Vacation

This last week we had a wedding to go to in Sacramento so we took advantage of being in California to see some beautiful places. We visited my brother and his fiance in Menlo Park, spent some time at Muir Beach, did some hiking around the San Francisco area at Point Reyes National Seashore, had dinner at a great Thai restaurant in SF, went to a very interesting Russian wedding followed by some fantastic Russian food. We then spent my birthday at Lake Tahoe hiking around and enjoying the beautiful sights there, and also got to see Richie, Lisa, Gracie and Peyton. It was a great time!

I even got to introduce Zach to Ikea... and he liked it!!

Mt. Hood for June

With my brother getting married in early June in Portland, Zach & I have been discussing flying vs. driving...and once we decided to drive, Zach just threw it out there that we could climb Mt. Hood before the wedding. He mentioned it and now I'm holding him to it! (Like I have to do that...)

There has been talk about snowboarding in the afternoon at Timberline Ski Resort on Mt. Hood, and at the end of the day ride the lift up just to continue hiking up a ways to set up camp. We would rest until about 3am and start climbing in order to reach the top in time for a beautiful sunrise. We would descend the same day, stop and pick up our camp site then have a quick snowboard ride down. Sounds easy in just 3 sentences but something tells me I'm about to be seriously humbled. Apparently to climb the last 500 vertical feet, you have to use a harness and be roped in. Never done this but we'll be practicing before hand. The stairclimber and I will be getting to know each other between now and then!

I'll post more on this as we figure it out. For now I need to start stocking up on the essential gear... Too bad the REI Garage Sale in nearby Hillsboro is after the climb!

Sweet gear at sweet prices

Just a few days ago, I discovered one of the finest things in life - the REI Garage Sale. Really it's just a used gear sale; REI stockpiles all of the returns (used or not) for several months just sell it at slashed prices on a single day. That day was April 12th. Zach and I left at 3:30am to get in line, expecting to be somewhere near the front, but that was not so... we actually were quite "late" and joined the end of the line which had already wrapped around to the back of the building. I guess that's what happens when there are awesome deals to be found by hard-core outdoor lovers who are happy to have any excuse they can get to sleep in their $300 tents and their $400 sleeping bags.

Even though we were "late" we snagged several key items that I've been wanting. I was in definite need of a few packs - a good pack for longer, overnight trips and also a lighter pack for day hikes. A few weeks ago Zach helped me try on countless packs to find the best fit; and the winners were the Women's REI Ridgline for the main pack and a super light-weight Osprey pack called the Aura 50 for shorter hikes. So glad we didn't make the move that day because we found BOTH packs at the sale for a FRACTION of the cost!! Amazing odds considering these were the only 2 women's packs I even saw there. Both were in new condition; used maybe once. Hence the reason for my huge smile. Sweet gear and sweet prices make me one HAPPY CHICA!




Even lil' Sammy got some sweet booties for hiking. She was galloping around like a pony when she had them on for the first time! It was the cutest & funniest thing I've ever seen! (notice all four legs are in the air.. seriously... she was galloping!)