Saturday, April 26, 2008

Seaside, Oregon with my Sweety


Miraculously my hubby was given the weekend off a couple weeks ago. This rarely ever happens! So we took advantage of it and headed down to Seaside, Oregon for a little romantic getaway. The temperature on Saturday was in the 80's and it felt like summer! After we checked in to our hotel and checked out the ocean view from our window, we strapped on our tennis shoes we walked all along the beach and all around Seaside. We checked out different places to eat dinner along our route so we could think about what we were in the mood for. After we got back to our room and sat down for a little while we realized how hungry we were from our walk so we put our shoes back on and walked to a little family restaurant we thought would be a nice place to eat. After dinner we walked around some more and enjoyed the setting sun. Our room had a jacuzzi tub (and a fireplace) that I enjoyed not only that evening but also the next morning before Ruh woke up.

On Sunday we slept in and then went out for a pancake breakfast. After we checked out we drove about 10 minutes south to Ecola State Park. From the park you can see Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach and the lone lighthouse way out on the rocks. We decided to do a 3 mile round trip hike. It wound through the woods and along ocean cliffs and led down to the beach. On the trail we saw lots of elk tracks that looked very fresh. At one point I heard bushes breaking and the sound of something very big running through the woods. We stopped in our tracks and only feet from us were four HUGE elk. They were so majestic and beautiful but it also terrified me because they could have run over me in a second! I ran back down the trail in the opposite direction and Ruh just started clapping his hands and yelling. They took off up a cliff overlooking that part of the trail. Once they were completely out of sight I felt safe to continue. I did get some video of them but they are kind of hard to see.


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Once we reached the beach we climbed all over the rocks and cliffs and did some exploring. I decided I would like some time to just sit and enjoy the scenery so Ruh headed off to do some of his own exploring and I found a very comfortable rock to relax on. When Ruh came back we decided to find a different way back to the trail. But we would have to climb up some pretty steep cliffs. I was a little nervous about it but once again Ruh called me wimp and challenged me so once again I couldn't refuse. About half way up the cliff I realized I could not go any farther so we had to carefully make our way back down. But I have to say that is the highest I have ever climbed on a cliff and afterwards I really felt like I wanted to have another try at it. But by that time my arms were really limp and I was getting tired. So I went around back to the real trail head and Ruh met me. By the time we got to the car the rain started coming down. The jacuzzi in our room sounded so nice at that moment but we had already checked out. I am very thankful to have been able to go away with my hubby. Sometimes you just need to get away even if it's only for a night.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Winter Highlights

FINALLY! I have taken several months off from blogging and now I can say I am ready to come back. It feels fresh again and I am starting to have ideas of things I would like to post.

As you can see I added an e-mail subscription to the top-left hand column on my blog. If you would rather not come back and check my blog everyday you can put your e-mail address in there and it will automatically send you an e-mail letting you know I have a new post. I think it's a pretty nifty little device! :)

The New Year started out with a wedding. My cousin Mary Beth married her high school sweet- heart Daniel in January. I headed down to L.A. on New Year's Day for the wedding. I was a bridesmaid. I loved spending time with all my beautiful cousins and I can't wait to see them again this summer when we head down there.



Ruh, Daisy and I headed up to the snow in late January to do some sledding. There was a great place up at Snoqualmie Pass that was free. I had fun taking pictures and video of Ruh and Daisy. Ruh even talked me in to sledding down a couple huge hills by calling me a wimp. He knows if he calls me a wimp I will do anything! (Like climb up a cliff at Seaside and get stuck half way up because he wanted me to prove what I was made of!) Anyway, here are some pictures and video from our little snow-trip. :)Daisy is on Ruh's back! :)


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In March I was dying to get out and go on a hike so Ruh and I headed up to the Olympic National Park. We found a hike to a hot spring and decided to try it. Pretty soon we hit lots of snow and we weren't sure whether or not we should continue. But someone had made a compact trail through the snow. We think it might have been made with a sled. We were able to walk on the snow without falling through. After about 3 and half miles we started smelling sulfur but we couldn't find the hot springs. We came to a washed out bridge and after that the compacted trail ended and we couldn't continue. We sat down on the snow and enjoyed a little picnic. My mother-in-law Bonita had given Ruh some picnic supplies as a gift and they were a part of our lunch. I took a picture of Ruh's little picnic just for her. :) We never did find the hot springs but we really enjoyed the hike. It really got me fired up for some great summer hiking!



A couple weeks later my dad and I went back up the Olympics and went for a hike on the Spruce Railroad Trail along Lake Crescent. This an old railroad grade from World War I. It was a very easy hike but round trip it is 8 miles. We went only about 3 miles. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the lake. We even came across the remnants of an old railroad tunnel and came to a tiny little cove called the Devil's Punch Bowl. It is about 300 feet deep and a popular spot in the summer for swimmers to jump into.

I have a list of hikes that I want to do this summer. I hope to do a hike a week. I will have my camera with me! Bring on summer!!!