To Medford and Beyond!

Mom: The whole family took a long drive to Medford for a short spring break adventure, stopping in Eugene to swim at Splash! wave pool which the children enjoyed slightly more than the adults. We stayed in a condo I have access to through work. Amy and I enjoyed reading together and Analise put on shows and played games. We also watched Chopped.

Mom: The next day we took a long drive through the Redwoods, making a stop in Crescent City and checking out the Lady Bird Johnson Grove and Fern Canyon. We listened to a very interesting book on CD called "Augie and Me." It was quite an ambitious plan with a lot of driving involved.

Analise: We got to California. It was fun seeing the lighthouse at the ocean.😞😨😚😤🙋🙌😽😋😂😐😐😚😊😊💓

Analise: My Elsa dress was very fun to be in. We had seen our friends in Eugene for time at a wave pool and a playground. They gave me my long lost dress back. 5👗💎👟👠👢👑💍🎀🎀📘📗📕📌📮📵🕔🕕🕖🕗🕜🕙🕚🕤📱📴

Amy: The ROCKY BEACH (NO SAND) was nice.

Amy: The ocean was pretty.

Mom: It looks like this in the picture but at certain times you can walk or drive to the lighthouse. Today we watched the water and stretched our legs.

Mom: Taking a moment to breathe in the northern California coastal air.

Amy: TREE HUGGERS RETURN MUAHAHAHAHAHA👿

Analise: Hey Amy and Mom. Don't take your picture! 💥💧💦💨😒🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

Analise: I saw 100 great big trees.✅✔✅✅✅🌷🌸🌺🌻🌼🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲and 1000000 Trillium.

Amy: There were A LOTof trillium.

Amy: The trees were very tall.

Mom: The Lady Bird Johnson Grove was magical. The trees are so big and beautiful.

Amy: Dad and I had a two-tree picture.

Analise: NO! You don't take a picture! 😛😾😦😆💜👹💖👻👺💥💦💧

Analise: The forest was nice. The trees were VERY tall. 💋😻😺

Analise: mom tricked me by saying this was a short nature walk when it really was a hike. 🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🐝Note:NOT

Mom: Nurse logs were all over the place and the undergrowth was amazing. I am glad these forests are protected.

Analise: On the HIKE at Lady Bird Johnson Grove I loved standing on trees. 2 trees were good for standing on. 🍧

Amy: Analise and I shared a picture.

Mom: Look UP! Way UP!

Mom: The roots and hollowed out trees were a lot of fun to climb through. When we finished our loop hike we drove to nearby Fern Canyon. Getting there on the dirt road was a bit of an adventure and we got to use our fourth grader National Parks pass.

Amy: Fern canyon was beautiful.

Amy: It was fun to climb at Fern Canyon.

Analise: I had so much fun in Fern Canyon!

Analise: The water was fun to play! I even had my boots on.

Analise: I got totally soaked and walked with mom back toward the car.

Amy: The hike was amazing.

Amy: You had to balance on logs.

Mom: Though Analise had her boots on she chose to wade through the deepest parts on her knees. Gil stayed at the entrance to the canyon while we explored the wetter and wilder parts.

Mom: The ferns all around us were so pretty and magical. We got back to Medford rather late and the family decided on the shortest route home possible rather than visiting the Oregon coast on our way back. We decided one way to get outside and stretch our legs was mini golf in Eugene.

Analise: We played mini golf on the way back to Nana's house.

Analise: Dad was the winner but I kept my ball out of the obstacles.

Amy: I did pretty well. I got a hole in one once.

Mom: Gil won the mini golf but I got a hole in one off Analise's foot and Amy got a hole in one for real! It was a fun way to end a memorable trip.

A hike to end a "Supermom" kind of week

 This week has been very challenging for my family due to my stay at home husband being completely out of commission. I was proud of myself and of my girls for staying present to each other and changing our routine to do what was needed. I am also grateful for community and the way they supported us. After trying to work, support medical needs, and coordinate all the driving, childcare, and house needs I was very ready for challenging hike without kids. I took the International Student we host at Reed up to Wind Mountain.

