Mr. Toby, he's a good dog!

So I have been home in Iowa for two wonderful weeks! One of the many highlights was seeing Toby. Toby is our black lad mix, he is about 13 years old. He was not able to make our trip all the way to Oregon because of his arthritis, so he is staying with my dad in Iowa. We have missed him very much here in OR, so it was a real treat to see him.

You may or may not know, but Toby LOVES car rides! (unlike his sister, Lilly) These pics are of Toby chill'in in the back seat on one of our many car rides.

Three Sisters Camping and Hiking

Byline: Adam

While Angela was on extended travel in Iowa (she will have some posts from IA later) I took an opportunity to do a little camping and hiking in the Three Sisters Wilderness Area. I got all the necessary supplies...hot dogs, s'mores, firewood, etc. I even bought a new pack for the trip (a Camelbak) which turned out to be awesome. I was a little late arriving on Friday which was nerve wracking because I didn't have a campsite reservation. I did get a nice campsite near Hosmer Lake, however, and started a fire. I had hot dogs but no s'mores because my stomach was feeling strange. I thought it was nerves from having to rush to find a campsite. I realized in the morning that it was not nerves...I got sick shortly after waking up. I decided to tough it out and went on a hike to another Mirror Lake (this one mirrors South Sister). I didn't make it, however, because I was REALLY tired, but Lilly and I did find another lake and a stream to sit and read by and keep cool (it was 100+ degrees over most of inland Oregon this weekend).

I thought about heading home after the hike, but was feeling better and decided to stay Saturday night. I was hoping to get another hike in on Sunday. It was probably a bad choice as I was sick again Saturday night. Feeling like I had been "tough enough" for one weekend I packed it up around 6am Sunday morning and headed home.

All told the trip was amazing. Despite the stomach bug, I really had a great time. All things being equal, I would probably even do it again. I could really do without the stomach bug, though. It was good to get out in the great outdoors, especially the time Lilly and I spent on our mini hike to the stream and lake.

I realize this picture is blurry...but I decided to post it anyway because it was amazing to see. This was taken near my campsite Friday night and is a full-moonrise with a sunset behind me lighting the trees.

Lilly grabbing a quick bite to eat at camp Friday.

Sunset on Friday night

Lilly at play at Sink Creek. It turned out to be kind of buggy here so me moved on.

The view of Kokostick Butte from Bristah lake. Lilly and I both went swimming here. Lilly actually did swim out to me one time...a big step! The lake was shallow, but cool...a welcome change of pace from the hot weather.

Lilly had the upper hand on the bugs at the lake. She gave them all they could handle

Sunrise over Mount Bachelor on Sunday morning

Mirror Lake

Byline: Adam (my first post on Straw World)

After Todd, Angela, and I went to the coast on Saturday, Todd and I went off to hike on Sunday. We hiked to Mirror lake (so named for its reflection of Mount Hood) and then on to Tom, Dick, and Harry mountain...one mountain, really, with three distinct peaks. The hike was fairly easy especially given the GREAT views you get as reward. Not only can you see Mount Hood from the top, but Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams, and Mount Jefferson as well.

The lake was not glassy enough to be a perfect mirror, but you get the idea.

Lilly came along and had fun "swimming" in the lake. Actually, she doesn't swim, she goes in just as far as she can still touch. We are working on the swimming thing.

A view of Mount Hood on the way up.

Todd on the summit of Tom, Dick, and Harry. We never really found out which of the three peaks we had climbed.

A boy and his dog.

The mountaineers.

Another artsy shot inspired by my Dad who loves the foreground image (mostly dead trees, flowers had to do in this case).

He Loves Me

Adam professed his love for me while we were watching the sunset after dinner at Roseanna's.

Three Arch Rocks and Roseanna's

We ate dinner at a place called Roseanna's. It was a wonderful meal. They had great seafood and marion berry cobbler. This is where Todd and Carrie ate the day they got engaged. I should have taken a picture of the front of the restaurant but all we took was this picture from the beach. One of the building's on the right side of the picture is Roseanna's. You can see how close to the water we are.
This was our view from the restaurant. We were there around sunset and watched the rest from the beach.
What a beautiful sunset!

Rock Beach in Oceanside

Walking in the really cold ocean in Oceanside, OR.
So I don't know the real name of the beach or even if it had one, but it had all kinds of great rocks on it. Todd and Adam skipped rocks for a long while.
Drying off my feet so I can put my shoes and socks back on.

Cape Mears Light House

Next stop, the lighthouse. Todd proposed to Carrie, his wife, inside this lighthouse fifteen years ago! Carrie was not with us but Todd did call her. It was really a nice view. The staff at the lighthouse are all volunteers. They have limited hours because of this, we got there as they were closing the doors. Todd begged the lady to let us in, he said " I proposed here 15 years ago do you think we could go up for just a little bit? " The lady obliged and we got to see the inside really quick. It was really cool to see, a very nice proposal spot in deed!