Mini-Vacay Day 3-Part 1~~~Luxury!

Relaxing for a few moments to pop a few pieces of salt water taffy in your mouth whilst staring at the waves crashing and hearing the roar of such a powerful water source drown your ears. Yep, that's definitely the best way to spend a day/night at the beach. Beach front resorts!!

My cousin had planned for us a night away from Portland to drive to Cannon Beach. I have been to a couple other towns in that area, but I don't recall being at this particular one. Having so much fun, laughing and car dancing on the way over, we were greeted with beautiful sunshine and awe at the luck of such awesome weather. Granted, it did only last about an hour, but hey! Can't win it all! Being too early to check in to the resort we started to journey towards the town area and find a place for lunch. Such cute stores and businesses there!

Wandering up and down streets after a yummy lunch, camera in hand, the middle part of the day being the best so far. Heading back to the hotel to check-in, a small detour to head to the beach to gaze across the ocean and feel the sea-spray slap your face.

Dressed up and feeling all girlie, and evening of something new awaited us. A cooking class/dinner combo with amazing food and wine. Trying things new for the taste buds. Some scrump-deli-umpcious, some... not. But hey! Anything once right?

And dessert... nothing more really to say about that, except maybe YUM.

Tummy's full and heads swimming with good wine, the hotel suite was beckoning us with soon to be sleep. The best part? Falling asleep to the waves crashing on the beach.

But before that, to take a few moments to myself, I ventured out side. Late in the evening I wandered down the sandy path to try to see the moonless night ocean. Standing with the wind, sand, and sea spraying me down, my hair tossing in circles, the darkness of night gave me those few moments to let my mind find that calm, quiet place it so rarely has.

Beach photos tomorrow!

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There is something so special about holding on to a little boys hand on a cool evening, and going for a nice long walk. Enjoying the last bits of Summer in an amazing Sunset. Then watching that boy run with delight to chase grasshoppers and stop every few feet to find rocks. Nothing can ever compare to those precious minutes with a calm evening, and one amazing little man.

The Good and the Bad

On our nature walks, for the most part, we have been lucky in finding paths that are big enough to take Fritz and his stroller. That is until this one...

Not so good trail.

We got to the first bridge (that were steps) and realized that the stroller was just not going to make it any further. It is a stroller made for rougher roads, but this tiny foot path was too small. We do have plans to go back sometime to finish the hike, but we definitely will be taking our Baby Bjorn carrier next time!
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After turning around so soon after we had started out, we decided to find a different path. I knew of one that is a bike lover trail as it is 11 miles to a lake and very wide. I had been on it once almost 10 years ago and could remember some of the trail. I knew that it would be big enough to finish out the day with the stroller!

Much, much better trail.

Two Sides to the Same Storm

On one of our "out and abouts" we thought we might be chancing it a little too much with what the sky was looking like. It was later in the evening, and we still wanted to go for a little walk for the day, so off we went to a little fishing pond that has a nature trail following around the pond and a little farther away. With protection of umbrellas ready to pop out and cover our heads, we walked fast (I ended up jogging for a little bit-haven't done that in years!) to avoid a down pour.
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The pond that we were at is maybe 3 miles from our house and the storm clouds could be seen for many miles more. This was going to be one massive weather night for sure! After our 15 minute quick nature walk, we loaded back up into the car expecting to be pelted with rain by the time we reached home, however, to my not so much delight, the rain did not arrive until a couple hours later as we were drifting off to sleep!

It's funny to me how such an amazing cloud covered sky of darkness can threaten most people to thoughts of sudden doom and cowering inside, but not me. If any of you have noticed a pattern of my blog posting, there is much weather action going on. Yep, if I could be, I would be one of those "storm chasers" driving fast after a tornado to get that perfect shot, or standing in an open field surrounded by lightning with my camera ready to go. I remember as a younger girl my Mother yelling at me quite often to get back inside when the thunder was getting too loud and the lightning too close. Oh, how I would beg to stay outside!

The Color of Green

It's here! Spring can be seen everywhere! The Hubs had to stay in town today for some appointments, so Fritz and I decided to take advantage of an extra day with him home and go for another nature walk. We took the trail that we found a week ago, and man what a difference! Not all of the trees had their leaves yet, but most did.
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It was such a perfect few hours. The day was quite warm, the sun blaring brightly and the sweet song of birds and rustling leaves in a breeze could be heard without the noise of town. I feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful place where nature is so close to us. We could be in the mountains within ten minutes and ten minutes to this new found lovely trail. There are more awesome trails around here for hiking or leisurely walks, and I plan to have us together as a family for a few more in the coming months before we move (still planning to) to the Eastern part of Montana. Eastern Montana is not as pretty but is in its own way. With vast plains of rolling hills or flat lands, Eastern Montana has a different beauty from the mountain ranges that we are use to being closer to the Rockies. It will be different to look out a window and not see peaks peeking back at me. But I truly believe that no matter where you live, if you just look closely, anything can have a sparkle of delight.
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Here are a few pics from the beautiful day we had.

Pretty leaves.

Spotting a wildflower.

Late evening thunderstorm.


After the storm sunset.

A Path Found

On Sunday, the Hubs and I decided to take Fritz on a little walk somewhere that we had not been before. We headed off to a different neighborhood about 10 minutes from our house, parked the car and thought we were just going to be walking around houses on the sidewalk. As we started I noticed a little path leading behind a house. In front of the path was a sign stating that it was an actual path for people to enjoy not just a private one. I was so excited for this. We followed the sometimes muddy trail for about twenty-five minutes and wanted to go more, but we had errands to run and it was getting cold/late. I am sure that we will be back many more times to discover more of our new discovery!
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Pictures along the way... hopefully in the coming weeks when we return there will be green to be seen!

Pretty little birdie.

One of my favorite kinds of tree.

View of the Bridger Mountains.

A Beautiful Day

The sun was shining in all of its wonderful glory and the birds were chirping a sweet happy song. With this start of Earth Day, I couldn't resist taking Fritz on a walk. We headed out to discover some new neighborhoods and marveled at how fast the grass was turning green. Below is a picture of a long sidewalk that we took on our adventure. Now if only the trees would hurry up to match the grass!

This is a strange building that is close to where we live. I loved how the clear blue sky complemented the strangeness of the roof. This building is now a daycare center but I am not sure what it used to be? With these angles a church comes to mind.

Later that evening when the sun was finally setting on a perfect Earth Day, my entrance way was caught in the most golden of hues. Sadly our front door blocked half of the picture in shadows, but the orange yellow glow was just too delightful not to pass up without taking a picture.

Still later... In the last few minutes before the sun said goodnight, the trees out our front were slowly waving goodbye in a slight breeze that refreshed the staleness of the last bits of winter air.

Wish I Was Here...

My second favorite place that I have discovered...

Kathryn Albertson Park - Boise, Idaho

So peaceful...

So quiet...

Perfect...

Nice Day for a Walk (sort-of)

The sun was shinning brightly, slowly melting the last fallen snow when I decided to step out onto the deck to see how cold it might be. In the shade of course, a little brisk, but with the sun on my face it wasn't too bad. Because it had been well below the 30s of late (during the day) and today was more promising, I thought it might be nice for Fritz to take in some warmth from the sun with me on a walk. Of course it was still a little too cold for a long walk, but a short one would be fun. So off we went! Fritz was bundled up tightly and his little nose only turned pink by the time we got home! I am very ready for the new season to begin so we can go on more and longer adventures together. Just the two of us.