We had a wonderful Christmas together as a family. After the holiday, we had the pleasure of hosting Hunter’s girlfriend, Adalynn, whom he met while attending school in Montana. This was our first time meeting her, and we had such a great time showing her around Bend. Addie is an absolute sweetheart, and we truly enjoyed getting to know her better.
Here first time and she did great! She picked it up like a natural.
PJ is really into basketball. For Christmas i took him to see his first (and my first) NBA game. Iwas able to get two tickets in our company box for a Portland trailblazer game on Dec 26 against the Utah jazz. Last time they played in early December the trailblazers lost big time. This time it was a nail-biter until the end when Portland scored the game winning 2 pointer with 0.1 second left on the clock.
It was great fun / I would definitely do that again. PJ said it was his best Christmas gift.
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We spent thanksgiving week in Idaho getting our new place outfitted to stay in. Plan is to start renting after the snow melts in the spring. We had lots of snow up there - so beautiful.
See the bald eagle take off from the tree across the river from us
We love the town of Bonners Ferry 25 min south. We spent an afternoon exploring some of the shops and having dinner.
Worked on the house. The seller had to put up some temporary railings to sell which we took down this trip.
Noah taking an ice water bath in the river
The caldera XC team made state again this year. Weather much nicer than last year!
Preston turned 13! He had the boys in his class plus a couple other close friends from the neighborhood - Jasper and Caleb.
We did a box construction project and the boys did a great job!
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2nd half of October and weather looking like it might pop into the 70’s in town we decided to head out for a short fall getaway to one of our favorite family spots - little crater campground at Paulina Lake. It’s the latest we have been there in the year and the campground was almost empty with only a few locals there. The hot springs were almost empty on a sunny Saturday afternoon!
Dinner, smores, fire and a sunset made for a good evening and we also got to see the comet again after dark.
Sunday morning was cool and windy but warmed up nicely and we went to the obsidian flow for a quick hike.
First snow on the mountains (light dusting at our house in the morning), a fire in the fireplace.
Visible each night after sunset the second half of the month. Really cool to see.
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Last day! We had our airport shuttle pickup in Banff so we went back there for the morning. To cap the trip we decided to do the Banff Gondola which was really amazing! It was super cold but really cool sky / views.
Some more shopping and off to the Calgary airport and then home. An amazing trip
Early morning hike near our condo in Canmore
In and around Canmore (Canmore a great town just outside Banff National Park)
Today we went to Moraine Lake. When we were here with the kids back in the 20-teens we drove right into the parking area. Now you cannot get in without a pass. We got a free pass with canoe rides from the lodge we were staying at so that worked out amazing!
Canoe Ride on the Lake
Hike to the Larch Valley
Today our target was Lake Louise. It’s now very difficult get parking up at Lake Louise so thankfully Kelly and I were doing a horseback trip and we could park there!
Horseback Ride - Amazing!!!
Kelly and Sue had afternoon tea at the hotel while Pat and I had lunch on the patio.
This was our lodging for the next 3 days -Cathedral Mountain Lodge
Today, we explored some site near the lodge. Emerald Lake, natural bridge, and Takakkaw Falls.
From Vancouver we boarded the only passenger train allowed to journey on the rail line from Vancouver to Banff. This would be day 1 of 2 on The Rocky Mountaineer from Vancouver to Kamloops.
Day 2
Kamloops to Banff
Kelly and I have been planning a trip to Canada since earlier this year with Pat and Sue. We called it Canada 50/50 since in turned 50 and this year it was Pat and Sue’s 50th wedding anniversary.
We met up in Seattle and then flew into Vancouver. We spent half a day in Vancouver before we get on the train day 2. In retrospect having another full day in Vancouver would have been nice so much to see.
Abbie made the varsity cheer squad at the high school this year. Tonight was her first game. The varsity football team won 21 to 20 against Pendleton. Go Wolfpack!
We took Abbie and PJ for a trip to north Idaho for the labor day long weekend. Our destination was the Sandpoint/Bonners Ferry area. Our goal was to scout some properties with a real estate agent. The weather was great/warm so we were also able to get some swimming in as well!
We travelled up to the Schweitzer Ski hill near sandpoint after arriving around noon on Friday. Great views of the lake from the village.
We went swimming twice at Sandpoint city beach.
One of the properties we liked along the Moyie River
Exploring different spots along the Moyie River
Bonners Ferry is a cute town (about 3600 pop)
This is Trump Country!
We were very close to the Canadian border so PJ wanted to go step foot across the border.
