Central Oregon Trip

Sometimes in life you just decide to up and make a somewhat spontaneous road trip a part of your existence. I had been wanting to see the Painted Hills since last summer and had almost taken off to Bend three weekends ago to visit some friends, so when I realized I could create space in my schedule to enable me to do an epic Central Oregon road trip last weekend...well I didn't hesitate much. I got all of my grading done after my Africa meeting on Friday, let my online courses know that I'd be checking in over the weekend but only once a day, and then I spent Friday night printing out trails/maps/whatever I might need.

After a Reflexology class on Saturday morning, the dogs and I headed out over the pass to Central Oregon.

DAY 1:

The minute I was in different terrain my heart seriously soared. I absolutely love where I live in the valley but sometimes I just crave something new and different. This view above filled my heart and made me so in love with the state of Oregon and it's vast differences all over again.

The dogs and I stopped in Prineville to fill up with gas because all the online stuff cautioned about not having gas stations nor cell service within the John Day Fossil Bed area. Ironically that one topped off tank was more than enough for the traveling I did both days...and I also ended up with cell phone service way more than I expected.

Once we arrived to the Painted Hills, I again fell in love. I can understand why they don't allow people to camp there as I could have stayed for a week. There were a lot of people who showed up at the initial overlook but not many who stayed long nor who ventured on the rim trail. The trail itself was so beautiful...as you can see below.

The view looking back on the painted hills from the rim trail.

There were also some other little trails and informational spots that allowed you to get closer and learn more about what actually created the hills. So interesting and well worth it!

We left that area about 6:30pm and headed for a spot on the map that said that it had camping available off a Forest Service road. En route to the camp ground we had about 15 elk run across a meadow about a quarter mile ahead of us and we also had a lot of deer traveling around. It was so neat to see so much amazing wildlife in their natural habitat on this trip. Beyond the deer and elk, there were lots of little ground critters running around, tons of various birds, and we even had a river otter swim by us at one spot! We arrived to the camp site and discovered that a) before Memorial Day camping was going to be free at most places and b) we'd get the camp site to ourselves! I backed my SUV into a secluded spot and rearranged the bags in the car, put the seats down, and rolled out my sleeping mat, bag, and extra blanket & pillow. The beauty of car camping I discovered is that you can have extra luxuries such as pillows and heavy fuzzy blankets (although the dogs soon took over the blanket :)). As I was readying our sleep area, there was gentle snow falling and the entire scene was just really pretty amazing. The campsite had trail access, a basic bathroom, and the dogs were so excited to run around for quite a bit before bedtime. Once we were ready for bed, I crawled in and discovered that I actually had cell phone access here (literally in the absolute middle of no where) and was able to check in with Reg D and my brother.

This was our first solo car camping experience and we loved it.....I forsee many more outings like this in our future!

DAY 2: 

The next morning, the dogs woke up as the sun was rising....apparently they couldn't figure out what it was so they were on alert that it could be an intruder :) We were able to get some sleep during the night though and it was fun having the dogs sleeping alongside me. I seriously was so happy yet again about my Sorento and how well it's served me in various capacities over the last several years.

After getting up and changing, I rearranged the car/bags back to how they usually are...and the dogs and I headed off to Blue Basin. I actually wasn't intending to come to this extra part of the John Day Fossil Bed area but Reg D suggested it earlier on Day 1 and since he generally knows my interests, I figured I'd check it out. It was about a 40 minute drive to get there with the sun continuing to rise over the hill sides and just continuing to be in awe with the landscape. Blue Basin was definitely worth the trip and the 3.25 mile hike was so gorgeous. There are so many various colored rocks and it's so crazy to think of the history contained in this fossil region. (Apparently this area used to have its own version of a saber-toothed tiger even!) 

The above picture shows the Blue Basin (appears white or green) with additional "painted hills" in the background right side and just the amazing terrain as it continues beyond. SO beautiful!

This area also has Oregon's version of Arizona's Cathedral Rock. I had intended to try to see this and I'm so glad that Blue Basin was so amazing, because Cathedral Rock wasn't as impressive as the real thing :)

It was also on this day as the dogs were getting out of the car at Blue Basin that I noticed that Anna had punctured her upper right leg somehow. It wasn't gushing blood and she wasn't overly phased by it so we went on the hike anyway and I continued to check on it as the day progressed....

