Binoculartown, USA

From Bozeman, our next official stop was Colorado, and fortuitously our route took us through possibly the most awesome national park, Yellowstone. We’d both spent time here in this amazing place, but few things are as exciting as entering through the Roosevelt Arch and preparing for some inevitable wildlife encounters. Our plan was to enter through the north entrance, wind down the eastern route, and exit out the south gate, stopping along the way to gaze at animals and natural wonders. First stop was at Mammoth Springs visitor center to get the obligatory national park stamp in our dorky passport. As an added plus, the area around the visitors center was surrounded with elk grazing in the grass. The taxidermy wildlife exhibit there is fascinating, and another room held beautiful old black-and-white photos of early Yellowstone explorers. After the short visit, we moved on.

We anxiously peered out the car windows as we drove through the wilderness to our next big stop, Yellowstone Falls, seeing a few lone bison, but not much else. We parked and walked out to Artist Point, one of the best vistas to peep the tremendous waterfall, but it was getting late in the day, and the sun was lowering on the horizon just beyond the falls, obscuring the view in shadow. That was fine by us, because it made for a stunning photo anyway! Looking the opposite direction (with, rather than into, the sunlight) we marveled at the canyon walls’ dozens of layers of colorful sediments.

Yellowstone Falls

Back on the road, we saw a swarm of people with telescopic cameras and high-powered binoculars all looking in one direction. Our first thought: grizzly! We swung the car around and double-parked, eager to catch a glimpse. Loren asked a guy nearby, “What’s everybody looking at?” to which we learned, “Apparently there’s a wolf over there.” We took aim by lining up our telephoto lens and binoculars with somebody else’s equipment, and eventually identified a tiny black blob, laying in the grass just outside the forest, about 3/4 mile away. The usual wildlife-obsessed nerds were at full force, and we overheard one of them say, “Shh! I think it’s howling!”

“There’s a wolf out there?”

Just a few minutes further down the road, we noticed one or two cars pulling over to the shoulder, so we acted fast and followed suit. We jumped out and stood watching a beautiful, calm coyote walking slowly through the tall grass, no more than 50 yards away. Wildlife... can’t beat it.

Coyote

This Yellowstone drive didn’t include any bear sightings, but we managed to see several herds of buffalo, some very close up, before it was all over.

Bison / Buffalo

At this point, it was getting late, and we didn’t think we could get much further towards Colorado, so we decided to camp in Yellowstone for the night. We easily found a site at the southernmost campground, Lewis Lake, enjoyed an enchanting campfire, and turned in for what would be the coldest tent-camping night of the whole trip (bottoming out around 30 degrees Fahrenheit!).

Campfire at Yellowstone

The next morning, we made our way out of the park, winding through the southern stretches which were coated in thick fog. Like nowhere else.

Bozeman and More Family Time

Kristen is lucky enough to have family in the beautiful city of Bozeman, Montana, which is where her mom grew up and most of the family has remained. Who can blame them? It is a stunning outdoorsy town which has maintained a lot of the historic sites and neighborhoods that make it a gem. Plus, it’s perfectly located a few hours from, arguably, the best national parks in the country: Glacier, Yellowstone, and Tetons. Also, the weather started changing for the better the closer we got to Bozeman, such that when we arrived we were greeted with a warm sun. Our first stop was Grandma Ruth’s old house, which is where Kristen’s mom grew up, and is just down the road from the elementary school they attended (which now is home to artist studios and galleries, we’re told). If and when that house goes on the market, we’d consider buying it - no joke.

Grandma Ruth's house - This is where Kristen's mom grew up!

We unpacked our stuff into Kristen’s cousin’s house, set up the tent to air out and cleaned up and got ready just in time to get together with the rest of the family. Loren finally got to meet Aunt Roxie, Uncle Jack, (cousin) Jess, her husband Carl and their two adorable kids, Annie and Eric, and enjoyed dinner together on Bozeman's historic downtown strip at Bacchus Pub.

