Back. Relaxed. Rested… Well, In Theory

I’m back.

Yes, the family and I, with my Aussie parents in tow, just recently returned from the Oregon vacation to end all Oregon vacations. We saw ancient Lava flows, floated on the crisp blue waters of a crater lake, explored marble caves (in the middle of nowhere) and hugged a few giant redwoods. We gathered junior ranger badges, maps, amazing beach rocks and (unintentionally) sand. We stayed in modern condos, rustic cabins, ancient chalets and a house with a great location that took us on a 1960’s decor time warp.

And, of course, now I have about a quadrillion photos to edit. It’s the curse of the photographer. I’ll be back with more blog posts soon that share our adventures.

I’ll also share a few things that happened in the week before we left, including two fun photo shoots and a very special concert experience (it was a busy week).

Tomorrow I head back to work and prepare for the start of school next week. While I don’t feel rested, I do feel as though I had a great vacation. Now if only I could find a way to take some vacation to recover from my vacation.

Back with more of this soon…

Wordless Wednesday: More Green

A Thousand Shades of Green: Hiking the Salmon River Trail

On the second (and last) day of our mini vacation to Mt Hood, we decided to hike the Salmon River trail. (You can read about our day one hike up to Mirror Lake here).

This hike came highly recommended as a great option for families with small children and it didn’t disappoint. The trail was mostly flat and free of treacherous drop offs, so the kids were able to run ahead until I felt the need to call them closer out of fear that they might dive into the frigid water. They’d return for about three minutes and then run off again. It gave me time to relax and enjoy the scenery and, of course, take a few photographs.

The walk itself can best be described as looking like a scene out of Jurassic Park with about a thousand different shades of green. A light rain was falling when we first first set out on our hike but the sun started to appear on the way back which changed the scene so much that I joked to Kei about walking it again just to retake the photos. OK, I was only half joking.

Recently, Samuel has been telling me that he sees a faces and objects in trees, clouds and other elements of nature. He told me this one looked like a face. Should I be worried?

But I’ll admit that I can see the monkey hanging from the tree in this one.

And then he made a face of his own in an apple…

We stopped for a quick snack.

After which the boys sang me a song in Japanese (I bribed them with my Luna Bar).

We then took a few minutes to skip some rocks. Kei took this next photo of me. It’s not the most flattering and shows my poor rock-skipping skills, but I suppose it’s proof that was there.

Side note to the people who left their trash in a fire pit (including an old pair of socks): NOT COOL. I can only assume you’re not Oregonian because an Oregonian would never do anything so thoughtless and disgusting. We carried out as much of the trash as we could but I am not your mother. Rant over.

Finally, after a little more exploring, we headed back to the car and then home to Portland.

We only left for two days, but it really felt like an escape and it was just what we needed.

Mirror Lake (Without Much Mirror)

As I mentioned previously, we headed up to Mt Hood on the weekend for a short birthday/anniversary/just-needed-a-break vacation. It felt good to get out of the city, even if we only had to drive an hour to get there. We stayed at The Resort at the Mountain which was nice. Nothing extra fancy but a pretty good deal at about $125 a night for the fours of us. If the weather had let up a little then I’m sure we would have made better use of the amenities like the basketball hoop and croquet field. But, bad weather means fewer people and we had the mini golf and swimming pool/hot tub all to ourselves so there was a definite upside to the rain and cold.

The bad weather also meant very few people braved the hiking trails, which was a definite win for us. On Saturday morning we set out for Mirror Lake, a 3.2 mile return hike. It wasn’t too difficult but the distance to the lake was all uphill and the kids were pretty tired by the time we finally saw some water and even a little snow. It was good thing I pulled together an impromptu scavenger hunt before we left the hotel. At times, I think that might have been the only thing that motivated Thomas to keep going.

We found almost everything. I think the ants and worms decided to hide from the rain and expecting to see a feather and nest might have been a little ambitious. Still it kept the boys occupied for the first part of the trek, especially after I reassured Thomas that Samuel would still be able to open an early birthday present (the reward) even if we didn’t find everything. The important thing was that we tried.

