South Dakota to Memphis

July 23, 2021July 23, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / 1 Comment

There wasn’t much to see yesterday as we spent 14 hours in the car.

Thanks to the Dwyer’s who hosted us and Sadira. Julia met me at the door with a margarita after a harrowing journey across the Mississippi River bridge which was under construction. I managed to sandwich frank between the construction wall and a semi on the smallest section of the construction zone with an accident on the opposite side at night facing flashing lights. The margarita never tasted as good and her velvety sheets were amazing.

Ringo was cracking out after the 14 hour drive

Devil’s tower

July 19, 2021July 19, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / 1 Comment

Primarily a travel day. We left Big Tetons and spent 9 hrs in Frank. I even legally traveled 81 mph! George says, I technically legally drove 80 miles per hour. The extra 1 MPH is just me living on the wild side. Devil’s Tower / Bears Teepee is a worthy visit. Check out their campground at the base of the tower.

Big tetons: Day 2

July 18, 2021July 18, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / 1 Comment

Since Ringo can’t go on the trails, it was just torture sitting around thinking about all the good hikes we couldn’t take. Rather than just sit around in the campsite feeling sorry for ourselves, we decided to take a trip into Jackson Hole and re-provision and check if Jackson Hole still had a brewery. Mission accomplished and another scenic route traveled.

We showered up and we got another fine sunset on Mt. Moran from the campground. While sitting there, a bald eagle flew right in front of us. We both decided it was the closest either of us had seen an eagle in the wild. #cagesDontCount

For those of you concerned, Ringo is still running loose, but #notintheT@g.

Home is wherever I’m with you

July 11, 2021October 29, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / 1 Comment

Finished up John Day Fossil and traveled to 10 Mile Campground outside of Boise in the Boise National forest.

Lovely evening. We parked our camp chairs in the creek and stuck our feet in the creek. The temp got to 104 on the way through Boise and I was happy to have Frank as our travel horse (sorry Veronica…)

Idaho tonight! Going, going, Ore-gone

I posted this yesterday, but it cracks me up.

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

What day is it?

June 30, 2021June 30, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / 1 Comment

Yesterday we took an amazing and steep hike out to Cape Lookout. There were lots of cut off posts (trip hazards) neighboring the plummet-to-your-death-cliffs that made me grateful Brian Woods wasn’t there.

Little did you know, I would use this picture in a blog post… #infamousFall

2 things to know about Oregon:
1) They love dogs. There’s a dog hitch outside the bathroom. They are cool to be off leash on the beach as long as they come back to you. George even saw several dogs in the safeway.
2) You still can’t pump your own gas in OR. It’s weird. You just sit there and watch them. Also, do you tip them if they clean your windows? Things I’d like to know.

Campground Beach: Arch in far back ground

From Cape Lookout, we traveled up to Cape Meares Light house and there we ran into the parents of the brewer at Burial Brewery in AVL… So strange. We must give of beer pheromones. They gave us recommendations for beers in Bend, OR. Boneyard/rpm is now on the list.

That’s the end of the cape Lookout hike that we did earlier.

Going through Tillamook we stopped at the creamery for cheese, yogurt, and icecream. Yes, you’re officially on vacation when you wait in line for cheese!