Kristen ordered her standard fish and chips, while Loren got to enjoy a burger with avocado and bacon. We also splurged and ordered moscow mules, delicious cocktails with vodka, ginger beer, and lime. It was great catching up with the family, and they gave us some insider tips on other good spots to check out in the area.

Once we got home, we were all a bit sleepy. We stayed up long enough to catch the tail end of Obama’s DNC speech, and then retired to bed, happy to be inside and under a down comforter!

Even with intentions of waking early, we slept in a tad and had just enough time to have coffee and some homemade molasses oatmeal bread before riding the family cruiser bikes down the street to Roxie and Jack’s house, a quaint bungalow that they’ve restored beautifully. Roxie, Jess, and the kids had to head over to MSU to meet with an entomologist to identify a spider they'd found in Roxie's basement (turned out, their fears were warranted: it was a hobo spider, which delivers some nasty venom known to cause necrosis)!

Aunt Roxie and Uncle Jack

Spider in a jar

From there, we rode to the Cafe Francais des Arts, where we enjoyed another caffeine boost and split a crepe with egg, ham and onions (sans fromage). To wrap up our Main Street tour, we made a quick stop at the Vargo’s Jazz City & Books store (no photos allowed) and then a trip to The Co-op grocery store to stock up for the road.

Breakfast Crepe

By the time we got back to Jess’s house, it was much later than we’d planned for. We had a bit of fun with the kids on the trampoline, and then hugged everyone goodbye. We hit the road, thinking what a great place Bozeman seems for raising a family. Yep, we could definitely live here!

Eric and Annie on the trampoline

Fun on the trampoline

Jess and the kids

Thanks so much for having us, Jess!

Out of Glacier

We packed up our camp as quickly as possible, to minimize exposure in the 30-degree rainy cold weather. Leaving our campsite without even making breakfast, we made one last stop at the St. Mary’s visitor center, where we confirmed our suspicion that the weather across the park was equally dismal. So we cut our stay in Glacier a bit shorter than expected, and set out hungry, cold, and eager to land in a breakfast cafe.

We were out of luck. Passing through Browning, a small and rough-looking Reservation town, there was nothing. By the time we reached the next town, over an hour later, it was lunch time and we desperately needed something. So we stopped in Choteau and got a much needed but not great lunch - no photos necessary.

Montana Cows

Continuing south, we stopped in Augusta, MT, on a recommendation from Kristen’s aunt. Wishing we’d held out on lunch til here, we thoroughly enjoyed the Latigo and Lace store, with its cappuccino bar and wide variety of schwag for sale, including ceramics, furs (a bit depressing but still impressive), paintings, books, and more. We could’ve spent hours here, but hopped back onto the road toward Bozeman, where we had a fast-approaching dinner date with Kristen’s extended family.

Coyote pelt, with paws

Glacier National Park

Of all the national parks in this beautiful country, we had been itching to get to Glacier for years. This entire road trip formed around our visit to Glacier, because we had to budget enough time to be able to get a good feel for the park and its fast-disappearing namesake glaciers. (It is estimated that by 2020, all of the thirty or so remaining glaciers will be gone. See them while you can.)

Before we arrived, though, it was time to get the car checked, so we’d have peace of mind that we wouldn’t breakdown in the mountains! We landed in Kalispell, Montana, which is really at the foot of the mountains and a sort of gateway into western Glacier. Luckily, Kalispell is a big enough town that we could get the oil changed and all the major fluids topped off in the car, and the stop seemed quicker than ever (we had only enough time to post one blog using Valvoline’s free wifi). Then we headed into the Park, flashing our National Parks annual pass at Glacier’s southwestern entrance.

Lake McDonald

Since we arrived a little too late in the day to venture into the wilds of the park, we went straight to the first campground, near Apgar Village. After setting up the tent, we drove up the road a bit to check out Lake McDonald, exploring the shores just before sunset. Beautiful rugged mountains reflected in the pristine lake, and we were in disbelief that we’d finally arrived at this pinnacle of a National Park. Thankful for the warm, mild late summer evening, we returned to camp ready to cook up a storm.

