family day with nana linda & papi dave

Down in southern oregon we went on a family outing & went to put put golf. At first Mom was whooping all of us. I was doing horribly. Dad was doing mediocre & Topher insisted he get a baby handicap for carrying the kid.








By the second 9, Dad was on his 2nd hole in one, I found my stride averaging birdies, mom was falling behind & Topher was still whining about the handicap. Mom & Topher finished the day with a few laps around the go-cart track while i nursed the babe & dad took a load off. Then we headed out for Mexican dinner where Stella decided she wanted to eat again at exactly the same time the food came out...imagine that!


Back at the ranch I got some really cute pics of the babe & the dog & the grandpa.





It was super fun to visit my parents for the first time with my daughter. Crazy perspective having a daughter gives you. I see the world through a completely new & different set of eyes. They are my eyes, the eyes I've always had, but now I also see the world through my own mother's eyes somehow. A completion of a circle. Life makes sense to me now. It means more than I ever thought it could.

I will miss being able to watch Stella with her grandparents, & I wish they were closer. Topher & I don't have any family in Portland except my brother so I guess that means we will be traveling a lot! That is fine with me, but I do yearn for more family connection for Stella as she gets older. In my dreams we all live on some big gorgeous land by the sea where we can grow our food & raise our children in the simplicity of nature. Perhaps I will manifest that one day....I sure have managed to manifest some amazing things in my life. I'll start working on it!

H & T's 4th Wedding Anniversary ~ we get to go on a date!

Aug 1, 2005 we were married in Durango, Colorado, after 10 years of getting to know each other. In a small ceremony with about 6 people present, we made our love a commitment. It was a surprise wedding (for me), which took place during our 10 year anniversary road trip, and the best thing that ever happened to me. Topher is my soulmate, always & forever. I still get butterflies in my belly when he looks at me with those deep brown boyish eyes. Ok, I'll stop now....

Earlier in the day Topher & Stella took a nap in the "Bali Room" at Nana Linda's. AWWWW...She's his newest cuddle buddy. But tonight its all ME all night cuz we get to go on a DATE for the first time since Stella was born May 20, 2009.



I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I really want to spend time with Toph, just the two of us. On the other hand...I'll miss Stellita!



Anyway...didn't take too long for us to get out of the house & out on the town. Thanks nana & papi for watching our little kitty kat!



All this time together & we really haven't changed too much. Topher still can't take a picture without making a goofy face. & I look great in sunglasses...even if they are the blue blockers from my dad's glove box.

Seriously though. We had a very romantic evening @ Porter's in Medford where we had surf & turf & margaritas. I gave topher a nice mushy card I made & succeeding in bringing him to tears...but its not really that hard...he's a softy! It was really cute. Our challenge was to not talk about the kid the entire time. I give us a C-. Most of the convo wasn't about the kid, but it was probably 40/60. We did make a good agreement that we would take at least one date out a month together & that we each get an individual day / vacay at least once a year. Don't really know yet how that is going to work out for me, I'd have to pump a keg worth if I left for a weekend, but we shall try it!

Then we kept in line with the classy evening & went & saw Bruno @ the White City Movies. The irony. I laughed, I cried, I nearly threw up. If you haven't seen it, well, it is indescribable, so you'll just have to see it. Here's a few pics from the movie:



Great actors!

ok, maybe we went a little bit too far with that last one....you let me know.

Good Times with Nana Linda & Papi Dave

Nana Linda was very happy to see her granddaughter!



So was Papi Dave...


We took a stroll through Mom's monster garden. The grapes are ripening exquisitely...

...so are the tomatoes.

The squash is a little out of control.

All in all it is a huge amount of food! Too bad we forgot to bring anything back with us....dang...next time.

Mom's new chicken coop!

Cute chickens...Inigo sure had fun with them!

MMMM for dinner we had grass fed organic free range beef from one of the midwives mom works with
& fresh veggies from mom's garden. Makes me long for some land & a place to grow food. Its good to be home.

Topher's 40th Birthday SURPRISE GIFT!