We stopped at Smith Rock (above) which is pretty popular these days in Oregon. I was trying to decide if we could hike part of it, but after checking out the upper trail from the parking lot (and the fact that the park itself was more packed than I'd ever seen it) I decided that this was a hike that should be done on a different day and probably sans dogs. It's definitely beautiful to look at though and I was glad that we'd stopped to check it out.......and glad to have driven through the back farm roads to get there :)

One of the other reasons I'd been contemplating a trip to Central Oregon was to see an old college friend of mine who I hadn't seen in several years. En route to Bend, I stopped for coffee and a scone, saline and gauze for Anna's wound, and then since I still had more time I drove up to Pilot Butte (in the above picture) to look at Bend with the mountains in the back ground. I'm like a broken record but.....SO gorgeous! :) 

My gal Erin is married to her middle school love and they have four hilarious kiddos. It was so great to eat lunch with all of them on their back patio, catch up with my gal, and have the dogs be loved on and entertained by the three boys. (I also owe it to Erin big time as she let me stop back by on Day 3 to finally shower for the first time in several days :))

From their house I drove to REI to buy myself a camping hammock (yea for dividends and member coupons!) and then I headed to the high mountain lakes region. The spot that I originally intended to camp at still had the road closed several miles in on the road...so I'll have to come back this summer to backpack a longer trail option there.

At that point I decided to head to the little lake about an hour away where we spread my Poppa's ashes in 2003. I've only been back once or twice so it was probably time for a visit anyway. My grandfather was one of the biggest influences in my life and I'd already spent a lot of time on this trip thinking about him, so it was very fitting to take the dogs to go hang out in this special place. We arrived right at dusk, again granting just enough time to let the dogs run around, get the car set up for the night, and hang out in the hammock with a beer for a bit. Once we crawled in for bed, I spent some time reading this night, but then we all 3 slept amazingly well.

DAY 3:

We again woke up with the sun and the dogs were excited to run around the campsite. (Two thumbs up that we had this campsite to ourselves as well!) This was the first day that I actually used my backpacking stove to make oatmeal for breakfast and some coffee. (I'm getting pretty excited about what this car camping means in terms of more luxuries...like real breakfasts, extra food stuffs, etc :)) I honestly really didn't want to leave this spot, so we spent about an hour and a half just enjoying being there, soaking up the views, enjoying the wildlife, and just generally appreciating the amazing weekend that we'd been having. 

About 8 we drove to a nearby trailhead to explore a suggestion made by my gal Erin. Ironically the lake she had suggested for me to head toward ended up being about a mile from Poppa's spot, and it made for a great morning hike up to it...and will probably make a great backpacking option. I wasn't really sure if the trail we were on was the right one, but eventually we did discover that it indeed led to the lake she had mentioned...and that the lake was as clear and spectacular as she had made it out to be. After snapping lots of pictures, we continued on for another mile just enjoying being on trail and finally finding some patches of snow :)

After coming back off trail, I stopped by Erin's for that shower and then we headed back toward Salem in order to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday :) I did stop in Sisters for coffee, lunch, and an attempt at what used to be the most amazing huckleberry milkshake stand (unfortunately it appears to be closed now).

The views on the drive back continued to be incredible......all the way til I made it back over the pass and returned to the rain of the valley :) The drive itself was really enjoyable though as I stumbled upon some old mixed CDs from old friends and loves, and it was highly entertaining to travel back down various memory lanes. 

Altogether an amazing trip...and a hard one to adjust to being back actually. Usually I'm not one to bemoan the end of vacation, but the first two mornings back in my own bed seemed dismal compared to the fun of waking up and staring straight out into a day of amazing views, trails, and new sights ahead. Already planning our return trip however...... :)

Lent Work-Outs

The Lent Workout Challenge that I did was seriously great motivation to keep me moving daily (although I did miss one day at the beach over spring break when I was too depleted recouping on the couch :)). The dogs loved the walks that we did and I truly feel like they're slowly transitioning to being walkers rather than distance runners. It also was fun to add a bit more diversity to work-outs and to explore more areas. I'm still not pushing it hard by any means, but a bit of physical activity every day also more or less kept my stress and waist line in check.....

So here they are:
1: 3.6m jog, pushups/situps, 3 minute plank
2: 2m walk with dogs, 2 minute plank
3: 3ish m jog with dog
4: walked to grocery store w dogs
5: 3.2m jog w dogs
6: ran w dogs to car dealership (about 4 miles)
7: 2m walk with dogs, 2.5m easy hike with a friend & her baby, 3 minute plank
8: sets of push-ups
9: Jillian Michael's yoga
10: Insanity Power Cardio
11: 2m walk with dogs
12: 2m walk with dogs, 6 hour deep tissue massage workshop
13: Insanity Power Cardio, 1/2m dog walk
14: 5m jog w dogs
15: 2m evening dog walk
16: summitted Kings Mtn (5 miles total, 2500 ft elevation gain)
17: 2.5m easy hike w Landon & dogs
18: 3m easy dog walk
19: 3.2m jog w dogs
20: Insanity Max Conditioning
21: 2 minute plank, 3 sun salutations
22: Insanity Plyo Cardio
23: 4.5 hours of massages, 3m run w dogs
24: 4.2m jog w dogs
25: sets of push-ups
26: Warrior Rock Kayak (6 miles?)
27: 4.2m jog w dogs
28: 3m jog w dogs
29: push-ups & planks
30: 3.5 hours of massages, 2m jog w dogs
31: 20 pushups, 20 squats, sun salutations
32: easy beach walk w dogs
33: nada
34: 2m beach walk, 40ish push ups
35: climbed cape, ran beach, 40 minute kayak
36: 4.5m jog w hill sets, push ups & abs, cleaned two houses
37: 6 hours of massages
38: Scappoose Bay Kayaking (3 miles?)
39: 1.5m dog walk
40: 12.2m Wilson River hike
41: 3m Sellwood Park/Oaks Bottom wandering
42: 6m Sauvie Island beach hike & trail run
43: squats
44: 8 hours of massages