Apgar Campground

We made a quick barbecue sauce again (sriracha, bacon fat, tomato paste, lemon juice, Mrs. Dash, and honey, to name a few ingredients), but we’d stepped out of our chicken comfort zone and opted instead to try our hands at campfire-grilled pork. As an accompaniment, we roasted foil-wrapped diced apple, onion and celery. It was our first time campfire-cooking real pork (this was no Spam), and it turned out alright, if a little dry from a bit of overly-thorough cooking. The cooked apples, which we nabbed from the hotel in Idaho, were tasty and complemented the meat nicely, but it wasn’t quite a slam-dunk. There’s always room for improvement! We stayed up later than usual, relishing the mild temps, which was a surprise given how far north we were!

Pork dinner

At some point, the temperatures must’ve plummeted, because we awoke to a chilly but sunny morning. Makes sense. Eager to see the park, we quickly ate some yogurt and a banana (again, courtesy of the Idaho hotel), and then set out onto Going-To-The-Sun Road, which famously winds its way through the park. At the middle point, we crossed over the Continental Divide at Logan’s Pass, which offers some outstanding views of the vast wilderness. Continuing on to the eastern side of the park, we set up our tent at Rising Sun Campground, and then hopped back in the car to go back to Logan’s Pass.

Glacier National Park - The faint line on the mountain to the right is the Going-To-The-Sun road!

Our first hike was the Highline Trail, which in its entirety amounts to about 15 miles, but instead we chose to do an out-and-back for about an hour. It was a little freaky in the beginning, because there was a group of people coming from the opposite direction, speaking of a grizzly cub that’d been following behind them on the trail, just seconds before we arrived. That could’ve been pretty amazing to see, but everyone was a bit on edge because the grizzly mother was nowhere to be found. After a few minutes of wavering (Should we? Should we not?), we continued down the trail. Highline Trail is pretty cool because you stay at around the same elevation as Logan’s Pass but cutting a high line (get it?) across the mid section of the mountain. At one point, the trail got pretty narrow, beckoning hikers to hold on to the wire lines at the inside edge of a cliff that dropped down at least a hundred feet to the road. We wondered how often someone accidentally kicks loose rocks that fall and damage windshields...

Highline Trail was also great for wildlife watching. We picked out several mountain goats, an easy thing thanks to their stark white coats, and we were surprised with how sturdy they looked. Much harder to see because they absolutely disappear into their brown rocky surroundings were a few huge and intimidating bighorn sheep. Just off the trail we briefly saw a pika, an adorable high-mountain member of the rabbit family that looks like a cross between a rabbit and a mouse, whose numbers are beginning to dwindle due to climate change (they are suffering from declining habitats, and have to head higher and higher into the mountains, chasing their native high rocky zones). We also saw a chipmunk, always captivated by their short, quick movements and beautiful little coats. There was also an abundance of wildflowers and amazing views down the valley.

Bighorn Sheep

Pika

Mountain Goats

One of many Ground Squirrels

After that short jaunt, we walked across Logan’s Pass and up onto another trail to Hidden Lake, again about a mile long. The first half of the trail is an elevated wooden boardwalk, with some stairs built in, to make it “easy” for people. It’s funny though, because we think it’s actually harder on your feet to walk on those planks rather than plain old dirt and rocks. At the end of the trail we stopped to snack on some jerky, taking in the amazing surroundings and always half-wondering what wildlife was out there hidden by the distance.

