It is October. So we’ve been making some Oktoberfest like meals. Here we have bratwurst with apples and smokey cheese grits.
Not Oktoberfest like, but very yummy was the Shepard’s pie dad made.
Early October was in the 80s and then it wasn’t. We went for a hike last Sunday on the Black Crater trail. The trail guide promised sweeping views. The weather app promised the clouds would clear. Nope.
Back to celebrating all things German…Dad and I made schnitzel.
And, Dad made pretzels and I made smoked gouda beer dipping cheese.
The Mother made applesauce to go with the schnitzel.
Another night, Dad made a recipe recommended by Nan. Creamy orzo with hot Italian sausage, kale, and tomatoes.
Mom and I made sugar cookies.
And Dad made lamb kidneys.
This weekend we went camping at Waldo Lake ( a 10 sq mile lake about 2 hours from Bend) and we mountain biked around the lake.
It was, at times, a challenging ride, but we finally made it back to camp around 5:30. We had worked up an appetite and had large servings of tuna surprise pasta and sugar cookies.
The Thrillacross cyclocross race series was 4 races long. I won the first. I lost the second by 1/8 of an inch. For the third one, I took off from the line hard.
If you look at this picture, you will see NO ONE around me. That’s because I dropped them…never to be seen again
I took the win easily.
Dad had another great race. He has a lot of retired pros in his race, so the competition is intense.
And dirty.
Last week, I made Three Cup Chicken Noodles. It was pretty good!
Last year, we attempted to climb South Sister, a 10,358 ft tall volcano. When we attempted the summit last year it was raining and so cloudy, The Bigs had safety concerns, and we turned around just shy of the summit. So, last weekend, we tried again.
It has started snowing here already. So we did have to walk on a lot of packed (SLIPPERY) snow.
We made it in good time. In case you are interested, this is a 13 mile round-trip hike gaining about 5,000 feet. South Sister is Oregon’s third-highest peak
That’s Middle and North Sister behind us. Perhaps we will climb them next.
This week, our entire 5th grade class went to Outdoor School. We slept in cabins and ate at a mess hall and did all the ‘camp’ things. It was OK. Two upsides…(1) The Bigs got to eat two dinners loaded with things I hate while I was eating spaghetti and pizza at camp – all parties were happy and (2) the smells of my fellow campers kinda brought home the importance of personal hygiene to me (which those of you who have observed my grooming schedule know is a good thing).
This weekend, The Bigs had to work. Their engineering programs were under a normal accreditation review and for some reason, the reviewers came on Saturday. They snuck out of the review for my soccer game. And, when the review was over, we went for ice cream at Birdsong before they closed for the season. They use an auger to blend fruit into softserve. Yum.
On Sunday we went on a super cool gravel ride – the Indian Ramble – with Pete from my Horner team. We stopped at a general store for a snack…
but most of the time we were hammering and dropping The Mother further and further behind.
It’s good to go with someone besides The Bigs :).
We tried a lot of new recipes since our last post.
Creamy gnocchi with broccoli and pancetta.
Smokey shrimp and bean salad.
Clam sauce and spaghetti.
One pan bratwust, apple, potatoes, and sauerkraut.
While I was away at Outdoor School, The Bigs busted out mushrooms….
And enjoyed Toasted Farro Pilaf with Mushrooms. The second night, they sauteed every veggie I dislike and enjoyed them over a salad. The forgot to take a pic of their disgusting, in my opinion, salad.
We also made RI clam chowder…which I love.
Lastly, I made a dessert for everyone. Apples, almond butter, melted chocolate chips, and fresh strawberries.
So, it’s back to the grind. I started a new school. The first day was OK.
It got much better in the afternoon, because Dad and I got to race in the Thrillacross cyclcocross race! Here I am (second from the right), before the start, with a few of my teammates.
I took off hard and dropped them all.
They NEVER caught up and I won.
Dad did a great job in his race too.
The Mother made me get a haircut….
and made me eat creamy kale pasta topped with sauerkraut and seed. The Mother, sigh…
Really people? Can I come back to the East Coast, PLEASE?!
We celebrated The Bigs’ 19th wedding anniversary at the Yacht Club..,
with a Reuben (The Mother), a kimichi steak sandwich (Dad), and the meat lover’s pizza (ME!).
At the second Thrillacross race, Alex took the lead.
I was having none of that and we passed each other several times as we fought for first place. Eventually, I passed him and took the lead.
But, Beckett wasn’t done yet .
In an amazing (wheel to wheel) finish, Beckett beat me by about an inch! It was a great race and Beckett, Alex, and I had a great time watching the adults and older brothers race afterwards.
The Bigs bought themselves a breadmaker to celebrate their anniversary. I hope this loaf is not indicative of what the future holds for them 🙂
The Mother redeemed herself after the creamy kale pasta with Za’atar Chicken and Crispy Couscous with Grilled Peaches. Here is the couscous salad.
My legs felt very tired this week, so we decided to take it easy before my soccer game…we went fly fishing.
No fish were caught.
My soccer game with my new school was much better than soccer games with my old school!
As you know, biking, soccer, fishing – they are not enough to keep me busy…so I did some baking and cooking too.
I was tired of eating The Mother’s attempts at whole wheat bread with the bread maker, so I made French bread (missing a bit because of Dad :)).
I also made Pad Thai for dinner. Oh yes, I use a wok.
The Bigs made me add broccoli to the pad thai…something about health, fiber, vegetables…blah, blah. blah Bigs. I made a huge mess so they knew I was not happy.
We visited so many amazing, beautiful places, it was kind of hard to come home. Then we fished and climbed here in Bend and remembered what a BEAUTIFUL place we live in!