The walk up to the lake itself wasn’t particularly interesting. And I realize that, by saying that, I have just shown how much I have become accustomed to the beautiful nature that surrounds me every day in Oregon. So, when I say that it wasn’t very interesting, I mean by gorgeous Oregon standards. I’m sure people who live in Arizona feel the same way about the desert.

The hiking trail was muddy, and at times slippery with steep drop offs. We also expected it to head downhill at some point because aren’t all lakes at lower altitudes? Apparently not, because just when Kei and I were growing concerned that we’d missed a turnoff, we stumbled upon this…

It was beautiful. The hike was worth it and I’d even consider doing it again on a better day just to see this place in the sunshine.

I could see where the naming inspiration came from. There was still a little bit of mirror even on a grey, dreary day.

Snow!

If you’re looking for a relatively easy family hike on Mt Hood, then I’d definitely recommend Mirror Lake. I read that the trail gets crowded during the busy late Spring/Summer season but it was almost deserted while we were there. I’d also recommend that you buy a parking pass from the Ranger station before you head up so you don’t have to leave a note on your car promising that you’ll get one later. We thankfully didn’t get a ticket and followed through on our promise the next day.

Coming soon: More hiking adventures.

Almost Wordless Wednesday: A Walk Up Nob Hill

I traveled to San Francisco for work, oh, about a month ago now. So long ago in fact that I almost forgot about my little walk up Nob Hill.

My quick three day trip was packed with work stuff so, as much as I’d would have loved to have walked around one of my favorite cities taking photos, I just didn’t have the time. Still, I am never one to totally miss a travel photo opportunity so I set aside one hour between waking up and leaving for the airport to take a quick walk up Nob Hill – in heels because they were the only shoes that I packed in my carry on. It turns out that walking the steep sidewalks of San Francisco is not very easy in heels. Going up is OK, it’s the walk down that can cause problems. Thankfully I, and my camera, managed to make it back to the hotel without injury or embarrassment.

It was good to see you San Francisco.

Wordless Wednesday: Somewhere Over Washington State

A beautiful day for flying. All mountains visible.

Photos taken with iPhone5 and edited in #vscocam

Todays Photos of Seattle

Not much time to write today, just a few minutes to look back at some photos from my trip to Seattle last week. I found an hour to take a quick photo walk through the city and, although I wish I’d had more time, it was a nice inspirational boost. There’s nothing quite like a new location to make me excited about taking photos again. A little sunshine also helps (that was a special message for the Portland Weather Gods).

A quick walk along the waterfront confirmed that Seattle has the biggest seagulls in the world (in my very unscientific estimation).

Although I’ve been to Seattle many times before, this was the first time I’ve managed to stumble across the gum wall. In a word… ewwwww. As one colleague pointed out, I was lucky that I didn’t have my kids with me. Apparently they can’t help but touch something that looks so …ummm…. delicious.

Nothing says “If you trespass, you might die” quite like some very, very pointy artwork.

Thanks, Seattle. It was good seeing you again, even for a brief moment.

Wordless Wednesday: Seattle at Night

A quick walk down 1st avenue from Pike to Madison.

Today’s Photos of a Seattle Sunset and a Rubber Duck

I’m on a short business trip to Seattle and feeling just a little guilty about leaving Kei back in Portland with a pile of childcare and illness issues back at home.

And, although I have a lot of work to do while I’m up here, the Mummy guilt increases a little bit more when I look out of my hotel window.

But, then I take a bubble bath and remind myself that I’ll be back in a couple of days…

…and suddenly I feel a whole lot better.

You can blame it on the bubbles.

2012: A Quick Look Back (Part 1)

2012 went by in a blur – so it’s a good thing that I capture everything through my camera. I’m pretty sure I’d forget about 90% of the year if I didn’t have the photographic proof (hey, that’s right, I went to Vegas… and Austin… and New York… and Australia!).

Here are just a few month-by-month highlights, complete with photographic proof. January to June shared below. July to December coming tomorrow.

January

Rang in the new year with my brother Ben, sister-in-law Emma and not-so-teeny tiny Charlie.
Snow on the mountain and a few flakes on our tongues in our own backyard.
Vegas, Baby… (work-related)
Shopping with Batman