Overlooking Hidden Lake, Glacier National Park

Then we started back, and about halfway down the trail we experienced the most entertaining wildlife sighting ever. We were walking on the elevated boardwalk of a trail when we spotted a hairy animal about the size of a woodchuck. Unsure of what the creature was, Kristen started to ask and just before Loren could answer, a passerby said “Marmot” without breaking pace. This marmot was adorable and apparently not afraid of humans, eating the yellow wildflowers and their leaves, which cracked us up. See, he was not only the first marmot Kristen had ever seen, he reminded us so much of one of our cats back home, Wally. We’ve always said that he’s part dog, part walrus, part otter... Now we know he’s also part marmot! This little guy was so goofy and clumsy, we spent about 10 minutes watching him and giggling, until he was out of sight.

Determined to get in at least one more hike before the sun went down, we drove a few miles east, back toward our awaiting tent, and stopped off to do the 1 mile hike to the beautiful but not gigantic Mary’s Falls. We sat for a few minutes to take in its mesmerizing constant flow, then explored a bit more off the trail before heading back to the car.

Marys Falls, Glacier National Park

Back at camp, the drizzle that was picking up started to come down a little heavier, making it harder and harder to make dinner and keep up the campfire. We roasted one foil-wrapped yam and when it was ready, we split the package in half and each used a bit of butter for taste. Easy and delicious! A new camping tradition, perhaps. Next, we ate sardines in the car, right out of the can, to avoid the falling rain and also make sure the fish-smell stayed in the car and not near our tent (it is bear-country after all!).

Glacier National Park, Rising Sun Campground

Campfire sweet potatoes with butter

Lucky for us, the heaviest downfall didn’t start until we were safely inside our tent for the night. Great timing. Believe it or not, this was the first rain we’d received in over three weeks, even though we’d been traveling through Northern California, Oregon and Washington.

Seattle's Seafood (and Starbucks)

Well past the halfway point of our road trip (working towards a Sept 15 deadline), we knew we had to get to our next big destination as quickly as possible. That meant, unfortunately, that we could only spend a couple of hours in super cool Seattle, which probably has a lot more to offer than we could manage.

Ferry to Seattle

We took the ferry from Bainbridge Island into Seattle, and immediately hit up Pike Place Market. An incredible year-round indoor market, Pike Place has dozens of fresh farmer stands, fish vendors (including the famous fish throwers), and artisans. It was late afternoon by the time we arrived but crowds of people still filled the walkways. We’d move to Seattle just to have daily access to this amazing market.

Seattle Pike Place, Public Market

Pikes Place, Seattle, Loback Meat Co

We were itching to try some fresh seafood, so we strolled into Lowell’s, a 3-story restaurant and longtime Pike Place fixture. Kristen ordered her standard fare of Fish n chips, while Loren couldn’t resist trying Seattle’s famed dungeness crabcakes and veggies. Both dishes hit the spot.

Lowell's crab cakes

Lowell's fish and chips

Even though we aren’t great lovers of Starbucks, we had to stop in at the flagship location, just up the street from Pike Place. We were baited into trying the “clover” brew machine for one Pike Place coffee, and decided to compare it with the regular-brew. There was certainly a difference - clover was much more bold - but all Starbucks coffee seems characteristically dark and possibly over-roasted in flavor. The flagship Starbucks was a really nice space, but we couldn’t dawdle. By 7pm, we were on the road continuing east as far as we could make it.

Original Starbucks Seattle

Around midnight, we’d arrived at the Idaho state line, and made a desperate call to the Hampton Inn, where we got a government rate room and happily arrived 30 minutes or so later in Coeur D’Alene. Yes, it was a bit of a splurge compared to camping, but after 6 straight nights of tent sleep, we could use the comforts of indoor life. It gave us the chance to do a bit of laundry (that’s right, Kristen did all of the laundry by hand in the bathroom sink, not realizing that there were laundry machines that took a few quarters near the lobby) and utilize more wifi before hitting the hay around 2am.

We awoke early to scavenge the complimentary breakfast pickings multiple times, stocking up on bananas, apples, oranges, hard-boiled eggs, yogurts, and teas, before continuing Northeast to our most awaited stop: Glacier National Park.

