Hullabaloo Festival

We checked out the Hullabaloo Festival tonight in beautiful Northwest Crossing.  I love that neighborhood, and we're frequent visitors since several of our friends live there.  As we sat on a stone wall listening to Blind Pilot, I appreciated Bend for the friendly people, cool evening weather, and many more reasons.  I'm extremely anxious for Tommy Boy to move here, so we can hit up all the good stuff I've been to and learned about the past year.

Here's some pics of the event:

Dulce de Leche and Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream

Side view of Blind Pilot on stage

Gorgeous!

Lots of kiddo activities

Criterium - the bikers were going 25-30 miles per hour

Next up:  Bite of Bend this weekend! 

Locks of Love

I've been growing my hair out long, so I can donate it to Locks of Love.  They make wigs for kiddos with cancer.  http://www.locksoflove.org/

The first time I donated my hair, it was in honor of my brother, Tom.  He was diagnosed with Stage Four Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.  This time around, he has Stage One Leukemia.  Time to kick this cancer once and for all. 10 inches of hair is the minimum to donate, and my hair is ready!

Waiting at the salon.  I'm nervous!

Measuring with the ruler

Starting to cut

Almost done

A wad of hair.

About to cry!  My hair is so short!

My hair hasn't been this short since I was two years old, most likely.  It's really short in the back.  Perfect for a summer 'do!  Certainly brings out my beachball-shaped head.  Ha Ha.  No, seriously, I didn't cry at the salon.  I waited until I got inside the car.  Okay, not true either.

I'm happy to donate it and look like a boy until it grows out.  Luckily, it grows fast.  You'll see my sporting braids before the end of summer! 

The celebration continues

As we meandered down the coast, we stopped by the Oregon Dunes.  An interesting sight among the myrtle wood and other hardwoods.

Walking up

Running down

Pretty flowers. 

Stopped and talked with two gals from Ottawa.  They are biking from Tillamook to San Fran.  Noticed they both had ukuleles packed on their bike.  What a kick!

In Reedsport, there's a wonderful myrtlewood gallery with lots to see, buy, and touch.  Emil picked up a few nice wood slabs for ukuleles.

Touching every piece of wood is required.  Also going back to the store the
next day is necessary. Just in case they put out more wood to see.

This is his anniversary gift from me.

Second largest timber port in Oregon

We flew kites in Coos Bay on the beach.  The kite kept crashing when I tried it fly it.  I blame the wind.  When it crashed on Emil's head, the string caught on his ear.  That would've been an interesting story to tell at the Emergency Room.  Luckily, he's okay, just sore.  

Which handle do I pull on?

Crash.  Again.

The master kite flyer!  Dig in, lean back, just at 9 miles an hour wind speed.

Awwwww...

All in all, it was a nice weekend trip!  Thanks to my parents for the anniversary gift!  Very thoughtful and generous!  We came home to several anniversary cards and warm wishes!

Time to chase Yam around with the squirt bottle or super soaker!

Anniversary Celebration

We celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary on Friday.  I had to stop typing and count on my fingers.  Math and memory are not my strong points.  Neither is grating cheese since I cut myself every single time.  But, I digress.  For the festive celebration, we headed to the Oregon Coast.

I could tell you it was a fantastic trip with gorgeous, sunny weather.  But, that's boring.  How about I share the real adventure with you?

We pulled over in Sisters, Oregon, about 30 minutes from our house.  As I dug around in the back of the van for my wallet to buy french fries (Don't judge.  This is vacation!), I smelled something awful.  Cat pee.  Somewhere, somehow.  I am going to throttle Yam when we get home!  Turns out, Yam had a little fun with Emil's brand new sleeping bag.  We wiped it down with wet wipes, went over to Bi Mart to buy spray, and contemplated what to do.  Throw the sleeping bag into a plastic garbage bag and keep on truckin' down the road.  Then, we'll pick up an inexpensive sleeping bag on our way.

In Eugene, we stopped at our favorite music store to strum a few ukes and look around.  The owner told us about a bakery two doors down.  See ya, music store!  One of our goals in life is to visit every good bakery in the USA.  http://sweetlifedesserts.com/.  After buying a piece of chocolate silk cake (gluten free and dairy free), we headed to Florence in search of a campground and a 24 hour laundromat.  Oh yes, we picked up a sleeping bag and potent laundry detergent in Eugene.

After two washings, the sleeping bag smells quite floral.  Perfect for covering up Yam's "accident."

Let's move on to some pics:

Infused fruit in liquor at Maple Street Grill.

Smallest kitchen ever.

Pu Pu Platter - flatbread, shrimp louis, kebabs

Pulled Pork Sliders

Dessert in the tent

 

The moon overlooking the campground where a gazillion Little League boys camped around us.

Nice boat for sale.  Interested, Troy Wise?

Florence, South Carolina shout out, y'all!

Very cool wooden clock

Ducks wearing raincoats.  Welcome to the Oregon Coast!

Bridge in Florence

Pic for my dad

We perused the stores in Florence and stopped in at the farmers market for tiny, sweet apricots, peaches, and zucchini.  Time to move on.  Our plan was to mosey up to Lincoln City for the Kite Festival.  We packed our two stunt kites, ready to fly.

But, we ended up driving south.  More to come later ... stay tuned!

Smitten for Strawberries

Oregon strawberries.  The season is here.  Buy them now.  Buy them often.  They are perfect, sweet, and highly perishable.  So, we eat them as fast as possible.  Yesterday, we picked up two pints at the lovely produce stand in Tumalo.  They are gone.  So, we picked up a flat today.  Freezer jam, casual eating, freezing, whatever we can do with them within the next 24 hours.

I've baked several goodies with them.  A good excuse to try out the many recipes in this month's Bon Appetit magazine.

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam Biscuits

Homemade Shortcake

Emil's freezer jam

We already picked off four cups from here.  Yes, really.

In addition to working and climbing the Butte twice a day, we've explored several lakes.  We took out of town company on a tour of Elk Lake and Hosmer Lake last Monday.  Yesterday, we hiked around Suttle Lake.  Absolutely gorgeous! 

Elk Lake

Elk Lake Marina

Perfect launch at Hosmer Lake

Hosmer Lake

Emil took pics of Suttle Lake, so I don't have them handy to share.  We hiked around the lake (3.5 miles), and then relaxed on the deck at The Lodge at Suttle Lake.  http://thelodgeatsuttlelake.com/.  I came here (near this area) last weekend on a catering job, and we stopped in at their restaurant on the lake.  Menu looked nice, and we splurged on some fries.  We'll have to return for dinner.

Well, it's time to clean all those strawberries!