’t their experience; they both agreed that the old farts drag them in to old historic buildings alot… Especially old breweries. Here’s one

On the way home we passed Panama point and got a few shots of the Columbia Valley with Mt. Hood.

Ecola State Park

July 2, 2021July 2, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

Drove by a Mcmenamins on the way to Ft. Stephens. Since it served bfast we decided to grab a breakfast the next morning on our way to Ecola Beach. Yummy!

After breakfast, we rolled on down the road to Ecola State Park which was amazing. They’ve filmed 4 movies there (point break, goonies, twilight, kindergarten cop)

Then, yeah we did… We drove the truck on the beach at Del Ray. First, we had an appetizer (Chips and Salsa) watched a Ford get stuck and then worked up the courage to follow the rest of the four wheel trucks on the beach.

All in all it was another fantastic day on the OR coast. Glad we didn’t go to Utah and hike the narrows…

Relax day to Fort Stephens

July 1, 2021July 1, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

Very little to report. Started the day reading and relaxing and even some laundry while George worked. No pictures of that but it was a lovely part of my day.

We broke camp and traveled from Nehalem Bay up the coast to Ft. Stephens state park.

We went for a walk at Ft Stephens and literally ran away from a sworm of mosquitoes. Bikes are recommended so you can outrun them.

The fort is pretty cool. When we pulled up, all we could hear was screaming and laughing. Joy is such a lovely sound. Turns out there were about 30 to 40 kids at a camp playing capture the flag in the fort. How fun would that be? They wouldn’t let us play… I think they were afraid of our skills. #iAintScared