Olympic National Park

Even though it wasn’t initially in our plans for this trip, we’d heard great things about the Olympic Peninsula, a wild section of incredible rainforest, mountain and coastline in Northwest Washington. How could we miss out on that? We joined back up with 101, the first time since California, and soon realized that we’d hit the jackpot with weather: blue skies, warm sun - this isn’t the Olympic Peninsula we’d thought we’d encounter.

Blue hydrangeas

Without a clear plan of where we’d try to reach by nightfall, we started following the brown signs towards a Big Spruce tree, and were pleasantly surprised by the heavily wooded two-lane road lined with full-bloom blue hydrangeas that opened up to a small town strip and a magnificent lodge, at the edge of Quinault Lake. Practically entranced by the beautiful 1920s-era structure towering above us, we walked into the main lobby wide-eyed, snapping photos here and there, and made our way out to the back lawn which was dotted with Adirondack chairs looking out to the beautiful lake. If we’re ever looking to splurge on lodging, this seems like a perfect place. We glanced at a window sticker that proudly proclaimed the lodge had been rated as one of the “Best Places to Kiss in the Pacific Northwest”. Duly noted.

Driving around the small town, we decided we’d already seen enough incredible trees, so we turned back to 101 and made our way to a scenic beach turnout. We left the car at the roadside and paid a visit to the amazing expanse of smooth-stone and driftwood beach, a small hike through the wooded buffer from the road.

Olympic shore stones

Olympic shore driftwood

Finally deciding that we needed to hurry up and get to a campground, we anxiously walked into a ranger station asking about the status of the camps in the park. Her worried look didn’t put our minds to ease, and we took her recommendation (which fortuitously jived with the recommendation we’d received from a friend) to get to the Hoh River Campground as soon as possible. From there, it was strictly business. We drove a few loops of the campground, noting that some of the spots amazingly boast river access, before claiming one of the few remaining sites.

Hoh Campground

We needed to get some cash in order to avoid grossly overpaying for our site, so we again got into the car, unknowingly needing to drive another 45 minutes before reaching the next grocery store and ATM. We were losing sunlight, but Kristen got her wish of touring Forks. That’s right, the same Forks from the Twilight books. We grabbed groceries at the same store Bella shopped at, we drove by the Forks Highschool (the wooden sign which was replicated for the movie), and we drove by “Bella’s” house, which wasn’t the same from the movie but still photo-worthy. Armed with cash, wine, SoCo, and a couple of food items, we made the trip back into the forest to our home camp.

Forks High School

Unfortunately we’d run out of sunlight, so we didn’t get the chance to do any hiking that night, but we did get to make a yummy dinner. We reheated our Pok Pok chicken wings over the fire while roasting foil-wrapped yams (purchased at the grocer in Redwoods Natl Park), in the fire. Once they were soft to the touch, we pulled the yams out and mashed them into a pot with half a can of coconut milk (from Trader Joe’s in Corvallis). The combination of sweet potato/yam with coconut milk is Loren’s signature dish, which has become a staple in our home, though this marked the first time we’d tried the fire-roasting technique. Worked perfectly.

Sweet potatoes roasting in foil

Sweet potato mash

After dinner, we put the rest of the can of coconut milk on the fire grate and let it heat up. Then, we added some hot coco mix (courtesy of the hotel in Sedona), and passed the hot can back and forth for a sweet, silky, warm dessert drink.

The next morning, we were determined to get a hike out of the Hoh area, so we left our campsite on foot to do the mile and a half Nature trail, lamenting that we couldn’t do the 18.5 mile hike to the Blue Glacier on Mount Olympus (maybe next time...). But what we saw was enough to get us excited about the area. We learned about the different phases that the riparian rainforest ecosystem goes through, with winding riverbeds changing, literally paving the way for certain kinds of trees to initially thrive, which are then replaced by the towering Douglas firs and Western Hemlocks. It’s interesting to think about the different phases of growth that forests go through, which take decades upon decades to transpire. We as humans have such a warped sense of time; when we see forests of Ash and Cottonwood, they seem permanent, don’t they? But everything in nature is constantly changing, always.

