Category: photos

Camping at Pelton

Simtustus LakeThe Freed family tried to go camping back in May, but were stymied by cold, rainy weather. Tent camping in 40F with an infant and 3 year old are no fun, so we skipped it. But planned another trip in August to the desert where the weather would have to be good. This time we opted for Pelton Campground, which is a park run by PGE on the Simtustus lake, a reservoir on the Deschutes River. The campground is about 10 miles south of Warm Springs, and a lovely piece of eastern Oregon. The whole family was along, so we had my parents in their popup, us in our gigantent, and Hilly & Hassy in another 2 person tent. It was quite the site as well, directly above the swim area and dog swim area.

Over the course of the long weekend, we did some fishing, canoeing, mallow roasting, cooking and eating, reading, and playing on the playground. The desert did disappoint a bit – it was never more than 75F, and most of the time it was also rather breezy, so swimming was a little challenging. The girls didn’t seem to mind much though, but still preferred the playground to the swimming. Ella even tried her hand at fishing, but didn’t have much success. She didn’t mind though because Grandma taught her about licorice, the bait that serious fishermen use for themselves. She really got in to that. We did find a slightly better place to fish later, but only caught pike minnows, which there’s a bounty on.

The good news is that the girls are really digging camping. Maddie woke up multiple times during the night, screaming on a few occasions, but Ella was upset when it was time to go home, expressing interest in staying longer. Here are a few pics.

Wallowas

This summer we met with close friends (and former college roommates) Meghan, Troy and kin in the Wallowas in Northeast Oregon. It was the culmination of years of planning and missed windows in what is truely a beautiful piece of Oregon. The idea has been to find a place somewhere between the two of us (they’re in Clarkston, WA) that would give us some time to actually catch up rather than our normal brief, chaotic encounters at weddings and such. Also, our broods have each grown enough that we wanted them to have a chance to play again longer than just the awkward first encounter.

The drive was long, and while challenging with two toddlers, was quite nice. Especially from La Grande to Joseph, which neither of us had been to before. The dry forest awoke a homesickness for Wyoming I’d long since forgotten, but it was tempered some since it was Chief Joseph Days, and the Rodeo was in town.

We rented a cabin on the south end of Wallowa Lake where we ate well, watched deer, played in an inflatable pool, and relaxed. From the cabin, we ventured out several times, including trips to Enterprise for dinner at the Terminal Gravity Brewery, Joseph for some ice cream and to see what the Chief Joseph Days were all about, several trips to the lake, and even a trip up the tram to the top of Mt. Howard.

The tram was a favorite for both Ella and I (Michelle, Meghan and the younger kids stayed back “because of the cost..”), and the nearly cloudless sky meant almost endless viewing from the various vantage points around the summit. The Royal Purple loop was probably Ella and Nate’s favorite because a couple gave Troy a baggie full of sunflower seeds, which the kids used to feed portly chipmunks from their hands. The views to the Eagle Cap wilderness, east across Hells Canyon, and north towards the lake, Joseph and Enterprise were stunning. I was pleased that the kids enjoyed the tram ride as much as Troy and I.

We also had a couple excursions to the lake, the best of which was on the Saturday before we had to leave. The weather was perfect, the crowds weren’t bad, and the lake water, though cool, were a perfect compliment to the 90 plus degrees of heat. We all had such a relaxed time, and I know this is expected, but we managed yet again to keep the kids from getting burned. That’s actually kind of impressive considering how often they were in their suits (or not in them).

The Wallowas and area are beautiful. Joseph and Enterprise have a charm their own that was, as I mentioned, a cause for some deeply buried homesickness for Cody. I’d heard the Eagle Cap Wilderness compared to the Enchantments in Central Washington, and while I didn’t ever get close enough to compare, I can see the comparison drawn to Leavenworth. The glacial moraine that frames Wallowa lake is really quite a trip because it’s steppe/desert that creeps in to forest in one direction and farmland in the other. Next time we go back, hopefully the girls will be ready to do some serious hiking.

Sadly, all good things come to an end and we had a 6 hour drive back to Portland. Why does the travel always try to unravel the relaxation?

Kona, part 1

Andy and Ella throwing rocks in the warm ocean
This is sorely overdue, but I wanted to mention a few things about our trip to Kona-Kailua in November. It’s a trip we’d been planning for nearly 9 months with the sincere desire to get out of town. We were very curious how this whole traveling with kids would work, and we wanted to start making an effort to vacation with family.

