Author: becandkyle

Things have been quiet lately. School cramps our style. Uncle Chris sent us out for dinner to celebrate The Bigs 18th wedding anniversary. Of course we went to the Yacht Club.

I’ve had two soccer games. We are not good.

I made dinner. Pan-seared shrimp garlic-lemon butter.

The Bigs made roasted eggplant with curried yogurt

and pea, za’atar, and feta fritters. Thankfully, I was at Jameson’s house for dinner.

I was at home the night they made a tomato and bread salad with anchovies and capers. Yum!

Dad made pizzas, I definitely approved of this meal.

I set one goal for summer. Climb South Sister. This is a 12 mile hike with 4700 feet of elevation gain. We got started around 7:30 am and were cruising.

As we started to all the last part of the climb, we noticed some cool clouds moving by the top of the mountain very fast. Hmmm…must be windy up there we thought.

As we climbed, the sun disappeared and we were immersed in clouds.

Then it started to pour and The Mother stopped taking pictures. It got really windy, it was pouring, and eventually we got worried we might not be able to see the trail and/or get hypothermia. So…800 feet from the summit we turned around and hiked down as fast as we could in the pouring rain.

In other news, our plums are ready. The Mother and I picked soooo many plums.

We pickled plums.

We made plum compote.

We dried plums.

I made a sweet pastry crust. Normally I put flour everywhere and measure my dough with a tape measure but Great Auntie Cheryl sent us this awesome rolling mat. So much easier!

I used the crust to make a plum tart.

The day after we got back from Westport, Great Auntie Cheryl and Uncle Jim arrived!

I planned out a ‘pick our own adventure’ itinerary for them.

They visited Shevlin Park and

saw me off on my first day of school.

We played The Game of Life

and had a picnic dinner at Smith Rock.

Mom took them to the High Desert Museum

where Jim was definitely a Golden Eagle and so was Cheryl.

Cheryl and Jim took us to Ariana for a delicious dinner.

All the dishes were super yummy and beautiful. For example, Dad had the lamb neck. The menu description: Anderson ranch lamb, cumin, carrot-harissa purée, labneh.

I was particularly tickled to be served my kombucha in a wine glass.

Their visit was too short and there was only a little bit of time at the end to visit Tumalo Falls.

I was sad to see them go, but I had plenty to keep me busy. I needed to test my new waders out fishing in the Crooked River. The waders worked, but I didn’t catch anything :(.

I didn’t get a chance to make a bar for Uncle Jim and Aunt Cheryl, so I made one for The Bigs. They were particularly impressed with my appetizer plate. I used celery tops for garnish!

The next day, we were back at Smith Rock for some climbing (and to use my new helmet!)

It was another great week.

Labor Day weekend we weren’t quite ready to give up traveling, so we headed out for some surfing. The water in Westport, Washington is a teensy bit warmer than the water in Oregon (despite being north of us…currents?), so we hit the road again.

There are sand dollars everywhere in Westport.

Also, jellyfish. I’ve been stung by one before, so I was a little annoyed to have them all around me everyday!

But they didn’t keep me out of the water.

I even did some body surfing.

It was NOT warm.

One day after lots of time in the water, I had clam chowder poutine for lunch. What? Normally poutine is fries, gravy, and cheese curds. This was fries, clam chowder, and shredded cheddar. Not as good, but cool nonetheless.

For my birthday, The Bigs gave me a rafting trip with Jameson! We started out with dinner at the Yacht Club. Pizza!

The next morning, we packed up the boat and started on our way.

We stopped along the way for some fishing.

I caught the first fish.

It NEVER rains in Bend in the summer. This trip was cloudy, cool, and sometimes it rained. We didn’t mind.

Along the way, we saw horses. Wild, perhaps?

A lot of the time, we rode behind the boat in tubes.

Our goal was to hit as much white water as possible.

After our first day, we set up camp.

Sometimes, we actually sat down and read!

Dad made lots of yummy food, including…french toast and bacon!

Jameson’s mom sent these little animals to put together. We constructed them at the campsite and they became our mascots.

Despite the weather, it was an awesome trip!

The final leg of our journey was a four-day, 45-mile backpacking trip in the Sawtooth Wilderness Area.

We visited and swam in a lot of beautiful alpine lakes. Most days we would stop by one lake for lunch and camp by another at the end of the day. Alice Lake:

The first night we camped at Toxaway Lake:

We stopped at Ardeth Lake for a swim and lunch:

The second night, we camped at Rock Slide Lake. It had an island:

Oatmeal, just before the rain:

The third day started out wet. Very wet. It poured on us most of the day:

The creeks were swollen, and we had a lot of creek crossings:

By the end of the day, the sun came out, and it turned into a beautiful day:

Our final night, we camped at Edith Lake. (No pictures of the lake, but it was another beautiful alpine lake with great swimming.) Our campsite:

After our hike, we headed to Redfish Lake for a day of canoeing and swimming:

On the way home, we found a great campsite along the South Fork of the Payette River. Here I am finishing up my fourth book for the trip:

There was a great swimming hole at the campsite:

On our way out of Idaho, we stopped at Kirkham Hot Springs along the Payette River:

We drove through Emmett, Idaho!

Back in Oregon, I cooked dinner on our final night of camping. Tuna Surprise:

We’re back home now but heading out tomorrow for an overnight rafting trip on the Deschutes River.

Up next, a visit to Sun Valley for some biking and hiking. We rode at Galena Lodge two days.