Hoh River

As we left Olympic and drove through the northern peninsula town of Port Angeles (yes, also from Twilight) we realized we’d made our first big turn East, marking the end of the West-Coast portion of the trip.

Foodcation in Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon, the city that takes great pride in its weirdness, was a must-visit city on this trip, even though we’d both been a couple of times previously. This time around, we decided that we would focus on sampling the great food Portland has to offer, thanks in part to an article we’d just seen in the latest Bon Appetit. Plus, we really only had an afternoon’s time to spare.

Our first stop was lunch at Cultured Caveman, Portland’s first paleo food cart, something Loren had read about a few times and was dying to sample. If you don’t know, paleo is a way of eating that is modeled on our ancestors’ diets, which excludes grains, legumes, dairy and excess sugar, and instead focuses on veggies, meat, poultry, fish, nuts, seeds, healthy fats and some fruit. We ordered three different menu items for some variety, including a small kale salad, bacon almond dates, and sweet potato fries with homemade ketchup. Super tasty and healthy.

Cultured Caveman, paleo food cart

Bacon almond dates, kale salad

Sweet potato fries

After posting a photo of the cart on Instagram, Loren found out that it was International Bacon Day. This was fun news (for us, every day is bacon day), and we’d already had bacon in two meals by that time: we cooked our breakfast eggs in bacon fat, and we’d had delicious bacon-wrapped dates for lunch. Our excitement about the official Bacon Day was echoed when we told the paleo food cart owner, from which a quick foodie conversation ensued. On her recommendation (albeit not paleo at all), we set off down the street for a splurge at a little ice cream shop called Salt & Straw.

Salt & Straw ice cream

They have a cool handmade look and feel, along with really unique flavor combinations rooted in seasonal, local ingredients, and the whole shebang did not disappoint one bit. We got one scoop of the guest Chef’s special, a kaffir lime and lemongrass ice cream with fish sauce caramel (salty-sweet bliss for Kristen), and a scoop of the honey balsamic strawberry with cracked pepper for Loren. Sooo yummy.

Honey Balsamic Strawberry with Cracked Pepper / Kaffir Lime & Lemongrass Fish Sauce Caramel

Next we headed to the Nob Hill neighborhood (why are all cool neighborhoods called Nob Hill?) for a pick-me-up caffeine charge and a chance to blog. We sat at the little cafe called Fat Straw, which specializes in bubble tea and bahn mi. We would have loved to try the bahn mi but only had room for beverages and wifi. We each got a cup of flavored iced tea, which they make with coconut milk (dairy-free!). Kristen promptly spilled half of hers on the floor, after which fierce blogging ensued.

The Portland food tour continued at a popular Thai place called Pok Pok and which we read about in Bon Appetit. Pok Pok is nestled a few miles from downtown in a more residential area that seems to be an up and coming neighborhood. Even at 5pm, we were quoted at a 1hr 45min wait, which we weathered while sipping cocktails at the restaurant’s bar across the street, called Whiskey Soda Lounge.

Whiskey Soda Lounge

We were super intrigued at their list of tasting vinegars, and the cocktail Loren adopted as his poison had tequila with Som honey drinking vinegar, fresh-squeezed grapefruit and lime. It was super tasty. Kristen’s drink was called Khing & I, made with Mekhong (Thai whiskey), lime and ginger syrup.

Whiskey Soda Lounge - Tequila with Som honey drinking vinegar, fresh-squeezed grapefruit and lime

We were notified that our table was ready just in time to save Kristen from ordering another drink, so we went back across the street and sat down to a delicious dinner. The unique plates are not your normal Thai dishes, but deliciously different creations that are inspired by Thai street-vendor fare, Chiang Mai (Northern) cuisine, or Burmese cuisine, to name a few. The server explained most menu items are meant to be shared, so at his instruction we felt okay about ordering three plates: a duck dish, a pork belly dish, and the most popular dish: the spicy fish-sauce chicken wings. Even though we’d only just begun to scratch the surface after half an hour, we were both stuffed, so we packaged up the wings and felt good about leaving Portland before overdoing it.