The Mother finally made a ‘good’ dinner. Artichoke and anchovy pasta.
After our ride in Minnesota, it was time to bang out some miles. We (Dad) drove a lot and we ended up in Sturgis, SD. I did not ride or buy a Harley.
This is a ‘prediction’ of the future…the one where I am taller than dad :).
We camped at Bear Butte. It was very pretty but incredibly smelly.
Up next? Devil’s Tower in Wyoming
Some may not understand the next picture…if they don’t they should watch …Steven Spielberg’s 1977 ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’.
Wyoming and Montana are cowboy country. The cowboys drive big trucks – FAST.
We stopped near Billings, MT at Acton Recreation Center. The pit toilets were absolutely beautiful. The men’s pit toilet.
The ladies’ pit toilet.
The riding was awesome.
We drove through some ‘weather’…to get to Glacier National Park. We were supposed to go backpacking, but our backcountry trip was essentially cancelled due to ‘BEAR ACTIVITY’. So, we did some day hikes instead. DAY ONE: we hiked to Upper Two Medicine Lake.
It was gorgeous, but a little cold and rainy. Upside to rain? (1) I got to wear my awesome new raincoat from Uncle Chris and family and (2) RAINBOWS.
We had a lunch that was so bad, Dad was sure it could cure the obesity epidemic. When you hike 12 miles quickly, you don’t care how it tastes :).
We carried bear spray and were ready to see a grizzly. Instead, we saw this guy. We identified him as a hoary marmot. We did not spray him.
The next day, the weather was about the same. We hiked the Highline Trail.
It was beautiful, but I think the fog meant we missed some amazing views. Guess we will have to go back.
On our way out of the park, this guy was snacking by the side of the road. Not a grizzly. Sigh.
In the end, we drove 9287 miles over 75 days and saw an awful lot of our amazing country. Thanks to everyone who helped make it an awesome trip!
After a quick stop at Nana’s, we hit the road. I planned some sights to hit along the way – like the Bicentennial Tower in Erie, PA. Lake Erie is the shallowest and warmest Great Lake.
We stayed on Lake Erie that evening, camping at East Harbor State Park near Sandusky, OH. The beach in the morning.
Of course, I went for a swim. 5 Great Lakes for 5.
Dad got us safely through Chicago and we headed to Spring Green, WI. Up first, we visited the House on the Rock.
It was, at first, a house built upon a 60 ft tall rock.
It had a cool ‘infinity room’…
it extends 218 feet over the valley. Hope a good engineer figured out how to properly support it!
In addition to the house, there were ‘attractions’. Like this huge sea sculpture.
A carousel.
And much, much more. After House on the Rock, we headed to Frank Llyod Wright’s Taliesin. This is the visitor center…
which contains the world’s only remaining Frank Llyod Wright designed restaurant (we ate cheese sandwiches at a scenic overlook – not the restaurant – but we did walk around and enjoy the space!)
Then we headed to the house for a self-guided tour.
It was a beautiful home built into the surrounding hill.
I particularly liked the bird walk a balcony Wright added to the house so his wife could walk out in the morning and enjoy the birds.
Dad noticed that one of the towns we were set to drive through had Pannekoeken. When he wasn’t looking, Mom rerouted us from our campground destination to the restaurant! We had fried cheese curds (when in Wisconsin, you eat cheese curds)
and pannekoeken (dutch pancakes) stuffed with cheese, bacon, and sausage. Excellent!
After dinner we crossed the Mississippi into Minnesota.
The next day, we took a break from driving and road our bikes in the Driftless region (a geographic region that was completely bypassed by the last continental glaciers). We were on the Mississippi River Trail/Apple Blossom Scenic Drive. It was really nice.
I’m not sure if you can see it, but this farm had all its hay wrapped in red, white, and blue.
That’s the Mississippi behind us!
It was hot and humid. This is me after dinner. Sweaty.
After Washington, DC, we spent some time at Yaya and Papa’s. While I was working hard helping Yaya run her store, The Bigs were relaxing and BEAR WATCHING. This big guy walked right through the backyard.
This guy is not a bear. I LOVE this dog.
We got to see Uncle Geoff and family.
Have I mentioned how much I like visiting my grandparents?!
While we were in CT, we took a day to drive to GG Marie’s to visit and have lunch. She still has me by about an inch, but I am getting close…
The lunch at the Brown Sugar Cafe was great, but the best part was seeing GG Marie and Micki!
Dog heaven continued with a visit to New Hampshire to see Aunt Cheryl and Curtis.
We went on a lot of nice hikes.
Visited the extremely large Madison Boulder, a glacial erratic – can you even see me in front of it?
Picked a LOT of blueberries (…The Mother should have waited to make Dad’s blueberry pie!)
Hiked to more waterfalls – here we are at Arethusa Falls.
Visited the Mt Washington Hotel,
where I had poutine for lunch. It was good, but maybe not as good as the many delicious breakfasts, dinners, and desserts Aunt Cheryl made for us.
The Bigs forgot to take pictures of our amazing meals but at least got a shot of the TO DIE FOR breakfast cookies!
I took a dip in the lake near Cheryl’s house.
And spent all my free time with Curtis.
We also took a day to climb Mt Washington (the tallest mountain in the Northeast). We headed up the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail.
It got pretty chilly by the time we reached the Lake of the Clouds Hut. We stopped for a snack of breakfast cookies and to put on some layers. The Mother was very grateful Aunty Cheryl insisted she take a hat.
We reached the summit in just over 2 hours. The view was fog as far as the eye could see and the winds were on the order of 50+ mph.
On the way down the Jewell Trail, the sky cleared and we had amazing views.
After dinner that evening, we couldn’t resist walking to one more waterfall. We checked out Diana’s Baths.