 We enjoyed the early wildflowers on the way straight up a mountain with more than 1000 ft of gain in one mile. We combined this with a driving lesson which was its own adventure. It was good to have some kid free time to enjoy a climb.

 We had the high energy dog Oreo with us and she led the way.

 Annie may not have known what she got herself into when she agreed to a "steep" hike but she did an amazing job getting to the top!

 We quickly got up toward the top of treeline.

 Oreo enjoyed the adventure as well.

 Enjoying more wildflowers along the way.

 Native Americans used this site for vision quests- spending the night here. This is sacred ground.

 At the top we enjoyed views of the river below.

 We met the challenge together- great short conditioning hike!

 Enjoying the view

We headed back down to the car for more driving in busy Gresham near where Annie will test and then had some yummy Chinese food. It was a much needed afternoon to gain perspective and care for myself so that I can continue to be present to my family.

To the Yurt- All terrain hiking fun!

Amy: We drove with Corrine to the upper snow park and our car got stuck but we pushed it out. At the upper snow park, I threw lots of snowballs at people and mom and I took our obligatory selfie with a snowball.

Amy: When I got really tired, I collapsed in the snow and mom stopped to let me have a breather break.

Mom: I was glad we were able to drive to the upper sno park to avoid the steep mile hike between upper and lower sno parks. It was snowy and beautiful.

Mom: We made our way slowly toward the Yurt- 3 miles up and two miles down. Corrine and I had been here once before but this was Amy's first time and Corrine's dad joined us.

Amy: Sometimes when we passed a tree, I would shake the branches so all the snow would fall off. It was fun.

Amy: Another time that I collapsed on that trip. Boy, that trip was tiring.

Mom: The wet snow continued to fall as we climbed higher toward the Yurt. We took lots of breaks.
+note of Amy's: my note (my forehead was covered by my hood and there was hair in my face)

Mom: It was cloudy and snowing but super fun and challenging to hike uphill toward the Yurt.

Mom: Taking a break and enjoying being on snowshoes.

Amy: I also collapsed at the prayer flags at the top of a hill.

Amy: It was so windy up there that we went on, even though we were VERY tired.

Amy: We hiked on through the snow.

Mom: We were so excited to see the prayer flags and then there was more down than up but still some climbing left to go.

Mom: The last of the climbing was really challenging because the snow was very wet and dragging the sled through the "Cascade concrete" was getting hard. Putting it on my back was just as bad or worse. Corrine helped me out with the sled at the end. Amy made it look easy! I was stopping to catch my breath very often. Amy's note: DIDN'T→     ↑    

Amy: The yurt in all it's glory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Exclamation party!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mom: More prayer flags at the yurt. We were glad to make it to our cozy destination!

Mom: National Park Jenga. Amy looks worried it will fall!

Mom: Eating delicious food in the decked out yurt.

Amy: We enjoyed the heat, games and beds.

Amy: We wrote a poem abut our trip:
3/26/18
Our car got stuck.
Someone showed up to our luck.
We hiked along
and sang a song.
We worked so hard
In Mt. Rainier's backyard.
We made it up the very LONG hill
To find the flags that are flying still.
The snow kept falling.
By the end we were stalling.
We got to the yurt in the end.
It was as inviting as a friend.
When we arrived there was no heat,
But we enjoyed an evening treat.
When we get back to the car
We'll have many memories from afar.

-Thank you Mt. Tahoma Trails!
Melody, mom, 40, Portland OR
Amy, 9, Portland OR

Amy: I ate an icicle the next day.

Mom: I love Mt. Tahoma trails so much! The yurt is absolutely magical!

Mom: Heading back the next day. The snow was pretty deep between the Yurt and Snow Bowl turnoff.

Mom: The mostly downhill 5 miles was much easier, the "Cascade concrete" snow acting as a break and keeping the runaway sled beside and behind me. We enjoyed walking together.

Mom: Following the ski tracks through the snowy trees back down toward the car.

Mom: What a beautiful spring break snowy adventure!

Mom: On the way back we started making a snowman but the snowball I tried to roll on top was so heavy that I collapsed into it and we decided it looked like one of the "snow goons" from Calvin and Hobbes.