Pok Pok

Pok Pok - duck, pork and chicken

But... We caved, and couldn’t pass up one last stop along our Portland culinary extravaganza, this time for dessert. Voodoo Doughnuts is a super-hipster Portland mainstay (its tagline is “good things come in pink boxes”), which has become a tourist destination; when we drove by their flagship location near Burnside Bridge downtown, there were at least a hundred excited patrons lined up down the sidewalk (similar to Georgetown Cupcake in DC).

Voodoo Doughnuts

Luckily Kristen remembered that they have a second location. We ended up waiting in line for a shorter amount of time than it took for us to decide from the dozens of doughnut kinds. We eventually settled on two: one chocolate cake doughnut with pink frosting, topped with coconut and peanut butter; the other a large rectangular doughnut topped with maple frosting and bacon. (Yes, bacon! Remember, it was International Bacon Day! We were just doing our part.) Mmmm, sugary fried gluten, so unhealthy but so delicious! We could only handle a few nibbles each, and then re-wrapped them, adding the package to our cache of leftovers for later consumption. It’s kind of ironic how healthy the day started off, but how easily we slipped off the bandwagon into progressively more unhealthy splurges. Well, you only live once.

Coconut peanut butter and maple bacon

We had our eyes on our next big destination, Olympic National Park, so we drove into the night, crossing into Washington state, and eventually found ourselves a campsite at Lewis & Clark State Park for the night. It was pretty standard, though we swear a nearby campground neighbor may have been the lead singer of the Kings of Leon - some guy was belting songs out so confidently and perfectly, we sat back and wondered if it could be him. Though, our next-door neighbor wasn’t quite so happy: their 10-ish-year old son comically said, “Quiet down now” in a southern accent just loud enough for us to hear.

Eugene, Corvallis, and Mary's Peak

Eugene offered us two things we desperately needed: coffee and wifi, courtesy of a cafe called Perk. Afterwards, we drove around a few neighborhoods, and once we didn’t get that warm cozy feeling from the town, we made a snap decision to head north to a campground near Corvallis, rather than stick around and have dinner in Eugene. (Sorry, Eugene. We’ll give you another chance someday.)

We barely got to see Corvallis but what we saw, we really really liked. We paid a visit to Trader Joe’s to stock up for the night, before driving to the nearby Mary’s Peak, where we were by now confident that we’d find a camp spot. And we were right! We were the second group into the 6-spot, tents-only campground. We cooked some of Trader Joe’s pre-marinated tri-tip steak with some roasted veggies. Another campfire cuisine success, and we even had some steak leftover for breakfast!

Steak Dinner

Breakfast

Camping at Mary's Peak

Boy did we need a hot breakfast the next morning. It got pretty chilly that night, probably low 40s, and the steak and eggs certainly hit the spot. We chatted it up with the ranger who came around, and he recommended the views from the top of Mary’s Peak (the tallest peak in the Cascade range), which we’d already planned on doing before leaving, but about which we were now even more excited.

Even though it wasn’t a totally clear morning, we were able to see the amazingness of Mount Hood and several other peaks. Apparently on a really clear day, you can see for about 500 miles. Other perks of the hike: it felt great to have a morning hike to get the blood flowing, and enjoy the warm sun at the top of the peak.