Topher's 40th Birthday is August 14th & I am having a surprise party for him on the 12th. I want to get TOY BOY his birthday wish above! But its way out of my price range...if you'd like to help contribute, go to: (cut & paste the link...i can't get it to paste in as a hot link for some reason...help...anyone?)


http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1035468_-1_400024_400007_400243

& purchase a gift card. You can bring it to the surprise party or mail it to me @
6018 N Kerby AVE Portland OR 97217


Be there for the surprise by 8:30PM!!!

Where: The Moon & Sixpence, 2014 NE 42nd Ave Portland, OR 97213 Phone: (503) 288.7802
When: Wednesday Aug 12th
What: Topher's 40th B-day & Trash Can Joe plays 8:30 - 11:30
Who: duh
Why: Because, well if you were turning 40 wouldn't you want as many friends as possible to comisserate/celebrate with?

Lake of the Woods & Medford bound

ok, so maybe we did torture our 2 month old a little bit, but we made it to Lake of the Woods. She didn't really start letting us know she was ready to be OUT of the carseat until we were about 5 miles away from the lake. Once we got to the campground, I wound up nursing her in the car while we drove around looking for a campsite. SHHHHHHH. Are we bad parents...? Don't answer that....

Any way, it was worth pushing the extra hour....Stella was amazed by the tall trees....


and the gorgeous sunset....



luckily there was a camping spot available right on sunset point! it took a little bit of sleuthing with the camp host to find a good one...but yippee! i remember camping here as a kid. Brought back lots of memories. It was funny to go from the extreme quiet of the Alvord Desert to this kid filled downright raucous campground. We weren't the only ones with a little screamer on our hands! Stella hung up the towel early compared to the little one across the street who wailed late into the night. I just keep reminding myself how truly lucky we are.



We went way overboard & had hot dogs & jiffy pop for breakfast. Hey! Don't judge! It was our last night camping & that's all we had left in our food bag & cooler! It was really good...until about 4 hours later...in the car on the way to Medford.


We enjoyed some beach time & a dip in the cool, crisp & clear alpine lake. I'd forgotten what a truly splendid swimming lake this is. One of the best, I think. Right up there with Teton Lake & Lake Powell.




Stella just looked at the trees the whole time...

& then it was back on the road to the parents' house in Medford.





Funny, just when we got the packing dialed in for camping in the Subaru with WAY too much gear, the camping part of the trip was over. I forget it takes about a week or so to dial in the accesiblity & functionality of a packing job & by the time we arrived in Medford, we just unloaded our beautifully organized lot of bags into a chaotic explosion in my parents' sitting room. SORRY MOM! Well, now I have a way better idea of what to bring & what not to bring & I know now I definitely brought way too many clothes. Not enough handywipes. Just the right amount of diapers & too much extra pumped breastmilk. Note to self: CHECK!


Here is the route we took around our amazingly diverse & wondrous state of Oregon (minus the last leg to medford & then back up to Portland...hadn't inked that in yet.) I feel like I got to know an old friend a little bit better on this journey, but that there are still many mysteries & treasures to be found. Here's to many more adventures together!

Lakeview Pitstop/Will we make it to Lake of the Woods or be found on the side of the road with frazzled dazzles & frayed spades?

We had the pleasure of driving through a “town” called Plush on our way out of the Hart Mountains, just past Poker Jim Ridge. Love the names of things out in the country. Poker Jim also had a hot spring & a road named after him. Must have schooled some folks with his gambling prowess back in the days when a game of poker meant life or death.



Then we crossed the Warner Mountains before entering the megalopolis of Lakeview. Stella’s timing is impeccable. She woke up from her nap just as we were entering Lakeview where we had planned on stopping & having some lunch. If you’ve ever been to Lakeview, there aren’t that many options. There’s the Mexican restaurant & the Burger Queen. That’s right, Queen, not King.




Good burgers too, better than her husband’s fast food chain burgers if you ask me.

Topher & I did the eating in shifts we’ve become so accustomed to. The: I wolf down my food because she’s hungry & she’s about to lose it so he soothes her & then I finish & go nurse her while he eats. Works pretty well. Que romantica, tambien.
She did take a monster nap on the drive from the Alvord to Lakeview so I knew she wouldn’t want to go back down right away for the drive to Lake of the Woods, past Klamath Falls. So, what better way to pass the time than a stroll through downtown Lakeview. All five blocks of it.

