Last Days of Summer

Well, since it legitimately feels like fall, a bit of rain here and there and a crispness outside, even when it's 80 degrees; combined with the fact that the sounds of college football now fill the air (including one unmentionable game today) I thought I'd fill you all in on our last days of summer, before it's too late.

So, to begin with, around August 15th we hiked a trail to a mountain meadow that was pretty amazing. It was a fairly easy hike and the meadow was just flat out gorgeous. But, it was real wet. Like muddy and swampy. Apparently, too early or too late or there had been some rain or whatever. But, of course, Nickel loved it. Not so much her hose-bath outside later, however.









So then the next week I went to Cannon Beach with a bunch of ladies from church. Cannon is gorgeous, and apparently when you go out while it's low tide you see tons and tons and tons of these:



Isn't that amazing!?! I don't think I've ever seen a real starfish outside of the aquarium. They were everywhere...almost to the point of gross, actually. And smelly. Plus, bugs. But seriously, amazing. Sharon actually even picked one up. Uhhhh...





Then we saw one of these, which has like 18 legs and was just crazy. Plus, there were all sorts of caves and things we could walk through, so all of it was just incredible.



Then, as soon as I got home from the coast Daniel and I headed out for our first for real hike-in camping trip.



We have the equipment for it and have planned on it for a long time, but have just never done it. So we headed out for a hike in the gorge, that really we didn't know much about. But apparently it had some streams/rivers, so we could get some fresh water. Well...several, several miles later we were getting pretty despondent. The entire thing was uphill and we had on those packs and there was no water. But don't worry, we made it. Five miles, and eventually we found a "seasonal" stream that is very literally seasonal and had just enough water to put in our nalgene with a filter. Plus, it was very close to dark by the time we got there. But we made a fire just in time and set up our stove, and let me tell you, Daniel is much better at picking out freeze dried meals than I am. Last time I did they were questionable, but this time he got us some actually really good pasta, mac and cheese and granola with strawberries. Yum.



The views were awesome, and we spent much more time with them on the way back down the next morning. Through the trees you could see the river and the state of Washington and we were super high. Plus, could see Mt. Adams and got to just sit and stare at it. And of course, Nickel loved it.





So then last weekend we headed out to a lake at the foot of Mt. Hood to do a bit more luxurious camping. Timothy Lake is a pretty popular camping spot to people out here, and there are some good reasons for that, we found out. Our campsite was right across a trail from the lake, which we were able to take our kayaks out on and just stare at the mountain. It was stinking amazing. Amazing.





There was a super easy hike that took us around the lake and from it there was this unreal view of the lake and Mt. Hood.



Plus, we relaxed and played cards and cooked awesome meals, including s'mores, hotdogs, and these unreal sugar and cinnamon "donuts." And did I mention we went out of the lake in our kayaks and just sat there?!







Nickel didn't like this one so much. I mean, she liked it. But she had to be leashed up the entire time, and then there was the incident of us trying to teach her how to swim. We thought it would be interesting since we had the kayaks and could go out while keeping her on the leash. Plus, it helped that she really wanted to chase the ducks.





SO...she swam!!! She hated it. Like was miserable, freaked out and panicked. But she tried it one more time when she saw some more ducks, and she'll be better next time, don't worry.



And in addition to ducks, Nickel really took to hunting bees, which was really interesting. I think she maybe actually swallowed like 4 or 5, and she didn't appear to get stung. Daniel, however, was not so lucky. But good news! Daniel's not allergic to bees! They did hurt him, however.



So those were our summer trips! And fall's upon us, which means amazing weather, pumpkins and the scent of cinnamon, two very important birthdays, the start of school-year youth group and a new house!!!! Hooray!

Look! Not a Birthday Post!

The birthday posts have gotten out of control, haven't they? Well, fear not, because I feel refreshed when it comes to posting. Maybe I just had to take January off for the most part...who knows.

It's been nice weather here, cold definitely, and not sunny per se, but certainly not the constant rain that we had been expecting. So yesterday we decided to get some fresh air and go on a hike.
We went to a trail sort of close by that a friend here took me this summer, but that Daniel had never been to (I feel like our readers are always guessing as to who's writing until one or the other of us drops the other's name like I just did and then you think "ah, okay." We just like to keep you guessing...).
So anyway, this trail was completely different in the winter than it was in the summer. We walked along a creek/small river the entire time and seriously, we could not believe how clear the water was. I guess with all the snow here, as it turns to water it's incredibly clear.
And there are some really cool parts to this trail, like this waterfall down a rock, and water streaming down from the top of a cliff, in little droplets like constant rain, and all the moss...And Nickel got her head under water for what, I'm pretty sure, was the first time. We haven't ever been to a place with her where, for instance, we could push her off a dock and force her to swim. So she's been in water, but only to the point where she can't walk anymore and then she gets scared. But yesterday Daniel threw a stick into the river and she went chasing after it and first stepped on a rock and then suddenly, as she was going forward, the rock wasn't there. She went completely under and was shocked, but then I think she realized she actually can swim and we couldn't pull her away from the water...And this picture is amazing. I have no idea why Daniel is doing that with his hand. He looks like he's trying to be Gob (for any Arrested Development fans)...