Keeping track

We can't believe we have been in Salem for 6 weeks already!  The time has flown by, especially with us keeping busy every day.  Days that I'm not working, we are usually out in or out of town, doing something, going somewhere or exploring a new area.  The past week has been no exception.  After working several days in a row (augh!), we were rewarded with a week off.  We have been enjoying concerts in the park in nearby Monmouth every week.  Parking our chairs on the lawn and finding some food while listening to different music genres and people watching, is a great way to wind down after working.  Last week it was swing music, this week was Zydeco.  Best of all, it's free!
Last week, we explored the Oregon coast some more thanks to Uncle Dan.  Our first stop was to "secret beach", which was beautiful, but cold and windy.  We made our way down to Newport via the coast exploring sand dunes and seeing the "smallest harbor" (it was really small, but quaint).  The drive was beautiful, but it felt better inside the car than out in the wind/fog/cool weather!  In Newport, it was off to Rogue Brewery to taste some of their brews.  Our brew list is growing by 2-3 every week!  For our finale in Newport, we went to Georgie's.....ah, Georgie's!!!  They have the creamiest, chock-full of clams, clam chowder around.  It was definitely good for the soul and good to warm up the body!

We finally were able to meet up with Rosemary and spend some time with her.  She is a busy lady!  We went out for brunch and had the best ultimate french toast!  Cinnamon rolls made into french toast with cream cheese frosting!!!! Oh yeah!  We also took in the local Saturday farmers market, what a spread they've got.  We haven't visited a farmers market yet, but now will be sure to do so....everything looked so tasty.  In and all around the RV resort, we have been dealing with berry vines that have scratched us or we've been avoiding.  Not anymore!  After finding out that these berries are indeed edible and delicious, we are seeking out all the vines we see.  Even when visiting with Rosemary, we picked berries by her house.  For dessert we cooked up our yummy goods from the farmers market and had smashed berries atop grilled peaches, yum!

We have been seeing Mt. Hood from far away, and finally it was time to get up close to it.  We made our way there via the Columbia Gorge.  Uncle Dan gave us a wonderful guide to get in as much as we could on our drive.  We hiked to beautiful waterfalls, stretching our legs and letting Elwood explore and smell around.  We learned some history along the Gorge and found fantastic vantage points for taking it all in. 

Lunch was in Hood River, sitting at the river front park watching the kite-surfers.  There was a competition going on, but have heard that there are always a lot of wind-riders around.  Hood River is a place that I want to go back to and explore some more.  With the dog and the kids, we made a quick b-line to our final destination, Mt. Hood.  Unfortunately, we were in such a hurry that we didn't stop at all the great fruit farms and wineries along the way.  I guess another trip is in the makings!  At Mt.Hood we stopped in at Timberline Lodge, with it being Sunday, it was packed!  There were still snowboarders enjoying the mountain, as well as hikers taking in the Pacific Crest Trail. 

Ta-da!  Snow in July!

Timberline Lodge patio door!

Mt. Hood

Mt. Jefferson in the background

Beautiful views of the far off Mt. Jefferson and maybe 3 sisters(?) mountains could be seen.  We hopped on a hiking trail and found some snow for Elwood to enjoy.  The weather was perfect!  We spent the night in Government Camp, which is at the base of Mt. Hood.  It is a really small town with not a lot to do except enjoy the outdoor activities.  The next day was spent watching the boys bungee jump, zip-line, rock-climb, race cars, trampoline jump, tube slide, alpine slide and become human hamsters in a ball.  The adventure park offered so much for our adrenaline junkee boys!  After 5 hours, we were done and so were they (thank goodness!).

Bungee!!! They both did it twice!

They thought it would be more fun to roll down a hill, than just in a pool of water!

After resting up for a couple of days, we were off for a hike to Silver Falls.  We have been here before, but were unable to hike to all the waterfalls due to the dog not allowed on the trails.  So, sans the dog, we set out.  After hiking for 5+ hours and probably 10 miles, we traversed all the trails and double- treked to all the waterfalls.  It was a tiring day, but it was nice that the boys are big enough to endure and entire day of hiking, and then to our surprise stayed up on the ride home and still had enough energy to swim in the pool and soak in the hot tub.

We are finding our grooves living in close quarters, and knowing when to take a walk!  The boys homeschooling supplies have come and we are now looking for any extra storage space that we can squeeze out of our already packed COW.  We are going to have family visit next week, so that should be interesting, especially since I'll be sleeping during the day, working at night :(  At least we have plenty of outings under our belts that we can keep everyone busy!