In Lakeview they have some interesting interpretations of architectural functionality. (Where the heck does that 2nd story door go to? Hmmmm....)



They also don’t want your dog off the leash on their courthouse lawn, nor do they want you skateboarding or bike riding on their sidewalks.



Can’t get any decent coffee anywhere either. BUT, they do have 19 churches you can attend, should you be so inclined, where you can repent for your sins of skateboarding, off leash dog walking & poor building design.



To their credit, they are friendly folks who stop for you at the crosswalk & say things like, “hi there, kid” & “oh, you do got a little ‘un”.

By the time we were on our way back to the car Stella was Zonked. She gets so schloopy that you think she’s gonna bend in half or something. Pretty cute.



We grabbed some Gatorade, mustard & gum at the local mart, stowed the babe & the dog & hit the road for our final night camping somewhere between here & Medford. Hopefully Lake of the Woods, but I’m not gonna put money on it. I’ve found that traveling with an infant is much easier if you don’t have any expectations or real solid goals. That way, you won’t be disappointed because there isn’t anything you are bummed about when you don’t make it to where you were planning to go.



Fire in the blue! Bob Ross would have loved this drive. This one's for you Bob, may you rest in peace.

We knew we were pushing it when Stella woke up an hour later in Klamath Falls. She was in her special happy place. The kid at the gas station said it was 45 minutes to Lake of the Woods. Topher was pushing for the La Quinta Inn because there's a good rib joint down the street....but the call of the forest & the beautiful lake won out, so we headed back on the road with our child in a borderline state of awake & pissed / awake & curious. We had been in the car since 11am & it was 6pm now....will we make it???? Should we try? Are we torturing our 2 month old?

Final soak in the hotness & where's the Antelope?

Good thing we tucked in pretty early, because the sun came peaking over the car & started eating up our shade around 7am.
We que’d up some pop tarts & EmergenC for breakfast & headed back down to the springs for a morning soak.



AHHHHHH…..



Keeping Stella out of the sun proved to be more of a challenge in the morning than in the evening, but Topher rigged up a sweet nursing station for me with the umbrelly




where I put the whammy on her & she’s sleeping soundly now for her afternoon nap. Hopefully we can put on 3 or 4 hours in the car & make it to at least Lakeview.



Thing is, there really isn’t a straight shot to Lakeview from the Alvord Desert. You can go south to Denio & cross into Nevada & then over, or you can go around the Steens & up to Frenchglen & then out into the Hart Mountains. The Denio route is longer, but is a paved road. The Hart Mountain route is an unimproved gravel road, but it is through a wildlife preserve & is a national scenic backway.

We had to get gas too, & Topher had heard rumors of killer milkshakes in Frenchglen, so we went that way. For no other reason more compelling than the killer milkshakes.

Frenchglen, however, proved to be a three fold downer. The giant mean lady with tinted coke bottle glasses at the “gas station” (which was literally two pumps in the ground & nothing else) said the milkshakes were in Fields, which we missed when we took the road to Frenchglen. She also wouldn’t let us keep the car running while we pumped so we could run the AC for the babe. She also didn’t take anything other than cash, so we only got as much gas as we had cash money for. Oh well, I guess if you had to sit on your ass all day, day in & day out, waiting for the 2 cars that came through to fill up & ask you why you only accept cash, you’d be a poopy pants too.

Frenchglen does have a cute little hotel though, & the surrounding area is green & lush & beautiful, at the base of the Jackass Mountains (no joke), so I guess it has that going for it.



We just crossed into the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge & we’ve seen 2 antelope. Trouble is, they were both on the outside of the Refuge. Don’t they know they’re supposed to be on this side of the invisible boundary!?? Silly antelope.
Oh wait, Topher just saw two antelope & there’s a black & white eagle hawk….& a horse.



All this land for two antelope, that’s a fat spread! In my next life, I’m coming back as an antelope. Especially if I can live here. Gorgeous. Big skies, lush country, Johnny cash on the stereo, takes me back to Simpler Times.





Oregon rules.