Cabin in the woods, totally not haunted.....

What a beautiful weekend!! All Thanks to our friend family, The LJS team.

The weekend started out with a longish drive. Not to worry, it wasn't because I got lost this time. We head down to a cabin near La Pine, just a bit south of Bend, in the high desert. I love the high desert. On the way we stop for, possibly the worst ever, burritos. Literally only after having traveled about 10 minutes outside of town, as it goes....always... The road is forgiving over the length of the trip however, 4 hours south and east with a stop at a rest area that has one of the most beautiful sights, a 300 foot deep canyon. Arriving at the cabin, an old guard station, just after dark was a little creepy at first. It felt like the forest was watching. For realz. But inside it was super cozy and it warmed right up once I figured out how to get the lights and heater going. Build the boy a PB&J sandwich and wash him up for bed.

Team LJS arrive a little over an hour after we got there and we all settle in. Wine, fireplace, good friends, cozy cabin and relaxing after a long day make a good combo for chilling in and having nice quiet conversation. YAY KIDS SLEEP SOMETIMES!!!!!

A small late night episode, uhm..... I kinda put the propane lantern on low and it set off the CO detector in the little bedroom, so we had to air it out and sleep in the living room instead.... (don't worry nobody died).

Trey woke up early so he and I sat by the fireplace for coffee and water. Breakfast was nice J made some challah french toast and we all got a little exploring in and built a fire in the fire pit and pretty much perfect lazy morning. I helped the boys build a little bit of a fort, which of course means they wanted to do it but I ended up doing all the work and then they were no longer interested. Of Course.

The afternoon saw a short (mostly) pleasant stroll, a quick jump in the river off a little bridge (OMG COLD) and then everyone had a nap while I started dinner and collected firewood. I found a great spot where it looks like they recently did a control burn and there was a lot of easily gathered wood. I love low hanging fruit. I made a reasonable chicken noodle soup, from scratch of course, and grill cheese and ham melts for dinner. I really loved the convenience of a full stove.  The weather was just about perfect all day. We had a nice evening and night sitting by a big warm fire. Atreyu fell asleep under the stars, by the fire, in my lap. Magical. I did not set off the CO detector a second night.

Day two: Little late start but a big blueberry pancakes and eggs breakfast then clean up and pack up. Hit the road and get turned around going the wrong way to go to the Newberry Volcanic Monument, google it, well worth the side trip if you're in the area, but I wouldn't make this a destination trip. There was a 9 mile bumpy drive each way to the monument, a mile walk on a paved path throughout the lava field with lots of gorgeous vista. I wanted to hit up the "High Desert Museum" but we missed out on that one this time. We stopped in Bend for lunch, everyone was hungry so we made a poor choice...... "The Beach Hut". The food was ok but overpriced. And everything was served on a frisbee and they had surfboards for tables... *reminder* Bend is in the middle of the desert. We parted ways with Team LJS and we went on a small side trip to the town of Sisters. What a cute little town, fun food and shops. We had some strudel and ice cream strolled the harvest fair. Hit the road home, took the road less traveled and safe and sound in the driveway about 8.

My review of the cabin: I really liked the convenience of the cabin, it was much warmer and spacious than a tent, good when its super cold out at night. It had some modern amenities like stove, lights, heat and refrigeration, but lacked running water which was not too bad to deal with (we brought a bunch and boiled some from the river). I think it was a little spendy and I would preferred the outdoor fire pit was closer to the cabin and more like a fireplace with a bbq top on it for the trouble, thats the kind of touch that would have made it an outstanding spot. This particular cabin was right at the head of  popular trail and parking area so it was a little busy. The Fall Creek does literally bubble right up out of the ground at the cabin so it was a unique place. Overall I'd give it 3.5 stars. Well worth second try at another cabin. We will be sure to invite LJS to come!!

Goose lake and trout dinner

What a great weekend! Lets start at the beginning shall we? I don't want to get ahead of myself.

Memorial day weekend 2016.

The family and I spent the weekend with another family we love dearly (I shall call them the J/L/S Clan). I realize I have been skipping writing about many of the adventures we've been having. This was a super fun and amazing adventure so I had to share. You could say I was inspired....

We headed up to Goose lake. Theres a campground up near the base of Mt Adams. Nice little lake that was very scenic. Campground had about 20 campsites that were not large trailer or RV friendly, a pair of vault toilets and a busy boat launch. Sites were sparse with a fire pit and a table and not much else other than a hard time finding a flat spot for a tent. Would have been ideal place for hammock camping. The trip started on a little pain in the ass as we accidentally tried to drive up over the mountain pass that I had warned team JLS to avoid several times and had to back track almost 20 wooded miles to go the way I supposed to go in the first place. Oops. Stopped on the way and had a nice lunch. Get to the campground and its almost completely empty. Choice of spot is always nice.

Set up our new (to us) car camping tent. Free find. Coleman 4-person. Not the warmest or easiest to set up but nice to have plenty of space for the whole family and the new dog. New big....bed hogging... dog.