Noah works up at mount Bachelor so he gets some free passes to the activities up there. Since he works weekend I took the day off today and we went zip lining. It’s super fun and the biggest zip line in the Pacific Northwest.
Noah had a go pro and filmed the last of 3 sections on the run.
Beautiful August day picking berries in the hood river valley and some cider tasting!
Maybe he needs to get into a formal diving program…
Hunter, Preston and I went for a day hike on the west side of the Sisters mountains. We did about 10-11 miles on a loop that took us to some mountain lakes and to the top of Scott Mountain (6116 ft).
Hand Lake - first lake on the loop.
This is called the wagon trail. Before there was a road over the pass a trail was hacked out through miles of lava in the late 1800’s that you can still see today - only sparse vegetation growing.
The summit of Scott Mountain. Great views of the sisters slightly subdued due to the smoke in the air.
Benson Lake is a beautiful swimming lake in the mountains. I took Hunter and Noah here on an overnight backpack when they were younger in 2015.
This year we headed up to Elk Lake for July 4 to best the heat in town. It was an amazing relaxing day.
Our family along with two others have been trying to get a permit for the Rogue for 3 years through the lottery system. This year we drew a permit and 17 of us across 3 family (Donaldson, Lovejoy, Starling) journeyed down the coveted Rogue Wild and Scenic for 5 nights and 6 days. Normally the Rogue can be done in 3 nights/4 days but we wanted to travel a little slower and allow for a layover day during the trip and being that this was our first time - give us time to scout some of the more spicy rapids on this river.
The Rogue river is located in southwestern Oregon. (see map below). The wild and scenic section is just northwest of Grants Pass and flows west towards the ocean. On this map we put on just north of Galice (Almeda Campground and Boat Ramp) and took out at Foster Bar. Our total float was 38.4 Miles.
Day 1 - Almeda Boat Ramp to Lower Whiskey Creek Camp (Travel: 7 miles)
We got an early start to drive the 4 hours from Bend to the put in. We got on the river late morning around 11:30am. This day included the famous Rainie Falls (video below) of a raft going through the main drop. We did what’s known as the fish ladder on river right)
Whiskey creek camp didn’t have a great unloading zone but the site itself was very nice and there was a beautiful creek flowing to the river just above camp. Chris cooked his famous steaks with chimichurri sauce, potatoes and wedge salad. (You definitely don’t lose weight on our raft trips)
The boys brought a rope on the trip and rigged up a small rope swing by the creek. You can see Abbie and I playing at the creek entrance.
Day 2 - Lower Whiskey Creek to Lower Kelsey Camp (Travel: 10.6 miles)
Lower Kelsey was I think my favorite camp site on the river. big rocky gravel beach, funny swimming, great views down the river and shade for the hot day.
Day 3 - Lower Kelsey to Upper Half Moon Bar Camp (Travel: 11 miles)
The section of river immediately below lower Kelsey camp was a beautiful winding section through rock. Todays float took us through arguably the most challenging rapids on the trip. Mule creek canyon and coffee pot rapids was a crazy ride that just came up out of nowhere, followed by the class 4 blossom bar. Half moon bar camp would be our layover camp for two nights.
Day 4 - Upper Half Moon Bar Camp Layover (Travel: 0 miles)
Fun layover day, with lounging, hiking, swimming and attempts at fishing. The adults shuttled across the river to half moon bar lodge. Only accessible by boat or by plane. It was an open day so they gave us a tour, and let us eat fresh berries from the garden. Their freezer was already full! It was the best fresh fruit any of us had ever had. The strawberries were to die for. Kelly and I both said we had never tasted strawberries this good in our lives. We decided we would all love to come back here for an adults weekend at some point.
Day 5 - Upper Half Moon Bar to Upper/Middle Tacoma (Travel 4.2 miles)
Another great camp spot to end off our trip. Walking distance to tate creek falls - a natural water slide about mile up from the river. Great fun.
Day 6 - Upper/Middle Tacoma to Foster Bar Boat Ramp (Travel: 5.9 miles)
Uneventful and enjoyable float out the last 6 miles to Foater Bar. Smiles and Chaco tans all around. Stopped in Grants pass for dinner at In and Out. Treated to a nice sunset views of the mountains on the way home.
An amazing trip with perfect weather on the famous Rogue River Oregon.
Kelly planned a group outing with a bunch of our friends to Faith Hope Charity Winery for my 50th birthday. We have been to this winery a number of times - is a hidden gem in the central Oregon region.
It’s been a while since we have been to Sparks lake so decided to head up. Still patches of snow but great weather. Boys got in to swim. Hunter, Preston and his buddy Caleb from the neighborhood.