View from Mary's Peak, Oregon

A Quick Dip & Wild Blackberries

From lava fields to thick forests, Central Oregon seems pretty wild. We were also starting to resemble wild things: it’d been a handful of days since our last shower (in San Francisco)... we were in desperate need of some running water. On a whim, Loren pulled the car off the scenic road along the Mackenzie River at Silver Creek Boat Landing, with a semi-formed idea of bathing in the water. We changed into our swimsuits and hobbled down the boat launch to the shore where we tested the water. Frigid. Kristen was the first to dunk and Loren quickly followed. There are few things that take the wind out of you like cold water. It was instant relief to step out of the water, where we sudsed up while shivering. The second time into the water to wash off the soap didn’t seem quite as bad but it was still worth it to keep contact with that water to a minimum!

Now that we were clean and wide awake, Loren noticed some plentiful blackberry thickets, and went to town gathering as many as he could. These were perfect, big, ripe blackberries.

Wild Blackberries!

We ended up with at least a pound (filling both camping mugs we had) which would’ve cost at least $10 back east at Whole Foods, and immediately put them to good use by mixing them with sliced banana, cottage cheese (from Redwoods National Park grocer) and honey (purchased in Sedona). Best lunch yet. Central Oregon, you’re too generous!

Banana, blackberries, cottage cheese and honey

Welcome to Oregon

With the prospects of exploring a new state, we crossed our first state line in 15 days and were filled with excitement as we made it into Oregon. First up on our agenda was a stop at Crater Lake.

The deep, rich blue colors that emanate out of Crater Lake seem otherworldly, and it’s pretty mind-boggling that the beautiful lake was born out of a catastrophic geological turn of events. What is now calm, placid lake water was once a mountaintop that exploded in a volcanic eruption, creating a caldera that is as deep as the sheer cliffs surrounding the lake are high. It’s America’s deepest lake, and it seems as though the underwater ecosystem remains rather mysterious even to this day, with few expeditions into the deep blue lake to chart the strange creatures at the bottom.

We explored a few overlooks and hiked up to a few vistas, and it was beautiful. From one spot, there were so many grasshoppers out that it sounded like the tic-tic-tic-tic-trrrrrrrr of sprinklers. At another spot, neon chartreuse-colored moss balls clung to dead trees and rolled around on the ground, seemingly looking for another home. The tiny pinecones were also rather endearing. After a few different vantage points, we kept on trucking further into unknown territory, a city we've been planning to visit for a long time...

Bend, Oregon, is a charming little outdoorsy town that could definitely end up being a relocation destination. This part of Oregon is sheltered from the coastal rainy weather by the mountains, so it therefore enjoys better weather (which has been a drawback to a few of the places on our relocation list) than much of the state. It’s also very close to skiing (Mount Baker), and a couple of hours from Eugene and Portland. We stocked up at REI - Loren replacing some age-old khaki pants that were at least 3 sizes too big for him with some better camping pants which he may have found in the boy’s department (it’s not easy finding 28x28s or men’s XS).

While driving to the downtown area, we passed the cyclepub and kicked ourselves for not having the camera ready. It’s exactly as it sounds: a pub that’s on wheels, with patrons all facing in on each other pedaling to move the pub from one spot to the next. Drunk cyclists? not really - the contraption appeared to be commandered by a sober coxwain-type, facing forward at the back of the thing.

So we parked and mosied our way around the historic downtown parts, window shopping at a few closed stores (it was after normal business hours), before sitting down for dinner at a cute restaurant called Zydeco Cafe. True to Oregon style, this restaurant focuses on high-quality, organic, sustainable, local foods, and the food was a treat from our couple of nights in a row of campfire meals.

Bend, Oregon - Zydeco

Loren’s dish was wild boar! Absolutely delicious. Kristen’s dish was a safe steak, which was also mouth-wateringly yummy. What made both dishes even more memorable was the roasted veggies side - butternut squash, green beans, peppers, and pearl onions - we couldn’t have done it better!

We drove through a couple of sleepy neighborhoods after dinner, even though it was dark, which confirmed our suspicion that we could see ourselves living in this quaint town. Then we headed for the hills, where we found a campsite at a National Wilderness area. We set everything up in the dark and quickly retreated to our sleeping bags.

Camping outside of Bend