Oregon and the west in general has a lot of pick up trucks and a lot of these trucks are outfitted with big tires and jacked up suspension. The kids keep saying - look at all the monster trucks! Being in the UK you never see that - hardly anyone drives a pickup and cars and even trucks are small in comparison to vehicles in the US, however today we came across this monster in the parking lot of a Walmart that even I had to stop and take a picture of...
Try moving across the ocean a few days before Christmas and actually being ready for Christmas :) Nonetheless we managed to have the house decorated, gifts all delivered, tree up, and Christmas dinner to boot in our new house! Santa/Father Christmas was still able to find the kids even with the recent move! Hunter received an electric Guitar, Noah - a BMX bike, Abbie - a crib/feeding table for her baby dolls along with a sing along microphone, and PJ a Train table!
Santa also got the older kids pogo sticks... here they are just trying them out for the first time.
Noah loving his new bike!
Red flew in today - Dec 23. I planned it that way so that we wouldn't have to deal with picking him up at the same time we were all arriving together jet-lagged. On the 3 hour drive from Bend to Portland before I started into the Cascades, a rainbow appears and slowly started getting more distinct. Actually there were two rainbows but the lower one became more full formed as I drove closer to it.
First day back in the US for the kids after 21 months away. We have a very long day of travel... we got up and started packing around 7:30, left the hotel Saturday morning GMT at 9AM to head to Heathrow airport. Dropped the dog off at 11, checked in through airport around 12:30, flight from London Heathrow to Vancouver Canada left at 2:30 and late afternoon Saturday pacific time (9.5 hour flight). Its actually night time again for the kids now so they are a bit loopy. Cleared US customs in Vancouver, caught a flight to Portland and arrived in Portland around 7:30. Picked up rental car and on way by 9 pm. Arrived back into Bend around midnight still on Saturday Dec 21.... more than 24 hours after starting our day. Kids were pretty good overall, but not really interested in doing that again anytime soon.
Kids woke up the next day - boys were excited to see and take a ride in Daddy's new (old) Jeep - an 84 CJ (see below). We also went out and got a Christmas tree today.
Just returned from a work trip back to our headquarters in Bend Oregon. A couple of my colleagues from the UK were with me this time. We were there over a weekend so took advantage of the nice summer weather and events in central Oregon. Link if you cannot see the video below
I am back in Bend for a week so went for a quick morning hike today up Tumalo Mountain. Perfect weather and excellent views of Mt Bachelor on the way up, and then from the top South Sister, Middle Sister and Broken top. (North Sister is hidden from view behind broken top)
After flying into Bend yesterday (Saturday) evening, with good weather predicted for Sunday a few of us from work decided to get up and hike Smith Rock this morning. Plus, getting outside in the sun is a good way to reset your internal clock to reduce the effects of jet lag. It was a spectacular walk over Misery Hill and then back along the river. First time hiking over the top for me. Great views of the snowy cascades as well as the famous Monkey Face rock formation. We also saw a rattle snake on the trail too, which is quite rare. One of the dogs in our party scared it out of its hiding place in the grass beside the trail. No bite on the dog thankfully.
Today I was on a flight from Seattle WA to Bend OR with amazingly clear skies flying past Mt Rainier (first photo) as we left Seattle and right over Mt Hood (second Photo). Both photos taken with an Iphone from the window of the airplane.
Its been about 3 months since my achilles surgery so I thought I would try a light hike in the mountains around Bend. I chose to head up to the Tam MacAuthor Rim trail which is about 20 minutes out of Sisters Oregon. Its still early season for this altitude. There was snow right down to the parking lot at 6500 ft. The snow was good and solid up to the top of the rim. at 7700 ft. Weather around was very unsettled, but made for pretty skies. The achilles held well with no pain!