We also hiked to the top of Bald Mountain (the Sun Valley ski area),

and rode The Bigs favorite ride in Ketchum the Greenhorn Gulch to Imperial Gulch loop.

I also celebrated my birthday while we were there. I started the day off with a mountain bike ride and then got a “small” burrito from KB Burrito for lunch.

Next I “showered”…

All clean!

Yes, we were camping 100s of miles from home, but it was a special occasion and special occasions call for a bar! I toasted some nuts on the campfire…

and set up a pretty nice spread inside the camper.

You’ll notice I’ve elevated my bar game with custom cocktail napkins!

The Bigs let me choose dinner. I went with pasta bolognese.

And for dessert, I had a kombucha float. So good!

The day after my birthday, it was time to hit the rode again!

We hit the road starting early August. First stop…City of Rocks in Southern Idaho.

It is quiet, very beautiful, and a rock climbing destination.

Right next door was Castle Rock State Park. Also gorgeous, quiet, and full of great climbing.

We stayed here for four days, climbing and hiking and then it was on to our next destination!

This week, we decided to hike the Rogue River trail. According to the map it is a 40.5 mile trip. Everyone was all smiles to start.

We walked about 11 miles. The first night we camped at Horseshoe Bend. Temperatures peaked at 95 F so we did a lot of swimming.

Day 2 was no cooler. We got up early and tried to get most of our hiking in before lunch. Still smiling.

We camped at Rogue River Ranch that evening and did a lot of swimming.

The third day only reached 93F, so it was much easier. Haha.

We saw a lot of poop like this.

Guess it was from this guy and his two buddies we saw.

It was very pretty…

but there was a lot of ‘nature’. Like poison oak. EVERYWHERE.

We are still smiling, but very soon we may be itching.

The last day was only 91 F but it still felt hot.

The end of the trail wasn’t too far from the coast, so we decided to hit the beach. It was in the 60s and the water was 53 F! What a change!!!

I was pretty tired and napped a lot of the drive home.

I spent a lot of time thinking about food while hiking…so when I got home, I started baking. Mixed berry galette anyone?

It has been a busy two weeks. One day it was smokey in Bend so we drove 45 minutes to a campground on the Crooked River. We escaped the smoke,

and caught some fish.

Up next was Dad’s birthday. The Mother made him olive oil chocolate mousse topped with crème fraiche and fresh cherries.

Uncle Chris sent us to a movie for Dad’s birthday. We saw F1. It was great!

Dad also got a sous vide. He’s already made a couple of meals – both pork.

Sous vide pork chop with kimchi salad. Yum!

The Mother had us make a few more recipes from her new cookbook. Avocado tahini dip,

burrata with pickled cherries and basil,

and Vietnamese tomato and watermelon salad.

I also made some bread.

Then it was off to Hood River for some sailing.

Dad did some windsurfing and wing foiling.

I did some winging

and some windsurfing.

One afternoon, we picked blueberries and went for a swim.

It was great.

With me gone at camp, The Bigs ate all kinds of things I don’t really care for.

First they had Corn Chowder with White Fish (I would have liked this one):

Leek, mushroom, and kale subji (mushrooms, blech):

Asparagus salad (asparagus, ick):

Toast farro pilaf with mushrooms (you know my thoughts on mushrooms):

Sri Lankan beet curry with green bean mallum (where do I start?):

They also went out for dinner (treat themselves pretty good when they ship me off!). They went for Moroccan at Papillion. They started with zaalouk (smoked eggplant, almond gremolata, olives, and warm pita).

Dad had the braised lamb shank (berber spices, prunes, apricots, brown butter farro, braised fennel, and almonds), and

Mom had the Tanjia Marrakesh (slow-cooked, ras el hanout, coulette beef with roasted potatoes, preserved lemon, and couscous).

It wasn’t all fun for The Bigs. They also picked and processed 100 pounds of cherries. Yes, 100 pounds. They didn’t even pick all the cherries in the tree – they couldn’t reach them. They froze cherries, made cherry jam,

air-fryed cherries,

dried cherries, and more!

On Friday, The Bigs picked me up from camp. They were pretty worried. They didn’t need to be. I had a blast. Unprompted I said, ‘It was awesome. You were right’. You were right, magic to all parents’ ears!

The Bigs had planned quite a welcome home day for me. We headed straight to Smith Rock to rock climb. First we had lunch. They made me Momofuku noodles with a fried egg and kippered herring (now, that is my kind of meal).

Then we did some fun climbs in Northpoint.

After that, we headed to the Yacht Club for dinner. I got pizza from Pizza, Peace, Love, Pepperoni. I had a pie with red sauce, pesto, burrata, fresh basil, and balsamic glaze. Pop, next time you make pizza, I want this!

The Bigs rented The Martian to watch after dinner (don’t worry, we already read the book). It was the best day ever!

The Bigs had planned a short bike packing trip for the weekend, but when they saw how tired I was and the weather forecast (90+ all weekend)…they pivoted. We decided to go check out some new lakes. First up? Lake Simtustus. It’s a dammed portion of the Deschutes River. It was beautiful.

We spent about four hours on the river paddling and swimming. We discovered the hard way that we did not put enough sunblock :(.

Sunday was just as hot, so we headed to Crescent Lake.

It was beautiful and clear.

Why do we have shirts on if it is 95? Oh right, the sunburn…

We think this is Diamond Peak.

It was another great day. Up next, a week of rock climbing camp!