The flight to Kona was spectacular. There was a short leg up to Seattle which was uneventful, then the 6 hour flight to Kona went splendidly. Ella was entertained most of the time through a combination of coloring, toys, window screen movements, bathroom trips, and cartoons on the iPhone. Madeline for her part slept most of the trip, which really helped.

We met my parents at the airport in Kona, picked up a Grand Crapavan from the rental company, and headed to our rented condo just south of the main strip in Kailua. The condo was fantastic (you never really know until you arrive), and we grabbed some fast food while setting up base camp. (There were mongooses wandering around the parking lot, something I’d not seen on my previous trip a decade ago.) After that we split up, shopped for groceries, swam in the pool, and hung out on the lanai looking for where to go the coming days.

The second day we drove the van north with a picnic lunch to Makalawena Beach, in Kekaha Kai State Park. It was a bumpy, slow ride from the highway down to the trailhead, and likely not some place that the rental should have gone. From there, a 30 minute trek past one gorgeous beach, some wild goats, and a barren lava field to a white sand beach that was heaven. As it turns out, you can get there by 4×4 if you have one, as there were several trucks on the beach. From the moment we arrived, it was quickly clear that everyone was happy here. Both girls loved the gentle waves, and Ella loved playing in the sand in the “warm ocean.” We’d been promising her that she’d enjoy the warm ocean since a disaster during a storm in May where she was knocked off balance by a quick rush of water past her feet and fell in the cold Pacific near Manzanita, OR.

Now I’m trying to remember the order in which we visited beaches, but by in large, the order of the day was something like this: Get up, have coffee and breakfast, watch Curios George, make sandwiches, spend 30 minutes trying to get sunscreen on everyone, then load up the van and go to a beach. We didn’t stray from this formula much, largely because it was so perfect. We didn’t attempt to see the volcano or Hilo simply because a long day of car travel with the girls wouldn’t be any fun. And it’s really hard to improve on a working formula.

We ended up visiting several more beaches, but I’ll pick up again in another post. It’s time to wake the girls up, take them to Grandma’s and go to work in the dark.

Here are some pictures of the trip to Kona though.

Week 1

We’ve successfully made it through the first week. No big deal, I know, but it’s satisfying in the sense that we’ve seen a glimpse of how this whole 2 kid thing will work. We’re a little surprised how compatible Ella has been with a baby. Pleased, but a little surprised since she’s been the center of the universe.

Winter birds

I’ve been really enjoying the winter weather this past week. I’ve especially enjoyed all the birds flocking to the feeders outside our dining room. Here’s a few of them, though the list includes black-capped chickadees, chestnut-backed chickadees (a new one for me), goldfinches, house sparrows, juncos, and small little wren-like birds that move way too quickly about the birch tendrils.

Zoo Lights

Last night Michelle, Ella, Grandpa, Aunt Hilary and I went out to see Zoo Lights. Although I’m sure it’s supposed to be more of a “kids thing,” us “adults” found ourselves enjoying it as well. The seasonally appropriate cold really helped the mood, as did the clear skies and 1-day shy full moon. I had fun taking photos without a flash (D90 rock!) and I think everyone just enjoyed gawking at the miles of lights. If you do consider going, try getting there right at 5, as the crowd seems to pick up from then.

Not many animals were out or visible at night with exception of the Siberian tigers (What? You call this cold?), and the elephants. We missed Samudra last time (the baby), but we were able to see him sleeping and “curled up” on the floor. “Curled up” is a bit of an exaggeration, as he’s apparently already 630 pounds.

Seen: Tornado damage

My sister just dropped of a CD of some pictures I took on her camera while we were back in Nebraska. Most are of potential rooftop banners, but the last several were taken of tornado damage in Kearney. My uncle Bill gave us a quick tour of the damage, which was really sporadic and surprisingly contained considering it all happened in town.

The first picture is of a garage. The high winds eventually caused a panel on the garage door to buckle, then the rush of air into the garage blew a hole through the roof. Remember, don’t open your windows in a tornado.

The second is an exhibition hall at the fair grounds (I think) that only one half of the building was affected. The building just folded and slumped in place. The skin of the building looks like a deflated dirigible draped over a hangar. Crazy!