Not bad....! Altogether two kayaking outings, one yoga session, about 89 miles hiked/walked/ran, 29 hours of massages, 4 Insanity DVDs...and a variety of push ups, ab work, planks, squats, and sun salutations.

Now....to figure out a new motivation to keep myself routinely moving :)

The Hodge Podge of April

So far, I have to say this month has been pretty good to me, and I hope it continues in that fashion. :)

--There have been some housemate changes. The long-term female renter moved out. My short term female renter will still be here til the beginning of May, and I already have one summer (May thru Aug) new housemate lined up. I will post an ad for a second housemate for the summer but for now have been relishing having solo moments in my house again. I seriously do enjoy meeting the variety of new individuals through renting, but I am SO looking forward to the day when I can truly afford to just live solo again. (Most the time solo...I still expect that I'll rent out some for fun....) This past weekend was the first time in almost a year that I'd had my house to myself for more than two days in a row. The dogs and I soaked it up. We slept with the bedroom door open. I ran around less clad than normal. We.loved.it. :)

--I've been socializing. There was a coffee date with one of my favorite gals and her babe. Easter with my family. My mom's birthday celebration. A late lunch with my original brother-from-another-mother and his wife and kiddos...who I hadn't seen in SIX years. A bachelorette party downtown. A quasi double date night at a new brewery in town. Dinner with another of my gal's and lunch with another friend. A coffee meeting with a former colleague who is trying to help get me hired at one additional local institution. And there's more coming.....I recently ran into a middle school friend of mine after not seeing her for ten years so we're grabbing lunch in a few weeks, there's a repeating girls happy hour, a kayak trip scheduled with a buddy, Dad's birthday dinner, and several other friends who I'm feeling the need to see in the coming weeks also.

--I've been taking care of medical stuff, ie I feel like I've been living at my medical provider. I've had rabies, yellow fever, polio, and mengicoccal vaccinations. I've had three TB tests (one for employment, two for pre-travel testing). I've talked to the travel clinic on the phone several times and have multiple prescriptions and the typhoid vaccination waiting for pick up. I've had routine blood work run and then blood work checking to make sure my MMR, Hep B, & chicken pox immunity is still strong. I got my eyes checked for the first time in 5 years and picked up my new glasses. I have one more rabies shot out of the series to receive and a dental appointment scheduled next month, but then I think I will have most of my medical stuff taken care of until I'm returning from Tanzania. I'm also so grateful for health insurance!

--I've been working. Spring term started and this week began routine grading. I'm teaching three courses online this term and my regular evening course. In two weeks I'll get hit with about 100 assignments, so I'm trying to plan my schedule accordingly. Now that my work schedule has sort of stabilized, I've been participating in more department meetings this term and am on a committee to help revamp one of our courses. This week I also had new employee orientation for the new teaching gig and there will be a three week online training for that job starting on Monday. One morning a week will also become Swahili lessons and meetings with our students for the trip this summer, and I've also enrolled in some community education courses to help increase my knowledge of natural medicine modalities. It's looking more and more like this might turn into a more stable thing...and if it does....well, let's just leave it at that. But I seriously feel so incredibly grateful and blessed. I'm also working at a local chiropractic office one day a week with 6-8 massages on those days...and my aunt just networked a potential other massage option for later on this summer. And over the course of the last several weeks, I've applied to several jobs in and out of state. I'm not entirely sure if I'm ready to relocated, but I'm really trying to ensure that I can meet my financial and professional goals regardless of anything else during the next several years.

There are still lots of other little things going on not noted here of course, but truthfully I've had so many moments in the last several weeks where I'm just in awe of the numerous doors opening and how plans are all sort of coming together. If things continue on the course that they have been, there's a good chance that I can be back on my own financial feet within the next year....God willing...and let's hope He's willing :)

The dogs and I also had two exploration days at the start of the new term and we've had two really good runs within the last couple of days. I got new running shoes and they discovered that the nearby gas station gives out big milk bones....so all three of us are happier ladies. :)

And with that...we're off to bed. ;)