Poppin' up for air

It's been ages since we last posted anything here. Believe me, it's not because we haven't been up to anything. Anybody who knows us even in the tiniest sense has the idea that's far from the truth. ;) Since our return from Asia, we literally hit the ground running--non-stop! Mass chaos in trying to pack out/sell/donate/organize a household worth of belongings in a manic downsizing attempt knowing we're relocating from an average sized suburban home with a spacious garage/storage area to a microscopic-sized urban apartment (likely to happen but we really have no idea where we'll be living once we get 'there'). To make matters more challenging, our belongings were strewn about 3 different locations spanning some 50 miles--so multiple trips back & forth were the order of the day--for about 5 weeks straight!

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We snuck in a weekend getaway to attend the Stargazer's Consortium along the breathtakingly beautiful Columbia River. It was a great decision to attend--not only was the gathering a total blast but it gave us a quick dress rehearsal for our cross-country camping adventure (aka Insanity Tour 2006). It's been ages since all 4 of us have gone camping together so adding another individual's gear, an extra body in the vehicle and an additional round of other everyday essentials really had us rethink our packing plans. Pictures from the gathering will follow.

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Just a few days after we returned from Stargazing, our movers arrived to pack up our gear. In one word--chaos! Moving's not all it's cracked up to be!

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We then attended a quick 'last-minute' dinner gettogether for area letterboxers--Last Call, Tacoma! It was so great to get to see everybody again before we left.

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Then, it was anchor's away! We headed down to Salem, Oregon for a few days with relatives, some serious waterfall hiking around Silver Falls (I think we visited 12 of the falls there) and then the big 'trek' began.

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Pictures will follow once we get settled in a spot with reliable internet access.

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We first drove along the Santiam Highway on our way to Sisters, Oregon. We camped at a wonderful campground along the banks of the spectacular Metolius River. Pioneer Ford Campground was an excellent choice (rustic but it offered running water & vault toilets).

We spent a day hiking around the Sisters area then it was camping at Big River Campground (so primitive it didn't even have running water!) off to Newberry Volcanic National Monument. Here we enjoyed an afternoon hiking to waterfalls in about 100* heat and we capped off the day with a cave spelunk into the Lava River Cave--that same cave we attempted to explore back at the end of March when its mouth was covered in a 2' thick sheet of ice. The summer's definitely the time to go as it offered an incredible escape from the terranean heat with its natural 43* air-conditioning.

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From there, we headed south to the Crater Lake area where we found a great (albeit teeming with mosquitoes) campground at Diamond Lake. We spent the following day exploring just about every square inch of Crater Lake. Spectacular!

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Then it was off to Lava Beds National Monument in Northern California--that offered great views of Mt Shasta. We capped off that visit with a backroad tour of SE Oregon where we spent an afternoon digging for gems and stumbling on a shoe tree.

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We ultimately made it to Boise at midnight a few days ago and immediately set off the following morning to go river rafting along the Main Payette River just north of Boise.

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We're a bit tired but have totally enjoyed our crazy cross country tour of the NW US. Somehow we turned a 550-mile drive from Tacoma, WA to Boise, ID into a 10-day, 1,300-mile trek. Did I mention that we also have 2 cars, 2 kids, 4xalmost 14-year old cats and excessive 'work-gear' we have to carry with us during this trek? Yes, we're certifiably insane!!!