Get the fire going and some snacks ready. And stroll down to the lake and talk to an older gentleman who tells me they recently stocked the lake with trout, so... Atreyu and I decide to try to catch one. The boy caught, not only his first fish ever, almost entirely by himself (he reeled it in, I just helped hold the rod) but the first of the whole weekend!! We ended up with a yummy Saturday night dinner. OH SO GOOD.

*Recipe: trout, butter, salt, pepper, garlic, and spritz of citrus.

Spent the evening by the fire. A couple of beers. Watching an eagle fly around the lake swooping for fish.

Next day was fun filled with a blend of fishing, hiking and relaxing.... and fighting a short willful person.
We went to some ice caves and natural bridges. Both very cool formations created by lava tubes. And we took turns paddling round the lake on a kayak. The campground filled up pretty good on saturday. There was a crazy incident where someones truck rolled down a hill and almost into the lake. Yikes!! And then...fire and chillin.... Sunday brought us to a lazy breakfast. And a terrible lunch. Some time by the river for Atreyu to throw rocks. Ice Cream cones at a funky little gift shop.

All in all a great weekend. No new equipment reviews. But I'd give the campground a solid four. Just make sure to check if the mountain pass is still snowed under...

Backpack the beach!

  Today ends a short but exhausting adventure. Its been a while but this trip was worth it. Took the family on the first, all of us walking under our own power, backpacking trip. A short distance, flat,  easy walk of just about 7 miles to the end of a peninsula with the Tillamook bay on one side and the Pacific ocean on the other.

  The Bayocean Peninsula starts with a beautiful drive half circling the bay and looking out over the mud flats before turning on to a dirt road onto a dike onto the peninsula. Our walk started out pretty nice as we saw a handful of horses in the parking lot. We strolled out at a nice preschooler pace the first 2.5 miles (about a mile per hour) along the bay side of the walk and found our campspot. Stopping only a couple of quick breaks, one to go potty and one for a snack. S.N.: Atreyu really likes those applesauce in a pouch, and while I would never condone those (simply based on environmental concerns) they are great for backpacking; lightweight, no muss, no fuss, no spoon required. Our spot, a cozy little nook tucked away a short distance off the main trail and only a few steps off the dunes was simply perfect for our little troop. We set up camp and checked out the beach..... for.... about.... a minute. After all that walk the kid simply was not feeling the oh so windy beach. OH SO WINDY. Ok so dinner it is which was ok I suppose ready to eat rice and chicken in a tuna can, mixed together with a little hot water and voila!! As good as any MRE I've ever seen. A tiny little fire to heat water and then the awesome special treat, yes....we toted s'mores out with us. Trey just wanted a burnt marshmallow, IDK why I even went through the trouble to set him up a stick (cleaned and pointed, UGH) and I made maybe the best S'more I've ever eaten, I suppose it could've been pure hunger. After dinner we had planned to watch the sunset into the Pacific, one of Fawns favorite pastimes. BUT.... instead we walked along the bay out to the very end. Found some crabs and a jaw bone from a sea lion and search-and-rescue training weekend. Nice stroll, about half mile each way. Back to camp for some rest. 

*Middle of the night. Wake up to dog growling. Realize the packs have all the food in them about six inches from my head separated by only a thin nylon barrier that I seriously doubt is bear proof. End up having to chase a raccoon out of camp. Whew!

Morning brings coffee and oatmeal AND an army of biting bugs; fire ants, mosquitos, and spiders.  OH MY! But it also brings packing up camp, dumping out a few pounds of water and heading out onto the beach for the second half of our walk. 3 miles down the most gorgeous beach and not even a trace of another human being as far as the eye can see. Taking our time finding treasure, taking a break for snacks (I told you Atreyu loves those pouches) and finding a few hundred jellyfish. I think Atreyu wanted to stop and see everyone one of them and to squish a few.... The walk back was wonderful, except the last stretch, after we stepped off the beach we climbed the trail on the dune and expected to see the parking lot right there, but, instead, it was about a mile across the only wide spot on the whole peninsula. But that stretch was well rewarded with a finding the van, AND a lunch of burgers, chowder and a pint at the Pelican Brewery. YUM

Stop at ,not one, but TWO cheese factories for samples, fun and ice cream and head home. But of course not without a stop on the way for a dip in the Wilson river. 

All in all it was a great two days I loved near every minute. 

Two quickie reviews. Our tent: the Drifter 3 by Mountain hard wear. I loved this tent before but it is a bit small when car camping with the whole family and a big dog.  But  for backpacking (as it was designed) it was perfect. I didn't feel it was too heavy at all. Yes my pack was heavy but I never once thought "oh the damn tent" fit nicely in a tight space and was able to fit everybody pretty comfy.

The food: We ate a dinner of Uncle Bens chicken flavor rice mixed with canned chicken. Worked great. Hearty and tasty after a big walk. As easy and good as any MRE. And for breakfast we brought milk in a box, kept just fine and was a huge improvement on powdered creamer. If not for the boy I might not bring it again but I wouldn't complain since we did.