Life Lately

Life has been good lately. On Saturday we drove out into the Columbia Gorge for some hiking at Catherine Creek. It's on the Washington Side of the Columbia River about 10 minutes past Hood River. We went for a 3 mile hike with fantastic views of the Gorge and Mt. Hood. 

Afterwards we stopped at our favorite spot in Hood River, Solstice, for lunch. If you are in Hood River, you should definitely try it. Their pizza is especially delicious, and next door (during the warmer seasons) is the most amazing little gelato stand, Cicci.  

Saturday night we joined some of our French friends for a raclette dinner....raclette is a cow's milk cheese that you melt and eat with meat, potatoes, etc. This was my second raclette dinner, and it was just as tasty as the first. The electric grill makes it interactive and fun! 

Sunday was a wet and rainy day and after a long and very wet walk in the rain, I decided to make (and eat) banana bread. I used this recipe from Oh She Glows, and it turned out super well. It has a little more sweetener than I usually put into my bread, but that made it extra tasty.

C&C on the Move

This past weekend we packed up the car for a weekend of camping in Central Oregon. We knew that there were forest fires in the area, but we were hopeful that the winds would be in our favor.

Mt. Hood

Unfortunately, we drove over Mt. Hood and quickly realized that the winds WERE NOT in fact blowing in our favor. It was a tough decision, but after two hours in the car we decided to turn around.

This is the plume of smoke. We were still to the North of it. 

I mean, who wants to camp in an ash tray?

So, we decided to stay North of the smoke and camp on Mt. Hood. Well, that idea was good, in theory, but at 5:00 p.m. we found that campsite after campsite was full. Ughh!

So, nearly 5 hours after leaving the house we made the call....to head back home. What? Crazy, I know.

Thank goodness for popcorn and a movie

First we made a quick stop in Hood River to refuel and stretch our legs. It was by far the highlight of our day.

We dined right along the Columbia River at a great restaurant called Solstice, and right next door there happened to be the most amazing gelato stand called Cicci. I had the "Gorge Berry" and it was phenomenal. I could have gone back for seconds and thirds.

The Mini Fashionista enjoyed playing at the river park playground, and then we hit the road again.

Rock Climbing, her next sport

Eight hours and nearly a tank of gas later, we found ourselves back at home. Fear not, we still got our camping in. We pitched the tent in the backyard, made a fire, roasted some marshmallows and then went to bed. All three of us lasted the entire night in the tent!

We had to laugh at the whole thing....especially given that one of the Mini's favorite books, A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee, ends just as our camping adventure did.

For anyone with kids, I highly recommend this book as well as others by Chris Van Dusen. The Circus Ship is also one of our favorites.